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Jennifer Lüdtke
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Jennifer Lüdtke2026-03-08 14:56:142026-04-07 23:17:05Behind the Lens and Beyond the Microphone: Studying Wildlife with AITomorrow is International Book Day, and I would like to use this week to recommend some reading. In the last Green Literature article, we talked about five books dealing with environmental issues. Today, I only have one recommendation, not a very dense book, but it will not leave you indifferent.
The Name for the World is Forest is a science fiction book by Ursula K. Le Guin, one of the most renowned writers of the genre [1]. Among the characteristics of the stories Le Guin wrote is her interest in various anthropological topics, something that ran in the family — her father and mother were two renowned anthropologists [2].
It is not a very long book, just 160 pages divided into seven chapters. It was first published as a short novel in an anthology of science fiction stories (Again, Dangerous Visions, 1972) [3], and Le Guin‘s chapter won the Hugo Award the following year, one of the highest honors in science fiction [4]. It regained some popularity when Avatar was released in cinemas, as some say that Le Guin‘s world was a clear inspiration.
The story takes place on a colony planet of Earth, known as World 41 or New Tahiti. It is a planet made up of a group of forested islands. There, inhabitants are used to supply wood to planet Earth. The Earthers employ the natives as cheap labour or slaves, even though they are a species close to humans (they are very similar, slightly smaller, and have greenish skin).
Each chapter follows the experiences of one of the three protagonists of the story, with their different perspectives on events. These are Captain Davidson, Scientist Lyuvob, and Native Selver. Each of these characters represents, in reality, a way of seeing nature and relating to it.
Main characters and their meaning
The science fiction genre has tended to present various ethical and moral dilemmas in a more palatable way for the reader than an essay. In the case of this book, there are various perspectives on the relationship between humans and nature, which are very clearly represented.
On the one hand, there is Captain Davidson with his anthropocentric view, with humans as the rulers and masters of nature, always at its service. This view has been the dominant one – and unfortunately, the only one – in Western culture for the last few centuries.
“The Earth needs wood, it needs it desperately. And we have found wood in New Tahiti. Well, now we are lumberjacks”
This way of thinking reflects the anthropocentric and colonial mindset that Davidson, as a representative of our society, has. There is another passage in which, when thinking about this new world when it was discovered, Davidson states that “there was nothing, only trees“. Because for him (us), trees have no value until they are cut down into wood, which is useful.
On the other hand, there are Selver and the natives of World 41, representing ecocentrism, the notion that human beings are part of the ecosystem. The natives use the word, Athsthe, both as “world” and “forest” – hence, the title of the book.
They have developed their society to adapt to the ecosystem, of which they consider themselves as part of. Each tribe and city is named after the trees surrounding it, and the elderly women make decisions based on what the forest tells them. Natives do not understand the conquering urge of humans from Earth, who have forgotten their roots, the ecosystem they are connected to.
“They have left their roots elsewhere, perhaps in that other forest where they come from, that forest without trees”
This way of seeing things that Le Guin suggests with Selver is a kind of worldview, found in several Andean cultures, for example. Aldo Leopold, father of Land Ethics, also proposes a similar vision when he speaks of the Earth community, stating that human beings are not the masters of this planet, but rather a part of the continuum formed by air (the atmosphere), the hydrosphere, the soil, and living beings as a whole, a simple part of the ecosystem [5].

Figure 1: Diagrams representing antrhopocentrism and ecocentrism. (Modified from https://www.transicionsostenible.com/)
The third main character is Lyubov, a scientist whose mission is to understand natives’ culture and serve as a bridge between them and the colonisers. He and Selver become friends, and Selver teaches him how the inhabitants of his planet see the world. But he faces an obstacle, which is the lack of connection with their roots that humans have.
“Like most Earthlings, Lyubov had never walked among wild trees, had never seen a forest larger than a city block“
Conclusion
With these brief insights into what each character represents, I recommend picking up the book and sitting down to read it, to find out what happens in Athsthe or World 41, and what the outcome is. I must say that I didn’t want to dwell too much on the story itself, to keep this free of spoilers, but there are more subplots besides the one about ways of understanding our relationship with Nature.
This book can be an important aid in reflecting on what disconnecting from nature can mean for us, since we are part of the ecosystem and, ultimately, we also disconnect from what makes us human. Human comes from the Latin word humus, meaning soil or earth. We also need to rethink the words we use to describe the world.
References:
[1] Le Guin, U. K. (2021). El nombre del mundo es bosque (M. Horne, Trad.). Minotauro.
[2] Scher, P. W. (2018, January 31). The education of Ursula Le Guin. The Conversation. Retrieved on 17 April 2025 https://theconversation.com/the-education-of-ursula-le-guin-90681
[3] Ellison, H. (Ed.). (1972). Again, dangerous visions. Doubleday
[4] Revista Diners. (2018, enero 24). Cinco novelas para recordar a Ursula K. Le Guin. Retrieved on 19 April 2025 https://revistadiners.com.co/cultura/53005_cinco-novelas-para-recordar-ursula-k-le-guin/
[5] Leopold, A. (2020). A sand county almanac. Oxford University Press.
Cover image: Forest. Photo by Vlad Hilitanu in Unsplash.




















