Unsettling the Field: Christopher Brennan and Biodiversity

Abstract

In this paper I consider the ecological term ‘biodiversity’ as a metaphor within that of the more generally metaphorical term ‘field’, specifically in relation to Christopher Brennan’s work the Musicopoematographoscope. The term ‘field’, in the literary context may not preclude, but does not suggest biodiversity: suggesting rather evenness, tamedness, industry, fighting or sport – and settledness. I use the ecological figure of biodiversity not as an indication of a relation between writing (poetry) and natural environments per se, but to signal an attention to survival. A literature that can be compared to a biodiverse ecosystem – rather than a field – suggests the wholeness that health is derived from. I draw on and critique the work of American poet Charles Olson and English critic Jonathan Bate.