Forests and Rivers: Rethinking Relation and Representation in Philosophy

Forests and rivers are ecosystems that not only harbour extraordinary biodiversity but also function as powerful images and metaphors through which the relationship between humans and the environment is articulated and rethought.

As entities that are both material and symbolic, they call into question the ontological status of the relations between the human and the non-human. Often ecologically entangled with one another – such as rivers flowing through forests – they are also conceptually intertwined, occupying a central place in many non-Western cosmologies.

In this sense, we propose to understand forests and rivers as symbolic spaces in which Western and non-Western epistemologies are brought into dialogue and renegotiated, opening up perspectives that challenge the traditional dichotomy between nature and culture. From this perspective, the forest can be conceived, as suggested by Eduardo Kohn (2013), as a complex semiotic device, meaning as an ecosystem in which material processes and the production of meaning are inseparable.

At the same time, forests and rivers are (elements of) landscapes, approached in terms of atmospheres, in which specific perceptual and sensory dynamics unfold. These dynamics both respond to and shape collective imaginaries, while also providing the setting for particular aesthetic practices. In this regard, forests and rivers are not merely objects of representation but actors that actively participate in the construction of shared worlds.

This workshop aims to provide an interdisciplinary forum for dialogue between philosophy, anthropology, literary studies, and environmental humanities, in order to investigate the theoretical questions raised by these ecosystems. From this perspective, forests and rivers constitute two privileged sites through which to philosophically rethink both relation and representation in their aesthetic and political dimensions, challenging established categories and opening up to plural and situated epistemologies.

Key thematic areas include: the notion of non-human personhood and diverse forms of agency; the tensions and compatibilities between Western and non-Western epistemologies; the perceptual and imaginative modes associated with forests and rivers; and ecopoetic literatures and practices. 

Call for Papers and Participation

The workshop will take place in hybrid format on 10 September 2026 at the Glo-Phi Centre for Advanced Studies (University of Hildesheim) and is conceived as a preparatory event for a planned publication project on the topic.

The deadline for applications is 5 July 2026. If you want to participate with a dedicated presentation, please send an abstract of around 500 characters (including spaces), accompanied by a short biography, to the following email address: glophi[at]uni-hildesheim.de. If you want to participate as a listener, please send a short request to the same address.

Please note that travel expenses will not be reimbursed.

Selected Literature

• Gaston Bachelard, La poétique de l’espace, Paris, PUF, 1957. 
• Lisa Blackmore and Liliana Gómez (eds.), Liquid Ecologies in Latin American and Caribbean Art, Routledge, 2020
• Philippe Descola, Par-delà nature et culture, Paris, Gallimard, 2005. 
• Oya Erdoğan, Wasser – Über die Anfänge der Philosophie, Wien : Passagen Verlag, 2003. 
• Malcom Ferdinand, Une écologie décoloniale : penser l’écologie depuis le monde caribéen, Editions du Seuil, 2019. 
• Xavier Garnier, Écopoétiques africaines. Une expérience décoloniale des lieux, Paris, Éditions Karthala, 2022. 
• Tim Ingold, The Perception of the Environment: Essays on Livelihood, Dwelling and Skill, London, Routledge, 2000. 
• Eduardo Kohn, How Forests Think, University of California Press, 2013. 
• Matthias Kramm (ed.), Rechte für Flüsse, Berge und Wälder. Eine neue Perspektive für den Naturschutz?, oekom, 2023. 
• Bruno Latour, Nous n’avons jamais été modernes, Paris, La Découverte, 1991; Politiques de la nature, Paris, La Découverte, 1999. 
• Wangari Maathai, Replenishing the Earth : Spritiual Values for Healing Ourselves and the World, PRH Christian Publishing, 2010.
• Baptiste Morizot, Manières d’être vivant, Actes Sud, 2020.
• Angela Roothaan, Indigenous, Modern and Postcolonial Relations to Nature: Negotiating the Environment, Routledge, 2019.
• Anna Tsing, The Mushroom at the End of the World, Princeton University Press, 2015. 
• Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Métaphysiques cannibales, Paris, PUF, 2009.  

Organizing Team

Lorena Grigoletto holds a PhD in Philosophy, specialising in Spanish and Latin American philosophy, and aesthetics. She taught semiotics of art for several years at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples and is currently a researcher at the Centre for Advanced Studies “Philosophizing in a Globalized World” (GloPhi) at Hildesheim University. Her recent research explores the relationship between nature and the collective imaginary, particularly in Latin America, and the link between environmental aesthetics – specifically forests – and urban design.

Monika Christine Rohmer is a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Advanced Studies “Philosophizing in a Globalized World” (GloPhi), at Hildesheim University. Monika is a transdisciplinary scholar combining African philosophy, applied linguistics and ecolinguistics, the study of verbal arts and oceanic humanities, and postcolonial theories. In her PhD, she compared conceptualisations and metaphors of water at the Senegalese Coast with a focus on French and Wolof.