Within the literature of the Nenets people of Western Siberia, the voice of poet Yuri Vella (1948–2013) deserves particular attention and careful listening. A reindeer herder and environmental activist, Vella draws nourishment for his writing from the concrete experience of life in the taiga, transforming it into an instrument through which he denounces the transformations inflicted upon his land and community by Russian colonizers. This article proposes to approach Yuri Vella’s oeuvre through an ecocritical lens, a new perspective that reveals the depth of his ecological thought and the power of his poetry as a vehicle for environmental awareness and resistance. Prior to the core analysis, an overview of the Forest Nenets people is provided to understand the context in which Vella lived and worked.
A Voice from the Taiga: Yuri Vella and the ecopoetics of resistance
Erika Stragapede
2025-01-01
Abstract
Within the literature of the Nenets people of Western Siberia, the voice of poet Yuri Vella (1948–2013) deserves particular attention and careful listening. A reindeer herder and environmental activist, Vella draws nourishment for his writing from the concrete experience of life in the taiga, transforming it into an instrument through which he denounces the transformations inflicted upon his land and community by Russian colonizers. This article proposes to approach Yuri Vella’s oeuvre through an ecocritical lens, a new perspective that reveals the depth of his ecological thought and the power of his poetry as a vehicle for environmental awareness and resistance. Prior to the core analysis, an overview of the Forest Nenets people is provided to understand the context in which Vella lived and worked.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
