Sterne’s surprising oiko-logic: sympathy ethics and sustainability in tristram shandy

• Published in: Cogent arts & humanities Vol. 11; no. 1
• Main Author: Taylor, Elias J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 31.12.2024
• Subjects: 18th. C. British literature; animal studies; Ecocriticism; ecological economics; environmental humanities; sympathy
• ISSN: 2331-1983; 2331-1983
• DOI: 10.1080/23311983.2024.2374650

Although famous for language, representation, and humor, Tristram Shandy also provides a modern ecocritical goad to humanism by asking about the distinction between ecocriticism and animal studies. Sterne demonstrate what I call an ‘oiko-logic’ that emphasizes the relationships we find developing across the household environment. Sterne is particularly interested in questions of what we would now call ‘ferality’ and domestication, how animality makes us human, and how sympathy supports the conscience of our species. Sterne’s eco-question is not if we should change our relationship to the environment, but how to calculate the appropriate change in our actions based on ecological circumstances, and he asks that we remember to account for who is carrying the social burden: Yorick’s horse, Maria’s goat, and Toby’s famous fly all carry an ecologically-based social burden for the humanity they encounter. Sterne’s ecological sensibility suggests that our conscience develops as we relate to the natural world by updating the input-output analysis with adroit calculations in collaboration with nature. What I call ‘calculations across animals’ has much in common with the emerging field of ecological economics, and Sterne shows us how humanity allows itself a certain great deal of latitude when considering the fallout of our actions on animals—meaning we can calculate for good or ill. So, for Sterne, the question becomes: how do we decide what’s good? He might whip around and say, ‘God’, but he also strongly suggests that watching humanity interact with nature can show us what goodness really looks like.