Nach der Natur

The famous master of the Isenheim Altarpiece, Matthias Grünewald, the naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller from the Bering Alaska Expedition, and the author himself – what lies behind Sebald's juxtaposition of these different men from such distant centuries in an elemental poem? His theme is the incompatibility of nature and society, which inevitably conjures a silent catastrophe: the destruction of nature, which has long been underway. For the perceptive, progress-critical observer, it brings a lonely, oppressive existence as well as the utopia of a nature that will ultimately defeat humanity, allowing elements, plants, and animals to regain an existence in beauty and peace. With his elemental poem, which is directed towards nature and, in a broader sense, everything essential, Sebald has created a highly poetic work of linguistic art. It familiarizes us with the life stories of three men who have each painfully experienced the conflict between humanity and nature in their own way.