ABSTRACT
Psychoanalytic concepts and theories are regularly used and elaborated in literary fiction and the arts. There is also an established tradition of interpreting literary texts as circulating, reproducing, or challenging unconscious political ideologies, including ecological discourses and practices. In this chapter, the author uses this tradition in an investigation of the "otherness" of the more-than-human world, arguing that we cannot reduce it to a harmonious relationship with—or a sense of belonging to—"nature." In particular, he reflects on the psychoanalytic concept of the uncanny and its relation to aesthetic experience and EcoJustice Education. Following Lacanian theory, the author sees the experience of the uncanny as that which escapes symbolization and causes mixed feelings of anxiety and enchantment. It is also beyond the grasp of mere propositional knowledge. It thereby poses a pedagogical challenge that demands recognition if we are to address broader ecological crises through education.
