What are you looking for?

Jongstra, Atte

Jongstra, Atte

Writer-in-Residence

Homo Hyper Erectus. A manifest.

Research Question

Which mental attitude is needed in a more and more chaotic world?

Project Description

Departing from 18th and 19th-century satirical literary texts about Somebody and Nobody, I describe the rise of the homo hyper erectus, especially in our present days. Fear for chaos leads to follow ‘a strong leader’ like Trump or Erdogan, or Wilders in Holland, and a longing for old and trusted symbols: nationalism, flag, national anthem, closed borders. A world which will never more exist. We have to find a different attitude towards nature (what’s left of it). But also a different attitude to the human world as a whole, embracing it as it is: a complex social ‘eco-system’, where like in nature ‘creative destruction’ takes place all the time. Can we imagine getting back to being a ‘member’ of the Nobody-family in pre-adamite days? Can we survive the Anthropocene?

Selected Publications

Het fluïde tijdperk (essays, 2017)

Aan open zee (roman, 2016)

Worst (roman, 2015)

Personal page