That rivers have a life of their own is an ancient idea become current again. Shape-shifting, vital and recognisably capable of being sickened or damaged – as the state of our fragile chalk streams so starkly illustrates – there is good reason why fluvial myths have such historic potency and why the flow of water enjoys so many figurative associations.
The late James C. Scott, an amateur hydrologist and professor of anthropology at Yale, who died in July last year, opens his nicely fluent study with an unequivocal assertion – ‘Rivers, on a long view, are alive.’ In Praise of Floods examines the several ways in which homo sapiens have sought to tame and exploit watersheds, and the importance of floodplains in human culture. He notes the grim engineering view, espoused by Stalin among others, that a river which reaches the sea is merely an under-utilised resource, whereas in his view, if it is dammed, it is being denied its proper destiny.
Ranging widely from China’s Yellow River to the intricate meander belt of the Mississippi, he stresses the implications of a river’s lateral movement and zooms in on an ‘eco-biography’ of Burma’s Ayeyarwady, the worship of its spirits and the history of its denizens. Some of them – snow carp, Oriental darter and smiling turtle – he boldly imagines speaking out for themselves in the face of overfishing, mining pollution, abstraction and obstruction, in the hope that such diverse waterways will not ultimately be squeezed of all life. But the outlook is gloomy unless we wise up soon, and he quotes Hegel: ‘The owl of Minerva flies only at dusk.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in