Ecomotricity in the apprehension of nature: inter-action as a ludic and ecological experience

Abstract

Having as a starting point the idea that conceptualizations of the environment are built from movement experiences (motricity), this article focuses on ecomotricity, which is understood as the ludic and ecological inter-action with nature. Thus, the article aims to conceptualize and contextualize horizons of nature apprehended in ludic experiences (signified by joy/pleasure) in nature, especially as it allocates/awards the incorporation (naturalization) of ecosomaesthetic-environmentally ethical-ecopolitical precepts into the habitus of movement. Inferences about the subject are contextualized using data from a research project on ecomotricity in the state of Sergipe - Brazil (2014-2017), in which different methods (interviews; direct observations in moving ethnographies; diversified narratives; social profile analysis; linguistic analysis) were used to understand the intentionalities in inter-acting with the environment of individuals with regular ludic experiences in nature, as well as how relationships and worldviews are (re)constituted in these experiences. From this analytical perspective, the discussion focuses on ecomotricity in the apprehension of nature, a specific perspective in the broader scope of the discussions about human (society)-nature (world) relations in which considerations are possible on the immanent movement of humans-and-other-than-humans-being-with-nature, an opposition to an anthropocentric view of a “connection to nature”. Among the main results of the presented research, I discuss how “time” and “immersion” stand out in the macro-analysis on apprehensions of nature in ecomotricity; additionally, critical synthesis is also presented as possibly transferable (not generalizable) principals of ecomotricity, aiming to contribute to the debate about possibilities and limitations of the incorporation of ecological precepts in the habitus of movement of individuals through ludic experiences in nature.