One Haunted River: Histories and Spectres of the Odra

In July and August of 2022, the Odra/Oder River, much of which flows through Silesia in southwest Poland, experienced a massive environmental disaster. Within the context of this devasting event, this text explores the Odra River and Silesia as “haunted landscapes” (Tsing et al., 2017). Considering the ghostly traces that tell the river’s regional histories, a “hauntological approach,” posits that landscapes are processes of layering and sedimentation, of ever unfolding meanings (Derrida, 1994; Roberts, 2013). This inquiry examines the catastrophe and reactions in Poland and Germany, situating the incident in the river’s longer material-socio-cultural history, including narratives about the region. Particular attention is given to Osoba Odra, an initiative formed as a reaction to the 2022 environmental disaster and massive fish die-off that the river experienced through industrial contamination and climate change and exacerbated by a lack of response from the Polish government. Positing the question “Is a river a person?” the Osoba Odra initiative is part of an expanding movement among legal scholars, Indigenous communities, and environmental NGOs that rivers be recognised as legal persons, granting them increased rights to protection (O’Donnell, 2018).