This thesis reflects on the nature of translation and posits that everything is already a form of translation—originality hardly exists anymore. Every translation changes the view of the original, leading to an infinite network of meanings. The observation of an object, such as a snail in a jar, becomes a metaphor for the tension between the observer and the observed, with the environment also influencing perception.
As the text progresses, the garden serves as a multi-layered metaphor – for ecological and social inequalities, for cultural ideas, and for the human relationship with nature.
The garden shows how closely social and ecological crises are linked, with climate change, resource distribution, and species extinction posing central challenges. Projects such as Kein Garten illustrate the potential of gardens as places of education and engagement. At the same time, the text negotiates personal experiences in the context of the climate crisis—between powerlessness, ambivalence, and the difficulty of being part of the solution.
In doing so, it warns against “apocalypse blindness,” i.e., the inability to take ecological threats seriously while maintaining an unbroken belief in progress.
Gardens are also understood as cultural mirrors: from the biblical paradise to enclosed retreats to urban community gardens that emerge in times of crisis.
The boundaries between nature and culture are blurring—political gardens call for responsible intervention in the ecological context. The role of capitalism is critically examined: as a system based on exploitation, while supposedly green innovations often only conceal symptoms.
A fundamental shift in perspective is called for—towards an ecological economy based on care and the preservation of life rather than profit maximization. The global ecological crisis demands a profound social, political, and cultural transformation—from power structures to personal consciousness.