"With the Earth in Mind" responds to some of the most cutting-edge research in the field of ecocriticism, which centers on ecological loss and the grief that ensues. Ecocritics argue that ecological objects of loss abound--for instance, species are disappearing and landscapes are becoming increasingly compromised--and yet, such loss is often deemed "ungrievable." While humans regularly grieve human losses, we understand very little about how to genuinely grieve the loss of nonhuman being, natural environments, and ecological processes. My dissertation calls attention to our society's tendency to participate in superficial nature-nostalgia, rather than active and engaged environmental mourning, and ultimately activism. Herein, I investigate how an array of postwar and contemporary American novels represent a complex relationship between environmental degradation and mental illness. Literature, I suggest, is crucial to investigations of this problem because it can reveal the human consequences of ecological loss in a way that is unavailable to political, philosophical, scientific, and even psychological discourse.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc849760 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Reis, Ashley E. |
| Contributors | Finseth, Ian Frederick, Ybarra, Priscilla Solis, Foertsch, Jacqueline, 1964- |
| Publisher | University of North Texas |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | xxxiii, 233 pages : illustrations, Text |
| Coverage | United States, 1945~/2016~ |
| Rights | Public, Reis, Ashley E., Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved. |
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