Title:
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Early green narratives and the rise of bioregionalism : an ecocritical perspective on British fiction, 1880-1920
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My thesis Early Green Narratives and the Rise of Bioregionalism. An Ecocritical
Perspective on British Fiction, 1880-1920 is a historical, conceptual and
interdisciplinary study in which I examine ideas and representations of the
natural environment in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Britain from
an ecocritical perspective. Ecocriticism, a rapidly expanding field of study and
critical approach, explores representations of the relationship between human
and non-human life, and considers the place of literature in the struggle against
environmental destruction. Focusing mainly on the works of Thomas Hardy,
Eden Phillpotts, William Morris, D. H. Lawrence and Edward Thomas, I give a
historically specific analysis of fictional representations of the natural
environment and argue that these writers share, to a different extent and in
different ways, common ground with bioregionalism. Bioregionalism, a recent
movement and concept in geography, can be defined as comprising the theory
and practice of an environmentally friendly policy of living with an emphasis on
place.
Evaluating the representations of nature in terms of their coherence and
usefulness to the current environmental crisis, I argue that these five writers,
challenging the logic of anthropocentrism and industrialism, envisage
sustainable solutions to environmental problems. However, in examining the
extent to which nature was used as a site for the projection of ideas, and the
ideological complexities behind them, I seek to show that these bioregional
narratives interact, in different and complex ways, with other environmental
concepts and movements, such as ecosocialism, ecotourism, and ecofascism.
Focussing on how differently the social and natural environment were perceived
to interact, I will emphasise the breadth of approaches to place within
bioregional fiction. Locating the fictional roots of bioregionalism, Early Green
Narratives is informed by the belief that we can learn much from historical
models, such as offered by Hardy, Phillpotts, Morris, Thomas, and Lawrence.
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