Historical Overview of Environmental Literature 🌎 Flashcards
(44 cards)
List these these three historical movements in chronological:
Romantic, Transcendentalist, Enlightenment
Enlightenment, Romantic, Transcendentalist
What is the word to describe an imagined place or state where everything is perceived to be perfect, including social and economic conditions?
hint: this is one of two key features of environmental literature
utopia
What is the word to describe a society in which there is great suffering and injustice especially in relation to how people are treated by others and by their governments?
dystopia
Consider these example texts: “The Time Machine” by H.G. Wells, “Ecotopia: The Notebooks” by Ernest Callanbach, “Pacific Edge” by Kim Stanley Robinson, “The Dispossessed” by Ursula K. Le Guin, “A Psalm for the Wild-Build” by Becky Chambers.
Are these examples of utopian environmental literature or dystopian environmental literature?
utopia
Consider these example texts: “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia Butler, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” by Philip K. Dick, “The Windup Girl” by Paolo Bacigalupi, “The Fifth Season” by N.K. Jemison, “The Marrow Thieves” by Cherrie Dimaline, and “A Canticle for Leibowitz” by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
Are these examples of utopian environmental literature or dystopian environmental literature?
dystopia
What historical movement in literature occurred during the late 18th and early 19th centuries in the midst of and in response to a period of change and upheaval in England, continental Europe, and the Americas?
Romantic movement
During the Romantic movement, many writers were responding to the _____________ of the previous century’s Enlightenment and looking for a more spiritually healing way of being in the world.
rationalism
Why was poetry so important during the Romantic movement? Why was it appreciated?
- believed that poetry could elevate the human soul and inspire people toward a more just and beautiful world
- poets highlighted social injustices in their poetry, attempted to give voice to those marginalized by society
- made to be accessible to all people, rather than written in elitist and highbrow terms
In what historical movement in literature did writers and artists prioritize imagination and found the natural world to be a vast beacon of freedom, stress the importance of individual freedom, and advocate for aiding humankind?
Romantic movement
Where did the Transcendentalist movement originate?
New England in the United States
In what literary movement during the 19th century did writers emphasize alternative ways of living, advocated for women’s right to vote, better conditions for workers, individual freedom, and other humanitarian causes?
Transcendentalist movement
What is Unitarianism?
German transcendentalists who had earlier influenced the English Romantics, Plato’s philosophies, and mysticism
Where did the Romantic movement originate?
England
What is the concept of “Over-Soul”?
the idea that all souls are linked to one another and that individuals contain he divine inside themselves
What Transcendentalist writer wrote about the concept of the Over-Soul?
Ralph Waldo Emerson
What were the three main influences of American Transcendentalism?
- Unitarianism (German transcendentalists)
- Idea of divine “Over-Soul” present in each person
- Asian belief systems (especially Indian religions–influenced from works in Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Sufism)
Who were two of the most renowned Transcendentalists who were great friends, members of the same literary movement, and were abolitionists who believed in self-reliance and the relationship between soul and nature?
Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson
What is the idea of self-reliance?
idea that individuals should trust their intention over conforming to social standards
What was the name of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s first published essay that espoused his belief that man and nature were infinitely linked and that the divine could be found in nature?
“Nature” (1836)
What are the names of the two pieces of writing that Henry David Thoreau is best known for?
- his treatise on simple living, “Walden” (1854)
- his essay on “Civil Disobedience” (1849)
Who was known for being a naturalist and advocate for the National Parks system?
John Muir
Who was known for being a famed conservationist and author of the important essay “The Land Ethic” (1949)?
Aldo Leopold
List some values/things that John Muir advocated for and pursued throughout his career?
- lobbied for the establishment of Yosemite National Park, and other national parks
- wrote articles about the damage done by domesticated livestock
- wrote about national parks, spanning more than ten volumes of nature writing
- encouraged people to view nature and the parks as sacred spaces for spiritual nourishment
How were Aldo Leopold’s views on the natural environment different than John Muir’s?
He also believed that nature was of spiritual value, but he also acknowledged the land as a resource: aggrieved at the pace and content of conservation education, disparaged the national focus on economic motives for conserving the landscape, found it insufficient
