Thoreau's Sense of Place: Essays in American Environmental Writing (American Land & Life)

Recent Thoreau studies have shifted to an emphasis on the "green" Thoreau, on Thoreau the environmentalist, rooted firmly in particular places and interacting with particular objects. In the wake of Buell's Environmental Imagination, the nineteen essayists in this challenging volume address the central questions in Thoreau studies today: how "green," how immersed in a sense of place, was Thoreau really, and how has this sense of place affected the tradition of nature writing in America? The contributors to this stimulating collection address the ways in which Thoreau and his successors attempt to cope with the basic epistemological split between perceiver and place inherent in writing about nature; related discussions involve the kinds of discourse most effective for writing about place. They focus on the impact on Thoreau and his successors of culturally constructed assumptions deriving from science, politics, race, gender, history, and literary conventions. Finally, they explore the implications surrounding a writer's appropriation or even exploitation of places and objects. Recent Thoreau Studies Have Shifted To An Emphasis On The Green Thoreau, On Thoreau The Environmentalist, Rooted Firmly In Particular Places And Interacting With Particular Objects. In The Wake Of Buell's Environmental Imagination, The Nineteen Essayists In This Challenging Volume Address The Central Questions In Thoreau Studies Today: How Green, How Immersed In A Sense Of Place, Was Thoreau Really, And How Has This Sense Of Place Affected The Tradition Of Nature Writing In America? Believing In Nature : Wilderness And Wildness In Thoreauvian Science / Laura Dassow Walls -- Thoreau's Transcendental Ecocentrism / William Rossi -- Climate Does Thus React On Man : Wildness And Geographic Determinism In Thoreau's Walking / Richard J. Schneider -- In Search Of A More Human Nature : Wendell Berry's Revision Of Thoreau's Experiment / Ted Olson -- Water-signs : Place And Metaphor In Dillard And Thoreau / James A. Papa, Jr. -- Written World : Place And History In Thoreau's A Walk To Wachusett / David M. Robinson -- Thoreau, Thomas Cole, And Asher Durand : Composing The American Landscape / Isaiah Smithson. Edited By Richard J. Schneider ; Foreword By Lawrence Buell. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 285-300) And Index. The contributors to this work address how the environmentalist Henry David Thoreau and his successors attempted to cope with the epistemological split between the perceiver and place inherent in writing about nature. They discuss the kinds of discourse most effective for writing about place.