02433nam a22003858a 4500 CR9780511794162 UkCbUP 20180107143412.0 m|||||o||d|||||||| cr|||||||||||| 100702s2013||||enk s ||1 0|eng|d 9780511794162 (ebook) 9781107005433 (hardback) UkCbUP UkCbUP rda PS163 .Z57 2013 810.9/36 23 Ziser, Michael, author. Environmental Practice and Early American Literature / [electronic resource] Michael Ziser. Environmental Practice & Early American Literature Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2013. 1 online resource (231 pages) : digital, PDF file(s). text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier Cambridge Studies in American Literature and Culture ; no. 166 Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 09 Oct 2015). This original and provocative study tells the story of American literary history from the perspective of its environmental context. Weaving together close readings of early American texts with ecological histories of tobacco, potatoes, apples and honey bees, Michael Ziser presents a method for literary criticism that explodes the conceptual distinction between the civilized and natural world. Beginning with the English exploration of Virginia in the sixteenth century, Ziser argues that the settlement of the 'New World' - and the cultivation and exploitation of its bounty - dramatically altered how writers used language to describe the phenomena they encountered on the frontier. Examining the work of Harriot, Grainger, Cooper, Thoreau and others, Ziser reveals how these authors, whether consciously or not, transcribed the vibrant ecology of North America, and the ways that the environment helped codify a uniquely American literary aesthetic of lasting importance. Nature in literature Ecology in literature Agriculture in literature Agent (Philosophy) in literature Print version: 9781107005433 Cambridge Studies in American Literature and Culture ; no. 166. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511794162 Cambridge Books Online 236502 236502