The Medieval Green Age: Environmentalism and English Literature in the Middle Ages
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Issue Date
2014-05-31Author
Martinez, Ann Marie
Publisher
University of Kansas
Format
170 pages
Type
Dissertation
Degree Level
Ph.D.
Discipline
English
Rights
Copyright held by the author.
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
In my dissertation I challenge standing views of the Middle Ages by forging a connection between current ecocritical theory and the representation of the environment in Medieval literature. Grounding my argument with historical texts on wildlife and land management, I explore perspectives toward property, man's role as God's designated guardian over nature in former ages, and the relationships pre-modern writers constructed between society and nature. My project takes a broad view: beginning with the earliest documented English concerns about land in Beowulf, and then focusing on The Canterbury Tales, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, I trace the extent to which medieval attitudes toward land use, landscape beautification, and woodland delineation developed within the emerging English nation. I conclude the project by arguing that these medieval perspectives shaped modern views on nature. Such a transhistorical framework allows me to challenge the still-dominant assumption that environmental awareness is a relatively recent development. I argue instead that medieval attitudes constitute a crucially important pre-history to our modern views regarding the use, exploitation, and sustainability of the environment.
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- Dissertations [4702]
- English Dissertations and Theses [449]
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