The eighteenth century has frequently been criticized for promulgating a hierarchical, utilitaria... more The eighteenth century has frequently been criticized for promulgating a hierarchical, utilitarian relationship between humans and the non-human world. This article argues that the legal concept of usufruct serves as the basis for eighteenth-century understandings of that hierarchy. Usufruct explicitly combines the right to use nature with a responsibility to a higher authority to preserve it. Among the most important groups to whom humans are responsible according to eighteenth century English legal, religious, and literary discourse are the future generations who need the environment to be preserved to survive.
In recent years, a growing number of 18th-century scholars have begun applying an ecocritical len... more In recent years, a growing number of 18th-century scholars have begun applying an ecocritical lens to texts that were previously ignored or denigrated by environmental literary critics. These scholars have persuasively argued that 18th-century English literature consistently expresses profound love and concern for the non-human world even as it often celebrates human use of it. Meanwhile, the environmental legacy of 18th-century developments like the Industrial Revolution and the emergence of the Anthropocene—the geological epoch in which humans have become the primary driver of climatic change—establish in an unprecedentedly concrete fashion the fundamental connection between 18th- and 21st-century environmental concerns. That connection makes it especially appropriate to pair 18th-century English literature and ecocriticism in the classroom. The course outlined in this article combines units that survey trends in 18th-century nature writing and environmental history with those that apply ecocritical approaches such as ecofeminism to a selection of 18th-century texts in order to provide students with a strong command of both ecocriticism and 18th-century English literature on nature.
The eighteenth century has frequently been criticized for promulgating a hierarchical, utilitaria... more The eighteenth century has frequently been criticized for promulgating a hierarchical, utilitarian relationship between humans and the non-human world. This article argues that the legal concept of usufruct serves as the basis for eighteenth-century understandings of that hierarchy. Usufruct explicitly combines the right to use nature with a responsibility to a higher authority to preserve it. Among the most important groups to whom humans are responsible according to eighteenth century English legal, religious, and literary discourse are the future generations who need the environment to be preserved to survive.
In recent years, a growing number of 18th-century scholars have begun applying an ecocritical len... more In recent years, a growing number of 18th-century scholars have begun applying an ecocritical lens to texts that were previously ignored or denigrated by environmental literary critics. These scholars have persuasively argued that 18th-century English literature consistently expresses profound love and concern for the non-human world even as it often celebrates human use of it. Meanwhile, the environmental legacy of 18th-century developments like the Industrial Revolution and the emergence of the Anthropocene—the geological epoch in which humans have become the primary driver of climatic change—establish in an unprecedentedly concrete fashion the fundamental connection between 18th- and 21st-century environmental concerns. That connection makes it especially appropriate to pair 18th-century English literature and ecocriticism in the classroom. The course outlined in this article combines units that survey trends in 18th-century nature writing and environmental history with those that apply ecocritical approaches such as ecofeminism to a selection of 18th-century texts in order to provide students with a strong command of both ecocriticism and 18th-century English literature on nature.
Uploads
Papers by Erin Drew