American Nature Writing

This book introduces the origin, development and current situation of American nature writing. It analyses the works of representative writers such as Thoreau, Emerson, Burroughs, Olson, etc. and their respective relations or stories with nature, which offers the reader with a fascinating insight into American nature writing.

This book introduces the origin, development and current state of American nature writing. It organizes many representative authors and works of American nature writing into such categories as the influence of transcendentalism, the wilderness complex, the English cultural heritage, female writers, land ethics, and refuge of the heart. As a multi-disciplinary field combining language, literature, philosophy, ecology, botany, and ethics, American nature writing seeks to tell intimate personal experiences of places and explore the connection between human spirituality and nature in a particular place, blending natural history with the history of human development. These are the focus of this book. It analyzes key representative writers of American nature writing such as Thoreau, Emerson, Burroughs, Muir, Abbey, Leopold and Williams, and their works and respective personal relationships with nature, offering the reader a fascinating insight into American nature writing.

Autorentext

Hong Cheng, PhD, is a professor at the School of Foreign Studies, Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing. Professor Cheng's academic interests are in English literature teaching and research, nature writing and ecocriticism. She has been engaged in the studies of Anglo-American nature writing for many years and has published extensively in this field, including the Chinese translations of several well-known English works in American nature writing.

Inhalt

Introduction - The Origin and History of American Nature Writing - The New Continent in Nature Writing - The Influence of Transcendentalism on Nature Writing - The Wilderness Complex Reflected in Nature Writing - The English Cultural Heritage in Nature Writing - Female Writers in Nature Writing - Land Ethics in Nature Writing - Refuge of the Heart in Nature Writing - Ecocriticism- An Extension of Nature Writing - Conclusion - Index