ENVIRONMENTAL LITERATURE
Environmentalist Literature:
“Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life. Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe, the less taste we shall have for destruction.” -Rachel Carson
Long before it was a crisis, authors were studying and writing about the climate and warning readers not to take it for granted. It’s more important than ever to educate oneself about the importance of climate change and to appreciate the complex beauty and miraculous inner workings of our natural world. Environmental literature deals with man and his relationship to nature and how we’re inextricably linked. Usually a call to action, this kind of reading material can serve as a warning and plead for us to take measures before it’s too late or desperate. Nature-centric literature can also be as straightforward as educational text. When we’re informed about the complexities of flora and fauna we can appreciate it all the more.
One usually doesn’t fight for something they take for granted or overlook. For example, Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” details a world without birds singing. When we go outdoors we just assume we’ll hear the cacophony of birdsong but that isn’t guaranteed (and certainly wasn’t when she wrote it in 1962 for fear of the widespread use of chemical pesticides such as DDT). A seminal book that was the first to deal with the dangers of pesticides –and a must-read for anyone interested in nature—Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” was also a treatise on conservationism. As a marine biologist, Carson was one of the first women to work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Bureau and famously published “The Sea Around Us” and “Under the Sea.”
Nature Studies: Botanical Illustrations
Beatrix Potter—a favorite of Full Cycle Publications— was, first and foremost, a nature lover. While she is most well-known and beloved for her unforgettable children’s book characters, such as Peter Rabbit and Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, she was always a keen observer of nature and its most intricate details. For example, her nature studies at the Morgan Library (as part of her “Drawn to Nature” exhibit) demonstrate her magnified sketches of something as unassuming as a ground beetle.
While roots of true environmentalist literature are usually considered to have begun with Thoreau’s Walden, some of the most visually appealing studies came about hundreds of years ago, during the 18th century. In 1701 Maria Sibylla Merian—a Swiss naturalist—was the first to document the metamorphosis of certain insects and is known as one of the world’s greatest botanical artists. Her color plates and engravings are, to this day, studied for their clarity and precision. “The Temple of Flora” (1807) by Robert John Thornton is another prime example of botanical art and illustration. Christian Gottlieb Ludwig’s “Relief Copies of Plants” contains invaluable contributions to botany, while some of the first photographs ever taken (known as “cyanotypes”) were of British algae by Anna Atkins in 1853.
The first to publish books on entomology include the German zoologist Alfred Brehm (1829-1884) and Edmund Reitter. Their illustrated texts undoubtedly inspired such writings as Franz Kafka’s most famous short story, “The Metamorphosis.” Auguste-Henri Forel’s “The Social World of Ants Compared with that of Man” (1928) was revolutionary when discussing the psychic capabilities of insects and how they relate to each other. One of the greatest contemporary fiction writers whose work delves into nature and who uses landscape as both setting and character is Annie Proulx (author of “Brokeback Mountain”). Her novel, “Barkskins,” inspired sketches of plants found in remote areas of northern Texas (on view at the NYPL).
Inspired by the Naturalist and Romantic Poets
“Ecocriticism is the interdisciplinary study of the connections between literature and the environment.” There is no doubt that Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass”—most notably “Song of Myself”—is one of the greatest examples of literature that exalts nature, its inner workings, and, most notably, the self. Man alone in the wilderness against the elements is a fantastic trope for inspiration: “I will go to the bank by the wood and become undisguised and naked, I am mad for it to be in contact with me.” John Keats—a Romantic—went “out to the hazelwood” because a fire was in his head, while Henry David Thoreau went to the woods “to live deliberately.” It is these writers we need now, to guide us through uncertain times and remind conservationists what they’re up against. For more about the authors and books mentioned in this blog, click the links provided below (and to learn more about Full Cycle Publications, its books and commitment to educating young readers about the world around them, check out the website).
https://www.livescience.com/62185-rachel-carson-biography.html
https://www.themorgan.org/sites/default/files/pdf/education/Beatrix-Potter-Family-Guide.pdf
https://www.nypl.org/events/exhibitions/galleries/visual-world/item/11279
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