Speaking for nature - Sylvia Bowerbank

According to the tenets of ecofeminism, there are explicit connections between society's treatment of women and the degradation of our environment, connections made apparent in the patriarchal devaluation of both women and nature. In Speaking for Nature, a groundbreaking inquiry into the contributions of early modern English women writers to ecological thought, Sylvia Bowerbank uncovers the historical roots of contemporary debates within ecofeminism as found in the works of such major literary figures as Mary Wroth, Margaret Cavendish, and Mary Wollstonecraft. In early modern England, the entry of women into the politics of nature occurred during a volatile period when the cultural meaning of nature was being destabilized by scientific advances and religious controversies, thus opening up new rights, roles, and responsibilities for women. For the two centuries covered in this book, Bowerbank describes a range of choices made by literary women in negotiating their place within the broader discourse on nature and humanity's changing relationship to it.;We learn about Wroth's gendered critique of pastoral fantasies and green utopias, Cavendish's resistance to the philosophy that declared "Great Nature" dead, and Wollstonecraft's opposition to both world capitalism and local subsistence. Anna Seward champions the local as a site of environmental well-being and the eighteenth-century invention of "the study of nature" as a legitimate field of intellectual inquiry. Speaking for Nature explores this rich, diverse, and often contradictory legacy of ecological thought, the value of which is only just being appreciated and evaluated by present-day environmentalists and feminists. "Combines in-depth eruditeness, innovative approaches, and a passionate, political commitment. This book is a crucial recovery of early modern women's contributions to ecological thought as well as a highly interesting addition to current ecofeminist debates."--Nina Lykke, Linkoping University "Sylvia Bowerbank's engaged study melds the concerns of a contemporary ecofeminism with literary scholarship. Ecologists will encounter a rich history of writings and activities by early modern women who brought critical perspectives to bear on ideas about nature.;Students of women's writing will meet familiar figures in new guises as Bowerbank puts her ear to how authors as diverse as Mary Wroth, Sarah Scott, Anna Seward, and Mary Wollstonecraft 'speak for nature.' Bowerbank's ecological sensibility brings past and present together in an evocative historical amalgam."--Ann B. Shteir, York University "Speaking for Nature is a rich and original study which invites reflection about the meaning of 'Nature' in the western cultural tradition. Sylvia Bowerbank takes her readers on a journey through texts, time, and land. She discusses both the physical landscapes of the past and present, and the moral issues involved in thinking about how the land has been apprehended. Bowerbank is learned and profoundly reflective about the meaning of literautre and landscape for us now. She writed with elegance and assurance. Her wonderful book reads like an engaging conversation, one which will continue to occupy the reader's thoughts."--Patricia Crawford, University of Western Australia