John Gatta
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195165050
- eISBN:
- 9780199835140
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195165055.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature
Beginning in the latter half of the nineteenth century, Darwinism had a varied impact on American sensibilities. John Muir, for example, studied science and accepted the transmutative premise of ...
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Beginning in the latter half of the nineteenth century, Darwinism had a varied impact on American sensibilities. John Muir, for example, studied science and accepted the transmutative premise of evolutionary theory--but retained a biblically colored piety that saw God’s presence inscribed “in magnificent capitals” at places like Yosemite. During this extended period, writings by Mary Austin and Black Elk reflect their encounters with versions of naturalistic piety lying outside Euro-American ethnic traditions. Still, the written form in which Black Elk expressed his ecological vision of holiness, as imaged in the great hoop of the Lakota nation, was decidedly influenced by his contact with non-Indian culture. Although Rachel Carson was a committed scientist whose work presupposed belief in organic evolution, her writing also reflects a robust spirituality founded upon reverence for life and for the mystery of things unseen.Less
Beginning in the latter half of the nineteenth century, Darwinism had a varied impact on American sensibilities. John Muir, for example, studied science and accepted the transmutative premise of evolutionary theory--but retained a biblically colored piety that saw God’s presence inscribed “in magnificent capitals” at places like Yosemite. During this extended period, writings by Mary Austin and Black Elk reflect their encounters with versions of naturalistic piety lying outside Euro-American ethnic traditions. Still, the written form in which Black Elk expressed his ecological vision of holiness, as imaged in the great hoop of the Lakota nation, was decidedly influenced by his contact with non-Indian culture. Although Rachel Carson was a committed scientist whose work presupposed belief in organic evolution, her writing also reflects a robust spirituality founded upon reverence for life and for the mystery of things unseen.
Robert W. Righter
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195149470
- eISBN:
- 9780199788934
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195149470.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
In early 1908, San Francisco felt confident that the Hetch Hetchy Valley would soon hold a reservoir. Secretary of the Interior James Garfield favored the city, and he formally approved the city's ...
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In early 1908, San Francisco felt confident that the Hetch Hetchy Valley would soon hold a reservoir. Secretary of the Interior James Garfield favored the city, and he formally approved the city's application in May. The Garfield grant, however, necessitated congressional hearings. In the House of Representatives and the Senate, damaging testimony as to the value of national parks influenced the legislators. San Francisco lost its chance for congressional approval of the Garfield grant. Now Muir, William Colby, Harriet Monroe, J. Horace McFarland, Robert Underwood Johnson, and others took the offensive. They formed the Society for the Preservation of National Parks to give their cause a more national voice. They enlisted the help of hiking and mountaineering clubs, and the General Federation of Women's Clubs. The new organization put out circulars attacking San Francisco's plans and offering alternatives. San Francisco responded with an attack on Muir and the “sentimentalists”, which it labeled “short-haired women and long-haired men”. Equally significant, the Roosevelt Administration left office and with it went Garfield, and soon, Pinchot. Congress, somewhat befuddled by the Hetch Hetchy controversy, endorsed a study by the US Geological Survey.Less
In early 1908, San Francisco felt confident that the Hetch Hetchy Valley would soon hold a reservoir. Secretary of the Interior James Garfield favored the city, and he formally approved the city's application in May. The Garfield grant, however, necessitated congressional hearings. In the House of Representatives and the Senate, damaging testimony as to the value of national parks influenced the legislators. San Francisco lost its chance for congressional approval of the Garfield grant. Now Muir, William Colby, Harriet Monroe, J. Horace McFarland, Robert Underwood Johnson, and others took the offensive. They formed the Society for the Preservation of National Parks to give their cause a more national voice. They enlisted the help of hiking and mountaineering clubs, and the General Federation of Women's Clubs. The new organization put out circulars attacking San Francisco's plans and offering alternatives. San Francisco responded with an attack on Muir and the “sentimentalists”, which it labeled “short-haired women and long-haired men”. Equally significant, the Roosevelt Administration left office and with it went Garfield, and soon, Pinchot. Congress, somewhat befuddled by the Hetch Hetchy controversy, endorsed a study by the US Geological Survey.
Robert W. Righter
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195149470
- eISBN:
- 9780199788934
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195149470.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
Miwok Indians from the Central Valley and Piute Indians from east of the Sierra Nevada were the first peoples to inhabit the Hetch Hetchy Valley. They were transient inhabitants, spending the summer ...
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Miwok Indians from the Central Valley and Piute Indians from east of the Sierra Nevada were the first peoples to inhabit the Hetch Hetchy Valley. They were transient inhabitants, spending the summer and fall hunting and fishing, and harvesting acorns and grasses. The first Euro-Americans to see the valley were associated with the California Gold Rush. They found no gold, but a rather lush, long meadow useful for sheep grazing. But the beauty of the valley attracted naturalists such as John Muir, painters, and explorers. However, compared to its sister valley, Yosemite, in 1900 Hetch Hetchy was virtually unknown.Less
Miwok Indians from the Central Valley and Piute Indians from east of the Sierra Nevada were the first peoples to inhabit the Hetch Hetchy Valley. They were transient inhabitants, spending the summer and fall hunting and fishing, and harvesting acorns and grasses. The first Euro-Americans to see the valley were associated with the California Gold Rush. They found no gold, but a rather lush, long meadow useful for sheep grazing. But the beauty of the valley attracted naturalists such as John Muir, painters, and explorers. However, compared to its sister valley, Yosemite, in 1900 Hetch Hetchy was virtually unknown.
Mark I. Wallace
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780823281329
- eISBN:
- 9780823284955
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823281329.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Chapter 4 keys on John Muir’s ecstatic wilderness religion as a paradigm of the dialectic between Christianity and animism at the center of this book, namely, Christianimism. Muir’s nature evangelism ...
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Chapter 4 keys on John Muir’s ecstatic wilderness religion as a paradigm of the dialectic between Christianity and animism at the center of this book, namely, Christianimism. Muir’s nature evangelism came at the price of rhetorically abetting the forced removal of Native Americans from their homes within the fledgling national parks movement. Notwithstanding this stain on Muir’s legacy, his thought is notable for rethinking the full arc of Jesus’ life—John the Baptist, departure into wilderness, temple money-changers, and crucifixion—in deeply personal terms that are environmental and biblically sonorous. Muir advocates a two bookstheology in which the Bible and the Earth are equally compelling revelatory “texts.” His Yosemite spirituality reaches its apogee in his 1870 “woody gospel letter,” a paean to a homophilic, orgasmic religion of sensual delight: “Come suck Sequoia and be saved.” In Muir’s spirit, the chapter concludes that Christianity is still not Christianity because of its erstwhile hostility to embodied existence.Less
Chapter 4 keys on John Muir’s ecstatic wilderness religion as a paradigm of the dialectic between Christianity and animism at the center of this book, namely, Christianimism. Muir’s nature evangelism came at the price of rhetorically abetting the forced removal of Native Americans from their homes within the fledgling national parks movement. Notwithstanding this stain on Muir’s legacy, his thought is notable for rethinking the full arc of Jesus’ life—John the Baptist, departure into wilderness, temple money-changers, and crucifixion—in deeply personal terms that are environmental and biblically sonorous. Muir advocates a two bookstheology in which the Bible and the Earth are equally compelling revelatory “texts.” His Yosemite spirituality reaches its apogee in his 1870 “woody gospel letter,” a paean to a homophilic, orgasmic religion of sensual delight: “Come suck Sequoia and be saved.” In Muir’s spirit, the chapter concludes that Christianity is still not Christianity because of its erstwhile hostility to embodied existence.
Robert C. Fuller
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195369175
- eISBN:
- 9780199871186
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195369175.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The emotion of wonder is among our genetically encoded programs for responding to unexpected features of the environment. Wonder is distinct from other emotions in its ability to foster receptivity, ...
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The emotion of wonder is among our genetically encoded programs for responding to unexpected features of the environment. Wonder is distinct from other emotions in its ability to foster receptivity, openness, metaphysical thinking, and moral sensitivity. Biological and psychological studies of wonder help us understand the moods and motivations that distinguish aesthetic spirituality or nature religion.Less
The emotion of wonder is among our genetically encoded programs for responding to unexpected features of the environment. Wonder is distinct from other emotions in its ability to foster receptivity, openness, metaphysical thinking, and moral sensitivity. Biological and psychological studies of wonder help us understand the moods and motivations that distinguish aesthetic spirituality or nature religion.
Caroline Schaumann
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780300231946
- eISBN:
- 9780300252828
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300231946.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This chapter investigates John Muir's texts against the backdrop of privileged notions of exclusivity regarding race, gender, and class. It also highlight's Muir's astute environmental and political ...
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This chapter investigates John Muir's texts against the backdrop of privileged notions of exclusivity regarding race, gender, and class. It also highlight's Muir's astute environmental and political critique, as well as his passionate and sensual delving into a more-than-human world. The chapter points out how Muir both epitomized and complicated a dualistic mindset and actively promoted and aided tourism, arguing that city dwellers needed vacation time in the mountains. It describes how Muir grew politically engaged and became one of the most effectual advocates for the national parks, becoming instrumental in making wilderness accessible to white men. It also talks about Muir's book that was distributed to both West and East Coast readership, which includes carefully crafted narratives of his achievements and his adventures and promotion of tourism in Yosemite Valley.Less
This chapter investigates John Muir's texts against the backdrop of privileged notions of exclusivity regarding race, gender, and class. It also highlight's Muir's astute environmental and political critique, as well as his passionate and sensual delving into a more-than-human world. The chapter points out how Muir both epitomized and complicated a dualistic mindset and actively promoted and aided tourism, arguing that city dwellers needed vacation time in the mountains. It describes how Muir grew politically engaged and became one of the most effectual advocates for the national parks, becoming instrumental in making wilderness accessible to white men. It also talks about Muir's book that was distributed to both West and East Coast readership, which includes carefully crafted narratives of his achievements and his adventures and promotion of tourism in Yosemite Valley.
Robert W. Righter
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195149470
- eISBN:
- 9780199788934
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195149470.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
Two leaders emerged as San Francisco pursued the valley: Mayor James Phelan and naturalist John Muir. Both were determined and led strong constituencies, and each held competing views of the meaning ...
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Two leaders emerged as San Francisco pursued the valley: Mayor James Phelan and naturalist John Muir. Both were determined and led strong constituencies, and each held competing views of the meaning of progress. Phelan was convinced a great dam symbolized human determination and ingenuity, and would enhance nature. Muir was skeptical that humans could improve on nature, and certainly not in the mountain sanctuary of Hetch Hetchy. John Muir and the Sierra Club held the upper hand until the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 intervened to change everything. The prostrate city with four square miles of its heart in smoldering ruins became an object of both pity and charity. Who could deny the city its desire for abundant water? Furthermore, many blamed the fire on the privately-owned Spring Valley Water Company. San Francisco reapplied for a permit. With the support of US Forest Service chief Gifford Pinchot and the sympathy of Secretary of the Interior James Garfield, the city felt assured that soon its engineers would be damming the Hetch Hetchy Valley and building an aqueduct to transport the water to the city.Less
Two leaders emerged as San Francisco pursued the valley: Mayor James Phelan and naturalist John Muir. Both were determined and led strong constituencies, and each held competing views of the meaning of progress. Phelan was convinced a great dam symbolized human determination and ingenuity, and would enhance nature. Muir was skeptical that humans could improve on nature, and certainly not in the mountain sanctuary of Hetch Hetchy. John Muir and the Sierra Club held the upper hand until the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 intervened to change everything. The prostrate city with four square miles of its heart in smoldering ruins became an object of both pity and charity. Who could deny the city its desire for abundant water? Furthermore, many blamed the fire on the privately-owned Spring Valley Water Company. San Francisco reapplied for a permit. With the support of US Forest Service chief Gifford Pinchot and the sympathy of Secretary of the Interior James Garfield, the city felt assured that soon its engineers would be damming the Hetch Hetchy Valley and building an aqueduct to transport the water to the city.
Robert W. Righter
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195149470
- eISBN:
- 9780199788934
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195149470.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This is the story of water, a valley, and a city. The city was San Francisco, the valley was Hetch Hetchy, and the waters were from the Tuolumne River watershed, located within Yosemite National ...
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This is the story of water, a valley, and a city. The city was San Francisco, the valley was Hetch Hetchy, and the waters were from the Tuolumne River watershed, located within Yosemite National Park. In 1905, for the first time in American history, a significant national opposition led by John Muir and the Sierra Club sought to protect the valley from a dam, believing that its beauty should be enjoyed by the American people. On the other side, San Franciso mayor James Phelan believed it was his civic responsibility to provide his 750,000 constituents with a pure, abundant source of water. From 1905 until 1913, the two sides fought over the destiny of the Hetch Hetchy: Would the glacier-carved valley become a reservoir or remain an inviolate part of Yosemite National Park? Finally, Congress decided the issue by passage of the Raker Act, granting the valley to San Francisco's use. By 1923, San Francisco engineers completed the huge O'Shaughnessy Dam, submerging the valley under over 200 feet of water. However, the battle did not end. Who would control the vast watershed of the Tuolumne River: The City of San Francisco or the National Park Service? And would the hydro electric power provide for a city-owned system or would it be sold to a private company? For the first time, the full story of this epic battle is told in an evenhanded way. It is a story without end, however, and the final chapter discusses the idea of removing the dam and restoring the valley, an idea which is gaining currency throughout the US.Less
This is the story of water, a valley, and a city. The city was San Francisco, the valley was Hetch Hetchy, and the waters were from the Tuolumne River watershed, located within Yosemite National Park. In 1905, for the first time in American history, a significant national opposition led by John Muir and the Sierra Club sought to protect the valley from a dam, believing that its beauty should be enjoyed by the American people. On the other side, San Franciso mayor James Phelan believed it was his civic responsibility to provide his 750,000 constituents with a pure, abundant source of water. From 1905 until 1913, the two sides fought over the destiny of the Hetch Hetchy: Would the glacier-carved valley become a reservoir or remain an inviolate part of Yosemite National Park? Finally, Congress decided the issue by passage of the Raker Act, granting the valley to San Francisco's use. By 1923, San Francisco engineers completed the huge O'Shaughnessy Dam, submerging the valley under over 200 feet of water. However, the battle did not end. Who would control the vast watershed of the Tuolumne River: The City of San Francisco or the National Park Service? And would the hydro electric power provide for a city-owned system or would it be sold to a private company? For the first time, the full story of this epic battle is told in an evenhanded way. It is a story without end, however, and the final chapter discusses the idea of removing the dam and restoring the valley, an idea which is gaining currency throughout the US.
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804776080
- eISBN:
- 9780804778947
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804776080.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
This chapter examines the California travel narratives of Scottish free spirits Robert Louis Stevenson and John Muir, who set out to purge the Victorian cult of leisure, specifically, outdoorsy ...
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This chapter examines the California travel narratives of Scottish free spirits Robert Louis Stevenson and John Muir, who set out to purge the Victorian cult of leisure, specifically, outdoorsy sportiness, of its proprietary egoism. They reimagine the Golden State, their adopted home, as a sublime Romantic playground where the middle-class male ego disintegrates in the face of destructive nature, and where competitive men are reborn as little cosmic boys. Stevenson and Muir's literary efforts to rebrand California as a postapocalyptic, neo-Caledonian playground, as a land of death and play, helped shape the fledgling state's image of itself as an otherworldly and exceptional place. Modern California is a product, in part, of the Victorian world in play.Less
This chapter examines the California travel narratives of Scottish free spirits Robert Louis Stevenson and John Muir, who set out to purge the Victorian cult of leisure, specifically, outdoorsy sportiness, of its proprietary egoism. They reimagine the Golden State, their adopted home, as a sublime Romantic playground where the middle-class male ego disintegrates in the face of destructive nature, and where competitive men are reborn as little cosmic boys. Stevenson and Muir's literary efforts to rebrand California as a postapocalyptic, neo-Caledonian playground, as a land of death and play, helped shape the fledgling state's image of itself as an otherworldly and exceptional place. Modern California is a product, in part, of the Victorian world in play.
Neil M. Maher
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195306019
- eISBN:
- 9780199867820
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195306019.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
Chapter One examines the ideological origins of New Deal conservation and the CCC. It begins by showing how the idea for the Corps originated both from Roosevelt's early experiences with the ...
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Chapter One examines the ideological origins of New Deal conservation and the CCC. It begins by showing how the idea for the Corps originated both from Roosevelt's early experiences with the Progressive conservation movement, and, more surprisingly, from his lifelong involvement with the Boy Scouts. Similar to many progressive reform efforts such as the city beautiful, playground, and urban parks movements, the Boy Scouts promoted the notion that social behavior could be shaped by manipulating one's physical surroundings or environment. Chapter One illustrates how this philosophy not only influenced Roosevelt's decision to create the Corps, which like the Boy Scouts took young men from diseased urban settings and placed them in healthful environments in nature, but also greatly influenced early New Deal politics. The creation of work relief programs that put urban men to work in rural areas, Roosevelt knew from experiences as governor of New York, significantly raised his political capital. Creating the Corps, this chapter concludes, not only introduced the Boy Scout philosophy to the conservation movement but also helped the new president jump-start the New Deal.Less
Chapter One examines the ideological origins of New Deal conservation and the CCC. It begins by showing how the idea for the Corps originated both from Roosevelt's early experiences with the Progressive conservation movement, and, more surprisingly, from his lifelong involvement with the Boy Scouts. Similar to many progressive reform efforts such as the city beautiful, playground, and urban parks movements, the Boy Scouts promoted the notion that social behavior could be shaped by manipulating one's physical surroundings or environment. Chapter One illustrates how this philosophy not only influenced Roosevelt's decision to create the Corps, which like the Boy Scouts took young men from diseased urban settings and placed them in healthful environments in nature, but also greatly influenced early New Deal politics. The creation of work relief programs that put urban men to work in rural areas, Roosevelt knew from experiences as governor of New York, significantly raised his political capital. Creating the Corps, this chapter concludes, not only introduced the Boy Scout philosophy to the conservation movement but also helped the new president jump-start the New Deal.
John Gatta
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195165050
- eISBN:
- 9780199835140
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195165055.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature
Since colonial times, the sense of encountering an unseen, transcendental Presence within the natural world has been a characteristic motif in American literature and culture. In this book, the ...
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Since colonial times, the sense of encountering an unseen, transcendental Presence within the natural world has been a characteristic motif in American literature and culture. In this book, the author suggests that the religious import of environmental literature has yet to be fully recognized or understood. Whatever their theology, American writers have perennially construed the nonhuman world to be a source, in Rachel Carson’s words, of “something that takes us out of ourselves.”Reflecting recent practice of “ecocriticism,” Making Nature Sacred explores how the quest for natural revelation has been pursued through successive phases of American literary and intellectual history. And it shows how the imaginative challenge of “reading” landscapes has been influenced by biblical hermeneutics. Though focused on adaptations of Judeo-Christian tradition that view nature as religiously iconic, it also samples Native American, African American, and Buddhist forms of ecospirituality. It begins with Colonial New England writers such Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards, re-examines pivotal figures such as Henry Thoreau and John Muir, and takes account of writings by Mary Austin, Rachel Carson, and many others along the way. The book concludes with an assessment of the “spiritual renaissance” underway in current environmental writing. Such writing is represented by prose writers such as Wendell Berry, Annie Dillard, John Cheever, Marilynne Robinson, Peter Matthiessen, and Barry Lopez; and by noteworthy poets including Patiann Rogers, Wendell Berry, Gary Snyder, Mary Oliver, and Denise Levertov. American writers testify overall that our ecological predicament must be understood not merely as a technical challenge, but as a genuine crisis of spirit and imagination.Less
Since colonial times, the sense of encountering an unseen, transcendental Presence within the natural world has been a characteristic motif in American literature and culture. In this book, the author suggests that the religious import of environmental literature has yet to be fully recognized or understood. Whatever their theology, American writers have perennially construed the nonhuman world to be a source, in Rachel Carson’s words, of “something that takes us out of ourselves.”
Reflecting recent practice of “ecocriticism,” Making Nature Sacred explores how the quest for natural revelation has been pursued through successive phases of American literary and intellectual history. And it shows how the imaginative challenge of “reading” landscapes has been influenced by biblical hermeneutics. Though focused on adaptations of Judeo-Christian tradition that view nature as religiously iconic, it also samples Native American, African American, and Buddhist forms of ecospirituality. It begins with Colonial New England writers such Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards, re-examines pivotal figures such as Henry Thoreau and John Muir, and takes account of writings by Mary Austin, Rachel Carson, and many others along the way. The book concludes with an assessment of the “spiritual renaissance” underway in current environmental writing. Such writing is represented by prose writers such as Wendell Berry, Annie Dillard, John Cheever, Marilynne Robinson, Peter Matthiessen, and Barry Lopez; and by noteworthy poets including Patiann Rogers, Wendell Berry, Gary Snyder, Mary Oliver, and Denise Levertov. American writers testify overall that our ecological predicament must be understood not merely as a technical challenge, but as a genuine crisis of spirit and imagination.
Matthew Kaiser
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804776080
- eISBN:
- 9780804778947
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804776080.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
Nineteenth-century Britain was a world in play. The Victorians invented the weekend and built hundreds of parks and playgrounds. In the wake of Darwin, they re-imagined nature as a contest for ...
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Nineteenth-century Britain was a world in play. The Victorians invented the weekend and built hundreds of parks and playgrounds. In the wake of Darwin, they re-imagined nature as a contest for survival. The playful child became a symbol of the future. A world in play means two things: a world in flux and a world trapped, like Alice in Wonderland, in a ludic microcosm of itself. This book explores the extent to which play (competition, leisure, mischief, luck, festivity, imagination) pervades nineteenth-century literature and culture and forms the foundations of the modern self. Play made the Victorian world cohere and betrayed the illusoriness of that coherence. This is the paradox of modernity. The author gives an account of how certain Victorian misfits—working-class melodramatists of the 1830s, the reclusive Emily Brontë, free spirits Robert Louis Stevenson and John Muir, mischievous Oscar Wilde—struggled to make sense of this new world. In so doing, they discovered the art of modern life.Less
Nineteenth-century Britain was a world in play. The Victorians invented the weekend and built hundreds of parks and playgrounds. In the wake of Darwin, they re-imagined nature as a contest for survival. The playful child became a symbol of the future. A world in play means two things: a world in flux and a world trapped, like Alice in Wonderland, in a ludic microcosm of itself. This book explores the extent to which play (competition, leisure, mischief, luck, festivity, imagination) pervades nineteenth-century literature and culture and forms the foundations of the modern self. Play made the Victorian world cohere and betrayed the illusoriness of that coherence. This is the paradox of modernity. The author gives an account of how certain Victorian misfits—working-class melodramatists of the 1830s, the reclusive Emily Brontë, free spirits Robert Louis Stevenson and John Muir, mischievous Oscar Wilde—struggled to make sense of this new world. In so doing, they discovered the art of modern life.
Robert C. Fuller
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- July 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807829950
- eISBN:
- 9781469605593
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9780807889909_fuller.7
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter explores the link between phenomenology (that is, the full, lived range of thought and feeling as registered by the experiencing subject) and wonder. It shows how emotional experience ...
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This chapter explores the link between phenomenology (that is, the full, lived range of thought and feeling as registered by the experiencing subject) and wonder. It shows how emotional experience can affect motivation, perception, and cognition in ways that influence moods and personality traits, which in turn predisposes individuals to certain philosophical and spiritual orientations to their world. More specifically, it examines how experiences of wonder can have a profound effect on a person's existential posture toward life. The chapter looks at one individual whose life was shaped by recurring experiences of wonder: John Muir, the earliest leader of the American nature preservation movement. It shows how Muir responded to displays of natural beauty and how that response led to an essentially pantheistic view of the relatedness and sacredness of all being.Less
This chapter explores the link between phenomenology (that is, the full, lived range of thought and feeling as registered by the experiencing subject) and wonder. It shows how emotional experience can affect motivation, perception, and cognition in ways that influence moods and personality traits, which in turn predisposes individuals to certain philosophical and spiritual orientations to their world. More specifically, it examines how experiences of wonder can have a profound effect on a person's existential posture toward life. The chapter looks at one individual whose life was shaped by recurring experiences of wonder: John Muir, the earliest leader of the American nature preservation movement. It shows how Muir responded to displays of natural beauty and how that response led to an essentially pantheistic view of the relatedness and sacredness of all being.
Louisa Gairn
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748633111
- eISBN:
- 9780748653447
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748633111.003.0003
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Scottish Studies
This chapter explores the confrontation of modernity and wilderness in Stevenson's fiction and travel writings, relating this to the work of John Muir and to ideas developed by Henry David Thoreau, ...
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This chapter explores the confrontation of modernity and wilderness in Stevenson's fiction and travel writings, relating this to the work of John Muir and to ideas developed by Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, and Charles Baudelaire, taking up the idea of ‘exile’ in the context of the philosophy of ‘dwelling’ developed by ecotheorists. It notes that Stevenson's generation experienced an unprecedented acceleration of ‘progress’, where rapid developments in technology and urbanisation disrupted the idea of home and homeland. It further notes that progress for Stevenson and other Scots brought with it the possibility of international travel, and exposure to exotic lands and wilderness areas which appeared, to the Old World observer, as somehow ahistorical, a confusing mix of primordial nature and the markers of nineteenth-century modernity.Less
This chapter explores the confrontation of modernity and wilderness in Stevenson's fiction and travel writings, relating this to the work of John Muir and to ideas developed by Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, and Charles Baudelaire, taking up the idea of ‘exile’ in the context of the philosophy of ‘dwelling’ developed by ecotheorists. It notes that Stevenson's generation experienced an unprecedented acceleration of ‘progress’, where rapid developments in technology and urbanisation disrupted the idea of home and homeland. It further notes that progress for Stevenson and other Scots brought with it the possibility of international travel, and exposure to exotic lands and wilderness areas which appeared, to the Old World observer, as somehow ahistorical, a confusing mix of primordial nature and the markers of nineteenth-century modernity.
Daniel Capper
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780520290419
- eISBN:
- 9780520964600
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520290419.003.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Religion
This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of naturalist John Muir's fascination with nature and his eventual “floral pilgrimage.” Muir embraced nature mysticism, which is the direct ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of naturalist John Muir's fascination with nature and his eventual “floral pilgrimage.” Muir embraced nature mysticism, which is the direct experience of sacredness in and through nature. His nature mysticism sheds light to the manifold ways in which nonhuman nature, humans, and religions interact. The chapter also explains how the book unravels other examples of the dialectical processes in which religions help to determine experiences with nature, while experiences with nature alter the shapes of religions. Furthermore, the religions in this study all embrace in some way the myth of human superiority and since human-on-human slavery has not yet been completely extinguished, it is no surprising that humans treat natural ones like slaves as well.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of naturalist John Muir's fascination with nature and his eventual “floral pilgrimage.” Muir embraced nature mysticism, which is the direct experience of sacredness in and through nature. His nature mysticism sheds light to the manifold ways in which nonhuman nature, humans, and religions interact. The chapter also explains how the book unravels other examples of the dialectical processes in which religions help to determine experiences with nature, while experiences with nature alter the shapes of religions. Furthermore, the religions in this study all embrace in some way the myth of human superiority and since human-on-human slavery has not yet been completely extinguished, it is no surprising that humans treat natural ones like slaves as well.
John G. T. Anderson
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780520273764
- eISBN:
- 9780520954458
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520273764.003.0016
- Subject:
- Biology, Natural History and Field Guides
In which we make the transition from the nineteenth to the twentieth centuries as issues of conservation and preservation become entwined with natural history. John Muir’s travels both within the ...
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In which we make the transition from the nineteenth to the twentieth centuries as issues of conservation and preservation become entwined with natural history. John Muir’s travels both within the United States and globally echo some of the early natural historians, but the emphasis has shifted from one of discovery to one of concern. The founding of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at Berkeley and the founding of the School of Forestry at Yale mark two axes of future direction to what comes to be called ecology.Less
In which we make the transition from the nineteenth to the twentieth centuries as issues of conservation and preservation become entwined with natural history. John Muir’s travels both within the United States and globally echo some of the early natural historians, but the emphasis has shifted from one of discovery to one of concern. The founding of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at Berkeley and the founding of the School of Forestry at Yale mark two axes of future direction to what comes to be called ecology.
Jenni Calder
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780748647392
- eISBN:
- 9780748689279
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748647392.003.0009
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Scottish Studies
By the late 1850s, the threats to natural wilderness were already apparent, with ranching, mining, tree felling and the damming of rivers beginning to take place on a massive scale. A key figure in ...
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By the late 1850s, the threats to natural wilderness were already apparent, with ranching, mining, tree felling and the damming of rivers beginning to take place on a massive scale. A key figure in identifying and combating these threats was John Muir, and this chapter begins with an examination of his conservation work and his mission to preserve and publicise the regenerative potential of wilderness. It goes on to discuss some later interpretations of the Scottish encounter with particularly the Canadian wilderness, where the Scottish impact is most prominent. Among authors considered are Margaret Laurence, Hugh MacLennan, Alice Munro, Alistair Macleod, Alexander Macleod and Margaret Elphinstone. It examines recurring themes of loss and displacement, which link Scottish and North American experience, and explores the continuing impact of natural wilderness and the man-made wilderness that has often displaced it. The conclusion suggests that Scottish experience of the wild, a key aspect of Scottish and British imperial activity, deeply imprinted responses to pioneering history on both sides of the Atlantic, responses that remain ambivalent, often contradictory, but a continuing source of creative endeavour.Less
By the late 1850s, the threats to natural wilderness were already apparent, with ranching, mining, tree felling and the damming of rivers beginning to take place on a massive scale. A key figure in identifying and combating these threats was John Muir, and this chapter begins with an examination of his conservation work and his mission to preserve and publicise the regenerative potential of wilderness. It goes on to discuss some later interpretations of the Scottish encounter with particularly the Canadian wilderness, where the Scottish impact is most prominent. Among authors considered are Margaret Laurence, Hugh MacLennan, Alice Munro, Alistair Macleod, Alexander Macleod and Margaret Elphinstone. It examines recurring themes of loss and displacement, which link Scottish and North American experience, and explores the continuing impact of natural wilderness and the man-made wilderness that has often displaced it. The conclusion suggests that Scottish experience of the wild, a key aspect of Scottish and British imperial activity, deeply imprinted responses to pioneering history on both sides of the Atlantic, responses that remain ambivalent, often contradictory, but a continuing source of creative endeavour.
Louisa Gairn
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748633111
- eISBN:
- 9780748653447
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748633111.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Scottish Studies
This book presents a provocative and timely reconsideration of modern Scottish literature in the light of ecological thought. The book demonstrates how successive generations of Scottish writers have ...
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This book presents a provocative and timely reconsideration of modern Scottish literature in the light of ecological thought. The book demonstrates how successive generations of Scottish writers have both reflected on and contributed to the development of international ecological theory and philosophy. Provocative re-readings of works by authors including Robert Louis Stevenson, John Muir, Nan Shepherd, John Burnside, Kathleen Jamie, and George Mackay Brown demonstrate the significance of ecological thought across the spectrum of Scottish literary culture. This book traces the influence of ecology as a scientific, philosophical, and political concept in the work of these and other writers and in doing so presents an original outlook on Scottish literature from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. In this age of environmental crisis, the book reveals a heritage of ecological thought which should be recognised as of vital relevance both to Scottish literary culture and to the wider field of green studies.Less
This book presents a provocative and timely reconsideration of modern Scottish literature in the light of ecological thought. The book demonstrates how successive generations of Scottish writers have both reflected on and contributed to the development of international ecological theory and philosophy. Provocative re-readings of works by authors including Robert Louis Stevenson, John Muir, Nan Shepherd, John Burnside, Kathleen Jamie, and George Mackay Brown demonstrate the significance of ecological thought across the spectrum of Scottish literary culture. This book traces the influence of ecology as a scientific, philosophical, and political concept in the work of these and other writers and in doing so presents an original outlook on Scottish literature from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. In this age of environmental crisis, the book reveals a heritage of ecological thought which should be recognised as of vital relevance both to Scottish literary culture and to the wider field of green studies.
John G. T. Anderson
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780520273764
- eISBN:
- 9780520954458
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520273764.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Natural History and Field Guides
Natural history, the deliberate observation of the environment, is arguably the oldest science. From purely practical beginnings as a way of finding food and shelter, natural history evolved into the ...
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Natural history, the deliberate observation of the environment, is arguably the oldest science. From purely practical beginnings as a way of finding food and shelter, natural history evolved into the holistic, systematic study of plants, animals, and the landscape. This book chronicles the rise, decline, and ultimate revival of natural history within the realms of science and public discourse. The account is focused on the lives and contributions of an eclectic group of men and women, from John Ray, John Muir, Charles Darwin, and Rachel Carson, who endured remarkable hardships and privations in order to learn more about their surroundings. The book charts the journey of the naturalist's endeavor from prehistory to the present, underscoring the need for natural history in an era of dynamic environmental change.Less
Natural history, the deliberate observation of the environment, is arguably the oldest science. From purely practical beginnings as a way of finding food and shelter, natural history evolved into the holistic, systematic study of plants, animals, and the landscape. This book chronicles the rise, decline, and ultimate revival of natural history within the realms of science and public discourse. The account is focused on the lives and contributions of an eclectic group of men and women, from John Ray, John Muir, Charles Darwin, and Rachel Carson, who endured remarkable hardships and privations in order to learn more about their surroundings. The book charts the journey of the naturalist's endeavor from prehistory to the present, underscoring the need for natural history in an era of dynamic environmental change.
Michael J. Lannoo
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780226358475
- eISBN:
- 9780226358505
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226358505.003.0006
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Nature
Here I describe conservation’s convoluted and evolving history in America. As it became clear that extinctions at the hand of man should be avoided, the question became “how do we save these ...
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Here I describe conservation’s convoluted and evolving history in America. As it became clear that extinctions at the hand of man should be avoided, the question became “how do we save these imperilled species?” The first solution came from Gifford Pinchot’s concepts of “wise use” and “the greatest good for the greatest number.” But Pinchot’s conservation philosophy also perpetuated ecologically destructive policies such as grazing in national forests and damning the Hetch Hetchy Valley. John Muir, with his preservationist philosophy, opposed such policies, and the tension between these two perspectives—conservation vs. preservation—defined the struggle to delineate land-use policies on America’s federal lands, including national forests and grasslands, national parks, national wildlife refuges, and wilderness areas. These were, and continue to be, bitter fights, producing civil wars among biologists and administrators within, but also across and beyond, federal agencies.Less
Here I describe conservation’s convoluted and evolving history in America. As it became clear that extinctions at the hand of man should be avoided, the question became “how do we save these imperilled species?” The first solution came from Gifford Pinchot’s concepts of “wise use” and “the greatest good for the greatest number.” But Pinchot’s conservation philosophy also perpetuated ecologically destructive policies such as grazing in national forests and damning the Hetch Hetchy Valley. John Muir, with his preservationist philosophy, opposed such policies, and the tension between these two perspectives—conservation vs. preservation—defined the struggle to delineate land-use policies on America’s federal lands, including national forests and grasslands, national parks, national wildlife refuges, and wilderness areas. These were, and continue to be, bitter fights, producing civil wars among biologists and administrators within, but also across and beyond, federal agencies.