Romanticism in Canada: Environment, Culture, and Representation
Overview
In its responses to Enlightenment science, technological development, and ecological despoliation, Romanticism was the first Western discourse to address environmentalist concerns in a comprehensive and sustained manner. It is not surprising, then, that modern-day ecologists and environmentalists often invoke Romantic literature in their discussions of ecological science and environmental ethics. At the same time, however, RomanticismÕs introspective emphasis upon human subjectivity and the imaginative transcendence of nature has lent it an anti-ecological air of anthropocentrism. Lacking a nuanced understanding of Romantic discourses on nature and culture, ecologists and environmentalists often tend to Òoversimplify Romanticism as a na•ve and nostalgic return to natureÓ or to see it merely Òas an anthropocentric celebration of the selfÓ (Harrison 2004). Conversely, lacking an informed understanding of the natural sciences and of the sociocultural implications of environmentalism, Romanticists have often ignored the scientific and political complexities informing environmental studies (Hutchings 2002). By engaging in cross-disciplinary dialogue and research, therefore, scholars working in the fields of Romantic and environmental studies can inform modern-day debates and negotiations concerning environmentalist theory and practice.
My research aims to accomplish three key goals related to the new interdisciplinary fields of ecocriticism and Green Romantic studies. First, by investigating environmentalist themes and concerns in Romantic literatures of the late-eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, my research clarifies the transatlantic origins of modern-day environmentalism. Second, by examining exchanges between British North American and European Romantic traditions, I attempt to illuminate a distinctively northern and Canadian transatlantic Romanticism. Finally, by examining Green Romanticism in relation to Romantic concepts of Aboriginal identityÑand, in turn, by investigating Aboriginal responses to, and appropriations of, Romantic discourseÑmy research elucidates the cultural and political legacies of Romanticism in Canada, thus contributing to an improved understanding of CanadaÕs diverse cultural heritage.