Reading Thoreau in the 21st Century: Whither and Why?

This essay offers a critical re-assessment of Henry David Thoreau’s life and legacy in the context of contemporary critiques of the mainstream environmental tradition. It takes seriously concerns raised about Thoreau’s status as a privileged white male, but calls for more nuance. In particular, the...

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Gould, Rebecca Kneale (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
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Publié: Equinox Publ. 2022
Dans: Journal for the study of religion, nature and culture
Année: 2022, Volume: 16, Numéro: 4, Pages: 497–517
Sujets non-standardisés:B Slavery
B Environmental
B nature religion
B African-American
B Wilderness
B Race
B Henry David Thoreau
B Transcendentalism
B Drew Lanham
B black writers
B Abolitionism
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Résumé:This essay offers a critical re-assessment of Henry David Thoreau’s life and legacy in the context of contemporary critiques of the mainstream environmental tradition. It takes seriously concerns raised about Thoreau’s status as a privileged white male, but calls for more nuance. In particular, the essay challenges those portraits of Thoreau that emphasize Thoreau’s status as a devotee of American nature religion to the exclusion of Thoreau’s significant contributions as an abolitionist and as a prescient critic of an emergent culture of consumption that relied on slavery for its success. The essay assesses the ambivalent legacies that Thoreau left in his wake, demonstrating those moments when Thoreau’s public life as a social critic chafed against his most deeply held spiritual orientations and practices.
ISSN:1749-4915
Contient:Enthalten in: Journal for the study of religion, nature and culture
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1558/jsrnc.25139