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Re: Nature Writing Manifesto
Yes, Tom, I must admit I had much the same reaction. When I read " Nature writing has ignored these third and fourth ways of seeing. It has been a literary universe in which we visit and contemplate wild nature, but seldom use and transform nature" (a passage that occurs shortly after she disses Thoreau, so I have to think she has him in mind), I could only think, "Did you READ "The Beanfield"?
Karla
On May 11, 2006, at 10:45 AM, Thomas P Lynch wrote:
David, I too welcome new ways of writing about nature. I'm just not sure
that this essay really does that, although it claims to. I don't think any
of us are defending the status quo, if by that one means "paeans to
wildness." Instead, we're saying that there are plenty of people already
doing much of what Price calls for. In her essay, she evinces no awareness
of this. You'd think she was the first nature writer to ever contemplate a
city. Maybe, as has been suggested, this is a rhetorical pose. But it
seems a bit unfair, and doesn't enhance the ethos any. --Tom
--------------------------------------
Tom Lynch
Assistant Professor
Department of English
202 Andrews Hall
P.O. Box 880333
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Lincoln, NE 68588-0333
(402) 472-1833
***********************************
stay together
learn the flowers
go light --Gary Snyder
Being merely an MFA student and running an environmental non-profit in
Houston of all places, and not approaching the issues from an academic
perspective, I'm finding this entire thread very interesting. We started
with an essay that provided a new and different way to think about what we
nature writers consider "nature" and how we write about it, followed by a
heap of responses, many of which defend the current state, find fault,
label, criticize, etc.
In my humble opinion, I welcome new ways of thinking about writing, not
taking any approach or critical theory as gospel, but remaining open to new
ways of seeing the world. It's not that I agree or disagree with Price
(maybe the location choice, if LA is the navel, Houston must be the
armpit), and perhaps it's because I'm still exploring who I am as a
writer and haven't adopted a specific perspective, that I look at Price's
manifesto and think: "Wow, now that's an interesting perspective."
And just to throw this upon the bonfire, I believe nature really is where
you find it; the redwoods in Muir Woods, or the blade of grass growing
between two chunks of sidewalk outside my door, both are worthy subjects
for a nature writer.
-dg
______________________________________
David Gresham, Executive Director
Citizens' Environmental Coalition
(713) 524-4232
(713) 524-3311 (F)
<http://www.cechouston.org>
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Karla Armbruster
Associate Professor
English Department
Webster University
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