As ecocriticism continues to grow and unfold, ecocritics must continue to define its overall goals. This thesis further defines and exemplifies Simon Estok’s term, “ecophobia,” which refers to fear and contempt of the natural world, as a way of understanding human relationships with the nonhuman world. This thesis also examines ecophobic tendencies of characters in two twentieth century Gothic novels, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. American Gothic novels often represent patterns of historical violence. Therefore, analyzing moments of ecophobia within these novels allows me to draw a connection between harmful constructs of nature and human oppression.
","abstract_html":"<p>As ecocriticism continues to grow and unfold, ecocritics must continue to define its overall goals. This thesis further defines and exemplifies Simon Estok’s term, “ecophobia,” which refers to fear and contempt of the natural world, as a way of understanding human relationships with the nonhuman world. This thesis also examines ecophobic tendencies of characters in two twentieth century Gothic novels, Toni Morrison’s <em>The Bluest Eye</em> and Truman Capote’s <em>In Cold Blood</em>. American Gothic novels often represent patterns of historical violence. Therefore, analyzing moments of ecophobia within these novels allows me to draw a connection between harmful constructs of nature and human oppression.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Duncan, Jessica"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Caroline Krzakowski"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:23:34Z","subjects":["ecophobia","violence","landscape","place","gothic","literature","american gothic","twentieth century","fiction","nonfiction","ecocriticism","toni morrison","truman capote","Arts and Humanities"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/78","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Caroline Krzakowski"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Duncan, Jessica"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-04-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["ecophobia","violence","landscape","place","gothic","literature","american gothic","twentieth century","fiction","nonfiction","ecocriticism","toni morrison","truman capote","Arts and Humanities"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/78"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["As ecocriticism continues to grow and unfold, ecocritics must continue to define its overall goals. This thesis further defines and exemplifies Simon Estok’s term, “ecophobia,” which refers to fear and contempt of the natural world, as a way of understanding human relationships with the nonhuman world. This thesis also examines ecophobic tendencies of characters in two twentieth century Gothic novels, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. American Gothic novels often represent patterns of historical violence. Therefore, analyzing moments of ecophobia within these novels allows me to draw a connection between harmful constructs of nature and human oppression.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["\"That Hateful Prairie Wind\": Violence and Ecophobia in Twentieth Century American Gothic"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Caroline Krzakowski"],"dc:creator":["Duncan, Jessica"],"dc:date.available":["2016-04-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["As ecocriticism continues to grow and unfold, ecocritics must continue to define its overall goals. This thesis further defines and exemplifies Simon Estok’s term, “ecophobia,” which refers to fear and contempt of the natural world, as a way of understanding human relationships with the nonhuman world. This thesis also examines ecophobic tendencies of characters in two twentieth century Gothic novels, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. American Gothic novels often represent patterns of historical violence. Therefore, analyzing moments of ecophobia within these novels allows me to draw a connection between harmful constructs of nature and human oppression.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/78"],"dc:subject":["ecophobia","violence","landscape","place","gothic","literature","american gothic","twentieth century","fiction","nonfiction","ecocriticism","toni morrison","truman capote","Arts and Humanities"],"dc:title":["\"That Hateful Prairie Wind\": Violence and Ecophobia in Twentieth Century American Gothic"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:23:34Z"}