Cartographies of undomesticated ground: Nature and feminism in American women's fiction and theory

"My dissertation examines how American women writers from the early nineteenth century to the present have rearticulated the gendered ideologies of nature. Insights from feminist theory, cultural studies, and interdisciplinary postmodern theories of nature enable me to reveal how women's texts transform the representations promoted by literary, popular, and political discourses. By analyzing environmental and feminist history--including original documents from the progressive women's conservation movement--I demonstrate how a diverse array of fiction transfigures the ideologies of nature for feminist, and sometimes environmentalist ends. Informed by feminist and poststructuralist theory, this study also critiques the way these theories have distanced themselves from the category of nature. In contrast, I argue that ""nature"" has been and continues to be a crucial site for feminist cultural intervention."

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Literature, American

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2011

Author dc:creator

• Alaimo, Stacy

Contributors dc:contributor

• Nelson, Cary

• American Studies
• Women's Studies
• Literature, American
• Environmental Sciences

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 1994 Alaimo, Stacy

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

AAI9503127
(UMI)AAI9503127

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/20019