1. Trees in Nineteenth-Century English Fiction: The Silvicultural Novel.
- Author
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Bowden, Mary
- Subjects
- *
ENGLISH fiction , *NINETEENTH century , *TREES , *VICTORIAN Period, Great Britain, 1837-1901 , *INDIGOFERA - Abstract
Anna Burton's book, "Trees in Nineteenth-Century English Fiction: The Silvicultural Novel," contributes to the emerging field of Victorian environmental humanities by focusing on the role of trees in literature. Burton argues that there is a "silvicultural tradition" in nineteenth-century literary and non-literary texts, which involves the circulation of arboreal knowledge and the borrowing of ideas from one another. The book examines the influence of William Gilpin's work on trees and explores how trees function as boundary spaces and symbols of connection and adaptation in the novels of Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Thomas Hardy. However, the book does not engage with critical plant studies or the imperial implications of trees in the Victorian era, which could have provided a useful framework for understanding human-plant interconnection and the role of trees in empire. [Extracted from the article]
- Published
- 2023
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