LE3 .A278 2013

2013

La Rocque, Lance

Acadia University

Master of Arts

Masters

English

English & Theatre Studies

This thesis utilizes ecocritical and ecofeminist theory to compare the depictions of landscape presented in the poetry of John Steffler and Anne Michaels and examine the consequences of these depictions in terms of the formation of personal identity. Chapter One employs ecofeminist views on the connection between the treatment of women and treatment of nature to provide a framework in which to examine the interpersonal relationships depicted in the poems. Chapter Two explores the discourses on nature that Steffler and Michaels employ in their works. Steffler operates out of a discourse based on dominance and hierarchy in which the self is defined in opposition to nonhuman nature. Michaels, alternatively, works with a discourse based on connection and therefore the self is defined in concert with nonhuman nature in her works. Chapter Three examines the ways that Steffler and Michaels’ narrators interact with history as contained in both human constructions and the nonhuman landscape. In both Steffler and Michaels’ philosophies, history and memory play an important role in creating personal identity. For Steffler, history primarily consists of facts and figures, while for Michaels it primarily consists of narrative. Steffler’s narrators distance themselves from the history they find in nonhuman nature, preferring to engage with and define themselves by way of the history they find in human-made structures. Michaels’ narrators acknowledge history found in human-made structures, but engage far more frequently with history found in nonhuman nature. Ultimately, Michaels creates an alternative to the traditional approach to the human-nonhuman relationship which is demonstrated in Steffler’s works.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:287