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A shift from nature as represented by "wilderness" vs. a superior force leading to dystopian future

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A shift from nature as represented by "wilderness" vs. a superior force leading to dystopian future

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As the environment has changed over time, so have the manners of representing it in literature, moving across several paradigms. Writers began by utilizing ideas of “wilderness” as a separate sphere from humans where nature is unrestrained, all while encouraging conservation and preservation of the environment and creating a balance between our two spheres. This is shown in Henry David Thoreau’s Walking and Aldo Leopold’s The Land Ethic & Thinking Like a Mountain. However, this representation has shifted into an apocalyptic way of depicting the environment’s future, assuming the worst and resorting to extreme ideas of reversing our impact on the climate. Writers like Sarah Manavis in her article about ecofascism, Jenny Offill in her novel Weather, and two scrapbook posts regarding the ideas of eco fascism/the cli-fi genre introduce a world in which the environment “wins” over humans, taking the idea of wilderness and nature separate from humans and raising it to a more extreme level. Throughout all of these changes, manners of representation, including the use of sublime, ecology, and encouragement of protecting the environment, as well as the unfortunate discrimination of racial minorities regarding environment, have remained consistent over time.

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“Coming through the Little Yosemite in tranquil reaches, the river is first broken into rapids on a moraine boulder-bar that crosses the lower end of the Valley. Thence it pursues its way to the head of the fall in a rough, solid rock channel, dashing on side angles, heaving in heavy surging masses against elbow knobs, and swirling and swashing in pot-holes without a moment’s rest. Thus, already chafed and dashed to foam, overfolded and twisted, it plunges over the brink of the precipice as if glad to escape into the open air. But before it reaches the bottom it is pulverized yet finer by impinging upon a sloping portion of the cliff about half-way down, thus making it the whitest of all the falls of the Valley, and altogether one of the most wonderful in the world” (The Yosemite 11, Muir).

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Muir’s attempt to gain interest in nature is to show how serene being in nature can be, as he describes in great detail the beauty of the Nevada Falls in Yosemite. He utilizes the sublime technique, which means that he references size and grandeur of the world around him intended to convey a sense of wonder for those not seeing it in person. These techniques continue throughout the evolution of nature writing- by showing nature as a realm of wonder and beauty, more people feel responsible for protecting it. In doing so, however, Muir does not include any descriptions of himself or his physical feelings while he experiences the landmarks, therefore creating separation between human society and nature as different spheres. He employs the idea of wilderness, the understanding of the environment in its representation by using a hard conceptual division between civilization (here) and nature (there). In Muir’s writing, it is a pure and untouched region, however as he writes he promotes the importance of protecting these regions by describing their beauty and necessity in The Yosemite.

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The idea of “wilderness” began as a theological concept in Christian tradition- it was something to be feared and conquered, something sinful, chaotic, and away from the order of human society. This idea was preserved by Enlightenment and was thoroughly brought into writing from then on; wilderness and nature was a separate sphere from human society. Eventually, romanticism furthered the dualism between wild and civil, as well as the nature vs. civilization separation, but it did so in a way that encouraged people to still visit it and protect it, as shown by Muir and Leopold. There was a balance between the two spheres and an appreciation for nature, represented by sublime, ecology, and emphasis on protection of this realm.

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Aldo Leopold- The Sand County Almanac: The Land Ethic & Thinking Like a Mountain

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Aldo Leopold- The Sand County Almanac: The Land Ethic & Thinking Like a Mountain

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Perhaps the most serious obstacle impeding the evolution of a land ethic is the fact that our educational and economic system is headed away from, rather than toward, an intense consciousness of land. Your true modern is separated from the land by many middlemen, and by innumerable physical gadgets. He has no vital relation to it; to him it is the space between cities on which crops grow. Turn him loose for a day on the land, and if the spot does not happen to be a golf links or a ‘scenic’ area, he is bored stiff… In short, land is something he has ‘outgrown’” (A Sand County Almanac- The Land Ethic & Thinking like a Mountain 13, Leopold).

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Leopold on the balance between humans and the environment

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Leopold on the balance between humans and the environment

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In this quote, Leopold explains how separated the two realms (civilization and nature) are, as people feel very disconnected from the wilderness if it doesn’t directly correlate with or benefit them, and that this is only going to lead to chaos and destruction of the natural world. Leopold is considered an ecology writer, which means that he is trying to bridge the gap between the two spheres and represents them as interconnected. This version of representation is the beginning of humans being presented as the disruptive force, causing severe problems amongst nature that only escalate over time. As a result, he emphasizes the importance of not viewing the environment in ecological terms, as something to profit from, rather as something to live in balance with and respect, remaining consistent by using ideas from both the wilderness and ecology paradigms while straying from the norm by introducing new ideas of connecting the two believed to be separate realms.

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The new use of apocalyptic thinking in literature

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The new use of apocalyptic thinking in literature

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While the ideas of both wilderness and ecology are still used in modern writing about the environment about climate, most new writing centers around an apocalyptic way of thinking, an almost dystopian future that will occur if we do not change something about our current society. Humans are viewed as the sole problem of the world, while nature is viewed as something prevailing, superior, that will take over after we are gone. New writing includes cli-fi, which describes either a futuristic and climate-changed world that might be characterized as apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic, or dystopian (catastrophic) or is set in a relatively recognized, realist present (or a very new future) that highlights “where are we now” and “where we seem to be headed” (anticipatory). These boundaries between nature and civilization have been taken to an extreme, almost a battle between which will outlive the other. This is shown by Jenny Offill’s Weather, Manavis’s Eco-Fascism: The ideology marrying environmentalism and white supremacy thriving online, and two scrapbook posts that describe in extremity how dire the situation is, seeming with little to no solutions.

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The scrapbook post regarding “The Rise of Ecofascism” by Sam Moore and Alex Roberts gives an important example of the extremism of today’s nature writing- ecofascism. Ecofascism is a “take on the impact of population growth” that advocates “a cutting of the population, and specific races within that population” through sterilization, deportation and even genocide as “the only way to ensure the planet survives,” leading mainly through ideas of white supremacism and eugenics. These excessive ideas of solutions for population growth and climate change target mainly people of color. Unfortunately, the belief of an extreme, rather than balanced, solution has grown more popular in modern times, as the climate situation has grown very severe. While the importance of protecting the environment has remained constant over time, the manners of trying to get this message across or solve the problem have drastically changed, especially in the form of ecofascism.

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“Prepper tip: If you are caught without any gear, all you need to fish is some spit and your shirt. Wade out into the water, then lift up your shift to make a net beneath the water’s surface. Spit as much as you can into it. Minnows will be attracted to it because they think it’s food. When you have several of them investigating, jerk your shirt up out of the water. Now you have dinner. Will laughs when I tell him this” (Weather 173, Offill).

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Leopold, Aldo. “A Sand County Almanac.” Goodreads, Oxford University Press, This Edition- 1968, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/210404.A_Sand_County_Almanac_and_Sketches_Here_and_There.

Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac- The Land Ethic & Thinking Like a Mountain. 1949. Perusall, https://app.perusall.com/courses/engl-2635e-literature-and-the-environment-sec001-1253/leopold_the-land-ethic-and-thinking-like-a-mountain-385658923?assignmentId=Hk4ygw9baXcQZ7Wmf&part=1.

Moore, Sam, and Alex Roberts. “The rise of ecofascism: climate change and the far right.” Oxford Academics- International Affairs, vol. 100, no. 1, 2024. Oxford Academics, https://academic.oup.com/ia/article/100/1/438/7506677.

Muir, John. The Yosemite. 2003. Perusall, https://app.perusall.com/courses/engl-2635e-literature-and-the-environment-sec001-1253/muir_the-yosemite-620712493?assignmentId=utAizYLusYkfXc9Zb&part=1.

naughty_dog. The Last of Us. Photograph. 2011. Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/naughty_dog/albums/72157628351324573/with/6484012229.

Offill, Jenny. Weather. First Vintage Contemporaries Edition, Jan 2021 ed. ed., Vintage Books (Penguin Random House LLC), 2020.

Offill, Jenny. “Weather.” Goodreads, 2021- Photograph, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55834311-weather.

Smithee, Alan. The Jaw-Droppingly Unbelievable Tenets Of The Church Of Euthanasia. Photograph. Ranker, 2019.

trip_with_hari. “Mighty Nevada Falls in Yosemite NP, CA seen from Glacier Point.” Reddit, 2018, https://www.reddit.com/r/EarthPorn/comments/8but9p/mighty_nevada_falls_in_yosemite_np_ca_seen_from/.

VanderMeer, Jeff. “Cliamte Fiction Won't Save Us.” Esquire, 2023. Esquire, https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/a43541988/climate-fiction-wont-save-us/.

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As described as the scrapbook post explaining “Climate Fiction Will Not Save Us,” one of the newer manners of trying to communicate the importance of working to save the planet is a genre called “cli-fi,” which is either about a futuristic and climate-changed world that is apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic, or dystopian (catastrophic) or is set in a relatively realistic present or a very near future that highlights our current position and “where we seem to be headed” (anticipatory). This genre describes what very well might be our future, intending to scare people, corporations, or governments into changing their actions. This new manner of describing the environment is very different from the way it used to be, like the way Muir and Leopold encourage a balance and respect for nature, however the manner of emphasizing the scale and power of the environment has remained very consistent over time. Authors across history have intended audiences to feel small in comparison to the grandeur of nature, and this is still seen throughout these cli-fi works.

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This inner monologue of the main character of Weather, a woman named Lizzy, shows the climate anxiety and apocalyptic thinking that plagues the daily life of modern people. Even while on a casual date, Lizzy is worrying about what she would have to do if caught without food or gear. Not only is the trend of cli-fi shown by this novel, the constant paranoia and almost obsession of common people who feel helpless is also detailed by Lizzy’s inner thoughts throughout the novel, slowly escalating and spiraling as the book continues and getting worse towards the end. This form of cli-fi is anticipatory, meaning that it takes place in a recognizable present and shows the very possible future of our world.

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Wilderness, as a concept, began as something to be feared. It was believed to be far away from God, as it was untamed and unknown territory. Eventually, with the Enlightenment and the rise of industrialism and other features of economic modernity, the wilderness became more enticing to society. Outdoor spaces and recreational outdoor spaces began to be formed with appreciation for the sublime and wilderness. This was the beginning of romanticism, as brought on by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Next, the US rapidly expanded through settler-colonial conquest, creating the frontier. Andrew Jackson, around the 1820s and 30s, encouraged westward movement, and the idea of “manifest destiny” began to spread around 1845. However, the frontier eventually closed with the end of westward expansion, and with it ended narratives of the nations’ identity, future, and masculine individualism, a lot of which was based around outdoor “men’s” jobs. Finally, around modern times, the US conservation movement and national parks system emerged, designated specific spaces to be kept wild and natural. These are the steady changes that eventually led to what we consider “wilderness.”

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Thoreau's influence on Muir, as explained in lecture

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Thoreau's influence on Muir, as explained in lecture

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Muir’s influential works followed those of Henry David Thoreau, an extremely important transcendentalist from the 1800s and author of Walden and “Civil Disobedience” who massively impacted literary environmentalism in the US and abroad and social politics in general. Prior to Muir’s The Yosemite, Thoreau shifted the idea of wilderness from a place to be feared in Christian tradition to the idea of wilderness as being pure and untouched by humans, something to be in awe of. While Thoreau maintained the idea of wilderness as a separate sphere from society, which continues in Muir’s writing, he changed the idea of nature as something negative to something positive, leading to the birth of US environmentalism.

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The beginning of US environmentalism, as explained in lecture

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The beginning of US environmentalism, as explained in lecture

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Around Muir’s time was the beginning of US environmentalism, which was characterised by wilderness recreation and the creation of national parks as people began to care more about preservation, the protection of “natural spaces” in and of themselves, and conservation, the protection of “natural spaces” for future human use. 19th-century Americans were receptive to these ideas as the alienation of the industrial era began, and recreation in nature was taking off as a way for those who lived in the city and were wealthy could “get back to nature.” National parks such as Yellowstone in 1872 and Yosemite in 1890 were established, leading to Muir’s eventual works as an author, including The Yosemite.

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The precedents of ecofascism, as explained in lecture

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The precedents of ecofascism, as explained in lecture

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The concept of ecofascism follows a long history of discrimination in regards to climate and nature. Indigenous people were, for centuries, forced out of their homes and forced to assimilate into what was considered “normal” society with things like the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which forced them to move, or the Indian Relocation Act of 1956, which similarly removed Native Amerians from terminated reservation lands to cities under the guise of vocational training. Native Americans are even stereotyped today as being very nature-driven and in touch with the wilderness, as brought up in Tommy Pico’s Nature Poem. Furthermore, other minorities such as black Americans have been discriminated against historically through segregation, threats, and past associations with the wilderness, as well as being extremely likely to be affected by climate disasters today as opposed to wealthy, white people. Unfortunately, this racism and discrimination in relation to the environment has remained consistent over time, and all of this has led up to the racist ideas of ecofascism, which target racial minorities under the guise of a supposed climate protection group.

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The crisis of realism and scale in Weather

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The crisis of realism and scale in Weather

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One problem with the idea of cli-fi is that it will only work for so long, and it is already beginning to create a sense of helplessness in society. This is shown by the quote in Weather, as people really have a hard time conceptualizing climate change and generally think that if the problem is as big as it is being presented as, then there’s really nothing we can do as individuals but wait and let it happen referred to as the derangement of scale. People have become accustomed to hearing about these disasters and possible futures of annihilation and have resigned themselves to it. Unfortunately, attempting to represent climate change realistically in terms of “what could happen” could still be branded only as “sci-fi” or dystopian future, something unlikely to happen, and therefore is not taken seriously. As a result, literature will have to adapt further in order to convey the severity of our climate situation and convince people to care.

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“One thing that’s becoming clear on our travels: people are really sick of being lectured to about glaciers. ‘Listen, I’ve heard all about that,’ says this red-faced man. ‘But what’s going to happen to the American weather?’” (Weather, Offill).

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There is a lot of discourse surrounding whether humans have actually improved in regards to our impact on the environment or not. This is referred to as either “progressive,” which believes that human civilization has exponentially improved its ability to manage its environment and exert mastery over nature, or “declensionist,” which frames the history of human interactions with nature as an ongoing “fall from Eden,” narratives. Both of these perspectives are shown in this project, with Muir and Leopold being progressive narratives and Offill, Sam Moore and Alex Roberts, and Jeff VanderMeer being declensionist narratives. While there is a lot of debate for either side, it does not deter from the fact that there is still a lot of work to be done to solve the ongoing climate crisis.