Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Date of Degree
9-2018
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Program
English
Advisor
Alexander Schlutz
Committee Members
Alan Vardy
Joan Richardson
Subject Categories
English Language and Literature
Keywords
ecology, materialism, evolution, science, animal studies, aesthetics
Abstract
My dissertation traces the vibrant interchange between Romantic literature and science in the nineteenth century that necessitated new forms of aesthetics. I argue that Romantic writers and scientists co-created a new way of understanding nature that moved away from hierarchical anthropocentrism toward what I call “posthuman ecology.” This work explores shared scientific, literary, and philosophical sources for Erasmus and Charles Darwin, Mary and Percy Shelley, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Emily Dickinson. I connect aesthetic innovation to ethics to ask more broadly how literature can provide an affective and effective space to represent and engage scientific discourse. I conclude that understanding the historical shift in both literature and science toward the development of ecology in the nineteenth century is vital to our ability to respond to our own contemporary environmental crises.
Recommended Citation
Mondello, Kaitlin, "Toward a Posthuman Ecology: Evolutionary Aesthetics in Transatlantic Romanticism" (2018). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/2874