Literature in English, North America Commons^™

Defending Truths, Restoring Worlds, Bart H. Welling

The Goose

The "post" in "post-truth" is premature, and also assigns too much importance to Brexit and the victory of Donald Trump in the US. Worst of all, it can foster the impression that people like Brexit voters and Trump supporters are irredeemably exiled in "alternative fact" bubbles beyond the reach of science, rational thought, and common decency. We have to find ways to work productively with these kinds of citizens, instead of merely condemning them, if we want to trigger both a worldwide alternative energy revolution and the revolution in politics and economics that a truly just and sustainable energy transition …

Heroes Vs. Villains, Evan A. Poole

Sierpinski’s Square

This article questions the use of heroes and villains in literature, whether our perceptions of these characters as good and evil is proper, and what literature should do beyond this dichotomy.

What Rises Above The White Noise: The Possibility Of Hearing Truth In A Post-Truth World, Harriet Fraser, Rob Fraser

The Goose

This installation in a valley in the UK’s Lake District National Park taps into the idea of communication, the problem of apparent fact and post-truth, and which voices are being heard when it comes to standing up for the environment. In consideration of post-truth and the confusion between fact and fiction, particularly with regard to issues about environment, this art installation explores the possibility of clarity in voices that are heard above the white noise of facts, partial truths and information overload. It is a site-specific installation, created around a single tree and a rapidly flowing river in the Lake …

(Another) Battle In The Clouds, Mél Hogan

The Goose

At age ten, in 1918, Rachel Carson entered a writing contest and won. In "Battle in the Clouds", Carson wrote about the sky as a battlefield, where a soldier’s life is momentarily spared because of an act of bravery undeniable even by his enemies. They watch in awe and admiration rather than shoot. For my reimagining of the present as womb rather than grave, I reflect on the current use of the cloud in “cloud computing” to discuss the role of the internet and its material infrastructures in shaping earthly possibilities. I imagine the pace and place of awe rather …

Reading Speculative Futures In A Post-Truth World, Rachel Webb Jekanowski

The Goose

Faced with the threat of a “post-truth” world and a widening chasm of exchange between climate change deniers and environmentalists, I argue that future-orientated literary and media speculative fictions—which I term “speculative futures”—offer a means of building lines of communication across social and political divisions. This thought piece on “The Environmental Humanities in a Post-Truth World” mediates upon the potentiality of speculative futures as theory, social bridge-building, and pedagogical tool. Speculative fictions (especially those that address environmental justice, and anti-colonial and feminist politics) use storytelling and future imaginaries to challenge political falsehoods and imagine more ecological, de-colonized futures.

The Child To Come: Life After The Human Catastrophe By Rebekah Sheldon, Nathan Tebokkel

The Goose

Review of Rebekah Sheldon's The Child to Come: Life after the Human Catastrophe.

From The Tundra To The Trenches By Eddy Weetaltuk, Vivian M. Hansen

The Goose

Review of Eddy Weetaltuk's From the Tundra to the Trenches.

Boundary Layer: Exploring The Genius Between Worlds By Kem Luther, Mary H. Scriver Rev.

The Goose

Review of Kem Luther's Boundary Layer: Exploring the Genius Between Worlds.

Littoral, Robie Liscomb

The Goose

Poetry by Robie Liscomb

Three Poems, Maureen Scott Harris

The Goose

Poetry by Maureen Scott Harris

Qigong Dancer, Andrea L. Nicki

The Goose

Poetry by Andrea L. Nicki

Escargatoire, Simon Orpana

The Goose

Poetry by Simon Orpana

Singing Meadow: The Adventure Of Creating A Country Home By Peri Phillips Mcquay, Randy Lee Cutler

The Goose

Review of Peri Phillips McQuay's Singing Meadow: The Adventure of Creating a Country Home.

Creaturely Love: How Desire Makes Us More And Less Than Human By Dominic Pettman, Gina M. Granter

The Goose

Review of Dominic Pettman's Creaturely Love: How Desire Makes Us More and Less than Human.

Otolith By Emily Nilsen, Christine Lowther

The Goose

Review of Emily Nilsen's Otolith.

Deep Salt Water By Marianne Apostolides, Jenna Gersie

The Goose

Review of Marianne Apostolide's Deep Salt Water.

The Moth Snowstorm By Michael Mccarthy, Joanna Streetly

The Goose

Review of Michael McCarthy's The Moth Snowstorm.

Ice Bear: The Cultural History Of An Arctic Icon By Michael Engelhard, Geneviève Pigeon

The Goose

Review of Michael Engelhard's Ice Bear: The Cultural History of an Arctic Icon.

Barking & Biting: The Poetry Of Sina Queyras Selected By Erin Wunker, Jenny Kerber

The Goose

Review of Erin Wunker's (ed.) Barking & Biting: The Poetry of Sina Queyras.

Believing Is Not The Same As Being Saved By Lisa Martin, Gillian Harding-Russell

The Goose

Review of Lisa Martin's Believing is not the same as Being Saved.

Emergent Ecologies By Eben Kirksey, Cheryl Lousley

The Goose

Review of Emergent Ecologies by Eben Kirksey.

Exploitation Of Land And Labor In Appalachia: The Manipulation Of Men In Ann Pancake's Strange As This Weather Has Been, Britani W. Baker

Master's Theses

Ecofeminism is traditionally interested in the relationship between patriarchal domination of women and nature. Ann Pancake’s novel Strange As this Weather Has Been critiques the way the coal mining industry has affected the Appalachian people and land. The novel reflects natural ecofeminism, which views the connection between women and nature in essentialist terms. This outdated mode of ecofeminism leads to a reinforcement of gender stereotypes and a misrepresentation of the relationship between gender, nature, and culture. This study of Pancake’s novel employs a material ecofeminist approach to both critique and develop the novel’s gender politics. Material ecofeminism, even as it …

The Body Mends Itself, Hannah Elizabeth Dow

Dissertations

The following poems were completed by the author between September 2014 and April 2017.

The Woman Of Sorrows: Clara's Self-Destructive Behavior Based On Supernatural Belief In Wieland, Or The Transformation: An American Tale By Charles Brockden Brown, Paden Carlson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Much has been devoted to the study of causality and ambiguity within Charles Brockden Brown’s Wieland, or the Transformation. While there is textual and cultural evidence providing explanations for Clara’s behavior, little has been said about the ramifications of Clara’s actions. This essay seeks to add to the discussion of Wieland by exploring Clara’s transformation from theistic rationalist to someone who is inclined to believe in supernatural explanation concerning seemingly inexplicable events.

In more than one instance, Clara’s supernaturally-charged beliefs endanger her. Brown uses Clara’s increasing reliance on supernatural explanation to suggest that, should the early United States similarly abandon …

Animate Planet: Making Visceral Sense Of Living In A High-Tech Ecologically Damaged World By Kath Weston, Kelly Shepherd

The Goose

Review of Kath Weston's Animate Planet: Making Visceral Sense of Living in a High-Tech Ecologically Damaged World.

Religion And Ecology: Developing A Planetary Ethic By Whitney A. Bauman, Paul T. Corrigan

The Goose

Review of Whitney A. Bauman's Religion and Ecology: Developing a Planetary Ethic.

Our Ice Is Vanishing / Sikuvut Nunguliqtuq: A History Of Inuit, Newcomers, And Climate Change By Shelley Wright, Benjamin C. O'Heran

The Goose

Review of Shelley Wright's Our Ice Is Vanishing / Sikuvut Nunguliqtuq: A History of Inuit, Newcomers, and Climate Change.

Living Lore: B. A. Botkin, Folklore, And The State, Kirby Little

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This digital project explores government surveillance and political action through folklore. The project focuses on the unpublished essay of folklorist Benjamin Botkin titled “Progress: Negroes and Everybody, From Folk Tale to Science Fiction.” Botkin was a prominent academic in his field, and created the theoretical approach to folklore he termed “applied folklore.” Botkin’s approach to folklore gained considerable attention, both positive and negative, due to his unique emphasis on the present time and the ever-changing nature of folklore, and his politicization of folklore as a method for uniting working class citizens. For decades, Botkin was under clandestine surveillance by the …

Female Insanity: The Portrayal Of A Murderess In Alias Grace, Maria Medlyn

Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal

In this paper, I analyze Margaret Atwood’s biographical novel Alias Grace which is based on the life of Grace Marks, a servant who was convicted of murdering her employer and his housekeeper. I use feminist and psychological perspectives to recount Atwood’s interpretation of the 1800s social hierarchy and the use of labels in controlling individuals. First, I explain the severe oppression of women in the 19^th century. For example, women in this era were financially controlled by men, held to high moral standards, expected to be chaste yet submissive, and restricted to domestic roles. Next, I describe the changing …

Écrire Et Lire Le Caribou Au Lieu De L’Achever, Jonathan Hope

The Goose

Dans un acte sans précédent de gestion de la faune, le gouvernement libéral du Québec a décidé de capturer les derniers membres d’une harde de caribous des bois en Abitibi et de les enfermer dans un zoo. Biologistes et écologistes ont exprimé, avec raison, leur inquiétude et leur colère; cette situation est aussi consternante d'une perspective littéraire.