Welcome to Francis Academic Press

Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, 2024, 7(9); doi: 10.25236/AJHSS.2024.070906.

Emily Dickinson’s Ecological Consciousness: An Eco-Critical Reading of Selected Poems

Author(s)

Ji Zhengao

Corresponding Author:
Ji Zhengao
Affiliation(s)

School of International Studies, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China

Abstract

Emily Dickinson’s lifetime work comprises over 1800 poems, which are often rich in meaning and frequently feature nature as a common theme. In her poetry, nature is portrayed as a living and independent subject, full of mystery and wisdom. Many poems express an ecological thought of awe and respect for nature and its laws, reflecting a relationship between humans and nature that is both contradictory and harmonious. They also propose expectations for the human-nature relationship, providing important insights for humanity facing ecological crises. This paper starts from Dickinson’s personal life and the transcendentalist thought of her era, and interprets Emily Dickinson’s poems from an ecocritical perspective.

Keywords

Emily Dickinson; ecocriticism; ecological consciousness

Cite This Paper

Ji Zhengao. Emily Dickinson’s Ecological Consciousness: An Eco-Critical Reading of Selected Poems. Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences (2024) Vol. 7, Issue 9: 31-35. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJHSS.2024.070906.

References

[1] Farr J, and Carter L. The Gardens of Emily Dickinson[M]. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004.

[2] Chase R. Emily Dickinson: A Biography[M]. New York: William Sloane Associates, 1951.

[3] Emerson R.W, and Atkinson B. The Complete Essays and Other Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson[M]. New York: The Modern Library, 1940.

[4] Pearce, R.H. The Continuity of American Poetry[M]. Princeton: Princeton University, 1961.

[5] Dickinson E. The Poems of Emily Dickinson[M] Edited by R.W. Franklin. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard, 1998.

[6] Glotfelty C, and Fromm H. The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology[M]. Athens, Georgia and London: he University of Georgia Press, 1996.

[7] Buell L. The Environmental Imagination: Thoreau, Nature Writing, and the Formation of American Culture[M]. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard, 1995.

[8] Chen Maolin. Greening of literary research in the Era of Environmental Crisis: on Ecocriticism [J]. Contemporary Literary Criticism, 2003,(4): 12-14. 

[9] Farr J. The Passion of Emily Dickinson[M]. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992.

[10] Lu Shuyuan. Ecological Research in Literature and Art[M]. Xian:Shanxi People’s Education Press, 2000.