Arcadiana

A Blog about Literature, Culture and the Environment

Ecocriticism and Birding

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Having written a PhD dissertation about human–bird relations in contemporary Scandinavian novels while also being an active birder, I’ve often thought about the links between birding, literary fiction, and ecocriticism. While my dissertation is grounded in literary theory, only drawing on field experience in indirect ways, surely there must be more to be said about writing …

You are a sky full of stars

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by Demet Uygun You are a sky full of stars,A floating voyage,Infinite beauty that never leaves scars,Cause you light up the path through the dark.Like the Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky,Continuous as the stars that shine,You light up the world from afar. Working Notes on Demet’s poem: I chose the line “continuous …

Unframing Wordsworth’s Daffodils. A practical and theoretical poetry class

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Even outside of environmental literature circles, William Wordsworth’s poem ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’, also commonly known as ‘Daffodils’, is widely recognised as ‘one of England’s most famous and most quintessentially Romantic poems’ (British Library). In 2007, local tourism officials of the Lake District even released a pop video and hip hop version to celebrate its …

Queer relation and the landscape: animals, the neutral, and significant otherness

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In this writerly contemplation of queer relation with animals and landscapes, Clare Patterson draws connections between sheep trapped in snow drifts, Clarice Lispector’s cockroach, Leslie Feinberg’s crow, and various “significant othernesses” that shape our lives and queer literature. 🏵 At my grandmother’s house, I slept in a small back bedroom, with one window that looked …

A Case for Denise Levertov as an Ecofeminist

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Ecofeminism was not refined in its usage until the 1980’s when Levertov was losing popularity as a poet, so it is unlikely she ever would have used this term in her life (ignoring the fact that she did not want to be labelled as a feminist in the first place), however, her work and personal ideologies closely aligns with the general theories of ecofeminism established and refined throughout her lifetime.

Can Indian Ecofeminists be “Ethically” Vegan?

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A 2019 report by IndiaSpend stated that since 2012 more than 133 instances of cow vigilantism have been reported, with 50 deaths and 290 injuries (Team IndiaSpend). Cow vigilantism is a form of violent, sectarian activism that aims to prohibit eating beef and/or engaging in beef-related transactions. Among the victims, 57% were Muslims, 9% Dalits …