One of the first studies to explore the relationship between environmental criticism and British modernism, Green Modernism explores the cultural function of nature in the modernist novel between 1900 and 1930. This theoretically engaged, historically informed book brings new materialist insights to novels by Conrad, Ford, Lawrence, and Butts.

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Reviews

“In Green Modernism, McCarthy offers various ethical models for the dialogic and equalizing relationship of humans and nature, from a fundamental recognition of nature’s active and independent presence (object-oriented ontology), to a responsible and responsive working of the land, to the ‘sustained intimacy’ with the land he calls ‘dwelling.’ … The project of turning modernism’s gaze from the psyche and the city to the land is a valuable expansion of traditional criticism.” (Mara Scanlon, English Literature in Transition, Vol. 60 (2), 2017)

"Both Ecocriticism and Modernism studies take a refreshing and timely great leap forward in Green Modernism's deft discussion of one emergent and three canonical writers. This is a landmark book in our understanding of the relationship between nature and text through the prism of the English novel 1900-1930, but also with implications beyond." Terry Gifford, Visiting Professor, Centre for Writing and Environment, Bath Spa University, UK

"Green Modernism makes a significant contribution to Modernist studies. Rather than being a literary movement focused merely on the inner self, McCarthy makes a strong case for the role of materialism in Modernist literature. In addition, McCarthy convincingly argues for an anti-Romantic, materialist conception of nature that alters the landscape of both Modernist and Ecocritical studies. Consequently, natural images such as the ivory in The Heart of Darkness or the snow in Under Western Eyes function not just as symbolic entities but as material objects that allow us to view these works in a new light." John G. Peters, University Distinguished Research Professor of English, University of North Texas, USA

About the author

Jeffrey Mathes McCarthy is the Director of the Environmental Humanities Graduate Program at the University of Utah, USA.

Bibliographic Information

Book Title: Green Modernism
Book Subtitle: Nature and the English Novel, 1900 to 1930
Authors: Jeffrey Mathes McCarthy
Series Title: Literatures, Cultures, and the Environment
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137526045
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan New York
eBook Packages: Palgrave Media & Culture Collection, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2015
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-54935-8Published: 22 September 2015
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-349-56232-9Published: 23 January 2016
eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-52604-5Published: 08 April 2016
Series ISSN: 2946-3157
Series E-ISSN: 2946-3165
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: X, 262
Topics: Literary History, British and Irish Literature, Twentieth-Century Literature, European Literature, Fiction

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Table of contents (6 chapters)

Front Matter

“The Land’s Way is Important in This Story”:

“A Choice of Nightmares”

Conrad’s Weather

1928 and Nature

Mary Butts and England’s Nature

“Pan in America,” Modernism, and Material Nature

Back Matter

About this book