Carson in cartoon: a new window onto the noisy reception to Silent Spring

Abstract

Rachel Carson's Silent Spring generated a firestorm of controversy following its publication in 1962. While numerous scholars have relied on written sources to gage how industry representatives, scientists, government officials, and the public responded to this bestselling book, they have paid much less attention to how visual sources might further our understanding of the context in which Carson wrote, the message she sought to convey, and the impact of her work. This article analyzes sixteen editorial cartoons that appeared in the wake of Carson's book, images that reveal an emerging set of shared understandings about how modern technology presented potential dangers to both humans and the natural world. Using culturally resonant words and images, the cartoonists who editorialized about Carson and her book demonstrate the extent to which her frightening vision of bodily and ecological vulnerability began to permeate society, spawning a counternarrative to the still dominant discourse that linked technological progress, economic development, and the common good. These cartoons thus provide a useful window onto the reception of Silent Spring, the times in which it was published, and the birth of the modern environmental movement.