Abstract
This essay shows how Emily Dickinson relocates historical agency by attending to the materiality of plant life. An avid gardener, Dickinson was alert to both imperial bioprospecting and plants' own strategies of propagation, and used these human and non-human networks of plant circulation to challenge concepts of nationalism and regionalism that were based in biotic distinctiveness. Moreover, drawing on nineteenth-century scientific discourses about plant sentience, her poems explore the possibility of an active and feeling natural world independent of human hierarchies. Ultimately, Dickinson pushes us beyond the categorical environment towards specific encounters between humans and other forms of life.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
