Shades of Green: Visions of Nature in the Literature of American Slavery, 1770-1860

Abstract

As a glance at recent issues of ISLE will confirm, ecocritics are actively engaged in diversifying the range of authors and genres that can be called “green,” and multicultural literature is at the forefront of this movement. Yet the phrase “literature of American slavery” in the subtitle of Ian Frederick Finseth's new book, Shades of Green, suggests how Finseth's book differs from other recent texts such as Kimberly K. Smith's African American Environmental Thought: Foundations. Finseth takes a wider view, examining white authors such as J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur and Harriet Beecher Stowe and depending on nonliterary sources such as personal correspondence and a series of fascinating historical paintings (which are reproduced in color). Although this ranging approach may frustrate readers looking for an introductory volume or one that focuses solely on African American writers, the quality of Finseth's argument suggests that he is ahead of the curve with this original and interdisciplinary book.