Phenological Records: a Sub-genre of Nature Writing
Open Access
Author:
Hosler, Sheryl Christina
Area of Honors:
English
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Robert Edwin Burkholder, Thesis Supervisor Lisa Ruth Sternlieb, Thesis Honors Advisor Ian Stuart Marshall, Faculty Reader
Keywords:
ecocriticism diary literature Aldo Leopold Marcia Bonta phenology new genre
Abstract:
Writers across decades, languages, genders and cultures have all been fascinated by nature and natural subjects. However, a distinct group of nature writers have chosen to address their subject using specific literary themes and structures. Phenological themes and a diary, journal, or almanac structure are the fundamental characteristics of the phenological records sub-genre. Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac and Marcia Bonta’s Appalachian Autumn serve as examples of this genre and its defining characteristics. Defining the phenological records genre is vital to the new green movement as people attempt to return to a symbiotic relationship with nature.
