Imagining the Forest

Narratives of Michigan and the Upper Midwest

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, American, Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Nature
Cover of the book Imagining the Forest by John R. Knott, University of Michigan Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: John R. Knott ISBN: 9780472028078
Publisher: University of Michigan Press Publication: November 30, 2011
Imprint: University of Michigan Press Language: English
Author: John R. Knott
ISBN: 9780472028078
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Publication: November 30, 2011
Imprint: University of Michigan Press
Language: English

Forests have always been more than just their trees. The forests in Michigan (and similar forests in other Great Lakes states such as Wisconsin and Minnesota) played a role in the American cultural imagination from the beginnings of European settlement in the early nineteenth century to the present. Our relationships with those forests have been shaped by the cultural attitudes of the times, and people have invested in them both moral and spiritual meanings.

Author John Knott draws upon such works as Simon Schama's Landscape and Memory and Robert Pogue Harrison's Forests: The Shadow of Civilization in exploring ways in which our
relationships with forests have been shaped, using Michigan---its history of settlement, popular literature, and forest management controversies---as an exemplary case. Knott looks at such well-known figures as William Bradford, James Fenimore Cooper, John Muir, John Burroughs, and Teddy Roosevelt; Ojibwa conceptions of the forest and natural world (including how Longfellow mythologized them); early explorer accounts; and contemporary literature set in the Upper Peninsula, including Jim Harrison's True North and Philip Caputo's Indian Country.

Two competing metaphors evolved over time, Knott shows: the forest as howling wilderness, impeding the progress of civilization and in need of subjugation, and the forest as temple or cathedral, worthy of reverence and protection. Imagining the Forestshows the origin and development of both.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Forests have always been more than just their trees. The forests in Michigan (and similar forests in other Great Lakes states such as Wisconsin and Minnesota) played a role in the American cultural imagination from the beginnings of European settlement in the early nineteenth century to the present. Our relationships with those forests have been shaped by the cultural attitudes of the times, and people have invested in them both moral and spiritual meanings.

Author John Knott draws upon such works as Simon Schama's Landscape and Memory and Robert Pogue Harrison's Forests: The Shadow of Civilization in exploring ways in which our
relationships with forests have been shaped, using Michigan---its history of settlement, popular literature, and forest management controversies---as an exemplary case. Knott looks at such well-known figures as William Bradford, James Fenimore Cooper, John Muir, John Burroughs, and Teddy Roosevelt; Ojibwa conceptions of the forest and natural world (including how Longfellow mythologized them); early explorer accounts; and contemporary literature set in the Upper Peninsula, including Jim Harrison's True North and Philip Caputo's Indian Country.

Two competing metaphors evolved over time, Knott shows: the forest as howling wilderness, impeding the progress of civilization and in need of subjugation, and the forest as temple or cathedral, worthy of reverence and protection. Imagining the Forestshows the origin and development of both.

More books from University of Michigan Press

Cover of the book Congressional Communication by John R. Knott
Cover of the book Where Women Run by John R. Knott
Cover of the book From Sorrow's Well by John R. Knott
Cover of the book Broadway Rhythm by John R. Knott
Cover of the book Theoretical Approaches to the Archaeology of Ancient Greece by John R. Knott
Cover of the book The Madisonian Turn by John R. Knott
Cover of the book The Tribe of Pyn by John R. Knott
Cover of the book The Jews of Georgian England, 1714-1830 by John R. Knott
Cover of the book Mrs. Shipley's Ghost by John R. Knott
Cover of the book To Agree or Not to Agree by John R. Knott
Cover of the book Early Start by John R. Knott
Cover of the book After Django by John R. Knott
Cover of the book China and the West by John R. Knott
Cover of the book Melancholy, Love, and Time by John R. Knott
Cover of the book Imagining Wild America by John R. Knott
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy