Publication Date
Fall 2016
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English and Comparative Literature
Advisor
Noelle Brada-Williams
Keywords
Barbara Kingsolver, deconstruction, ecofeminism, Jane Smiley, patriarchy, posthumanism
Subject Areas
English literature; Environmental philosophy; American literature
Abstract
Although many scholarly articles have provided ecofeminist insights and
critiques of A Thousand Acres that connect the abuse of women to the abuse of the land, few have dealt specifically with the link between the treatment of women and the treatment of nonhuman animals. In the first chapter of this paper, I argue that associations between women and nonhuman animals in A Thousand Acres sustain the constructed reality of patriarchal communities. Similarly, Prodigal Summer’s narratives center around females and nonhuman animals, but also provide a broader focus that emphasizes the interconnectivity of the entire biotic pyramid and optimistically holds that education, empathy, and a collective ecological conscience can reweave a balanced web of life. Thus, Prodigal Summer lends itself to a more expansive posthumanist critique, which offers an overarching perspective on the intersectionality of all things while warning against the human propensity to view themselves as closed systems. Therefore, in the second chapter of this paper, I argue that Barbara Kingsolver uses the three prominent female characters of the novel (Deanna, Lusa, and Nannie) to educate both their own social circles as well as Kingsolver’s readership about the importance of balance within the biotic pyramid.
Recommended Citation
Laughlin, Aubrey A., "Deconstructing Exploitative Systems and Restoring a Balanced Biosphere: An Ecofeminist Posthumanist Reading of Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres and Barbara Kingsolver's Prodigal Summer" (2016). Master's Theses. 4762.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31979/etd.zfn3-b2v5
https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_theses/4762