Steinbeck and the Environment: Interdisciplinary Approaches

by Susan F. Beegel (Editor), Susan Shillinglaw (Editor), Wesley N. Tiffney (Editor), Elaine Steinbeck (Foreword by)

Overview

This interdisciplinary collection of essays explores in-depth a topic previously neglected by scholars:  John Steinbeck's early continuing preoccupation with ecology and marine biology and the effect of that interest on his writings.  Written by scholars from various disciplines, the essays offer a dynamic contribution to the study of John Steinbeck by considering his writings from an environmental perspective.  They reveal Steinbeck as a prophet that was ahead of his time and supremely relevant to our own.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780817381653
Publisher:	University of Alabama Press
Publication date:	05/06/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Susan F. Beegel is the editor of The Hemingway Review and Visiting Assistant Professor of English at the University of Idaho.  Susan Shillinglaw is Director of the Steinbeck Research center and Associate Professor of English at San Jose Sttae Univesity.  Wesley N. Tiffney, Jr., is Director of the University of Massachusetts Nantucket Field Station and a field biologist specializing in human land use history and ecology.

Table of Contents

Contents Foreword Steinbeck Elaine Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction Tiffney, Jr. Wesley N. Shillinglaw Susan Beegel Susan F. Part One: Origins 1. John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts: Understanding Life in the Great Tide Pool Kelley James C. 2. Steinbeck on Man and Nature: A Philosophical Reflection Hart Richard E. Part Two: The Grapes of Wrath 3. Turning Wine into Water: Water as Privileged Signifier in The Grapes of Wrath Cassuto David N. 4. The “Great Mother” in The Grapes of Wrath Cederstrom Lorelei 5. Steinbeck's Ecological Polemic: Human Sympathy and Visual Documentary in the Intercalary Chapters of The Grapes of Wrath Valenti Peter 6. Natural Wisdom: Steinbeck's Men of Nature as Prophets and Peacemakers McEntyre Marilyn Chandler Part Three: Sea of Cortez 7. Searching for “What Is”: Charles Darwin and John Steinbeck Railsback Brian 8. “The Poetry of Scientific Thinking”: Steinbeck's Log from the Sea of Cortez and Scientific Travel Narrative Brodwin Stanley 9. Revisiting the Sea of Cortez with a “Green” Perspective Gladstein Clifford Eric Gladstein Mimi Reisel 10. Education of Environmental Scientists: Should We Listen to Steinbeck and Ricketts's Comments? Englert Peter A. J. 11. The Pearl in the Sea of Cortez: Steinbeck's Use of Environment Nakayama Kiyoshi Part Four: Later Works 12. “Working at the Impossible”: Moby-Dick's Presence in East of Eden DeMott Robert 13. At Sea in the Tide Pool: The Whaling Town and America in Steinbeck's The Winter of Our Discontent and Travels with Charley Philbrick Nathaniel 14. “The Scars of Our Grasping Stupidity” and the “Sucked Orange”: John Steinbeck and the Ecological Legacy of John Burroughs Stoneback H. R. 15. Steinbeck under the Sea at the Earth's Core Morsberger Robert E. Part Five: Overviews 16. How Green Was John Steinbeck? French Warren 17. John Steinbeck: Late-Blooming Environmentalist Hedgpeth Joel W. 18. Steinbeck's Environmental Ethic: Humanity in Harmony with the Land Timmerman John H. 19. A World to Be Cherished: Steinbeck as Conservationist and Ecological Prophet Simmonds Roy Bibliography Contributors Index

Editorial Reviews

Scholars from disciplines including marine biology, the social and physical sciences, environmental studies, feminist theory, history, philosophy, and American literature consider Steinbeck's writing from an environmental perspective. They concentrate on "The Grapes of Wrath", "Log from the Sea of Cortez", and his later works, including "East of Eden" and "Travels with Charley". Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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