Literary Science and Nature Writing

I have been thinking lately about literary science and nature writing--how enjoyable it is to read and the possibility of writing in that genre. My inspiration was these posts by Patricia Karamesines at A Motley Vision blog.

I have found an online essay by Barry Lopez in which he discusses what nature writing is and something about its evolution. He mentions many books and authors, so his essay will also give you plenty of material to try out at the library. I don't necessarily agree with some of his statements, but overall it is a good essay and a thought-provoking one. His opening paragraph reads:

In recent years, partly because of a tendency in market-based economies to niche all information, but also in response to a relatively sudden awareness of the social and political impact environmental legislation and thought have had on American society, people have come to speak of nature writing as a distinct, even emergent genre. It is more accurate, most critics assert, to say we are witnessing a resurgence in the genre; and, setting it alongside other genres, it is arguably more helpful to see it as that strain of American literature that, more than others now, is pursuing the ancient discourse on human fate.

A later paragraph says:

The philosophical roots of this work, obviously, lie with Thoreau and Emerson, and the genre includes elements of misanthropy (often, in my view, exaggerated) in people like Edward Abbey, Robinson Jeffers, and Loren Eiseley. But, again, it is hazardous to try to maintain strict bounds. Certain writers frequently cited as nature writers bring with them an additional emphasis -- Wallace Stegner's citizenship, say, or Gary Nabhan's ethnobotany. John Muir, though central to any definition of nature writing, is also considered a focal political figure; Aldo Leopold, another pivotal figure, is not literary enough for some, while Thomas Merton is often regarded as peripheral because his writing is too "spiritual." (I would argue that Merton, more than any other contemporary prose writer, maintained the tradition of spirituality in American writing now thought to be integral to nature writing.) And, in any given critical article, we may learn that, say, Mary Austin, author of The Land of Little Rain (1903), like Susan Fenimore Cooper, author of Rural Hours (1850), has just been "rediscovered" as a nature writer.

It's an interesting essay for those who would like to learn a bit more about nature writing and have some examples of authors to explore.

Henry David Thoreau is probably the nature writer who leaps to everyone's mind when considering this category--I know I enjoy reading his writings. I haven't read a great deal of science and nature writing, but I did read some selections in my anthology classes in literature.

There are any number of ways to go about producing literary science and nature writing. One can emphasize facts or one can emphasize personal observation. One can write poetry, essays, or fiction. Some travel writing could fall into this category, as well. The genre interests me, though, so I will be sampling some various authors and styles and perhaps tackle some writing myself. Also, see my post here at Scholar and here at By Study and Also by Faith, my other blogs, for more on this topic.