"EVERYTHING WE NEED IS HERE" : RESTORING ENVIRONMENTAL BONDS THROUGH ACTIVISM IN SOLAR STORMS BY LINDA HOGAN, POTIKI BY PATRICIA GRACE, AND PRODIGAL SUMMER BY BARBARA KINGSOLVER
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Date
2012
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Authors
Lawhorne, Alison E.
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East Carolina University
Abstract
The following study explores the role of environmental activism in Solar Storms (1995) by Linda Hogan, Potiki (1986) by Patricia Grace, and Prodigal Summer (2000) by Barbara Kingsolver. In each novel, characters participate in activism for their respective environments through both direct and indirect actions against forces desiring to dominate the natural world. As indigenous authors, Hogan and Grace connect the domination of nature to the colonization of indigenous peoples as well. Kingsolver, on the other hand, examines the role of the EuroAmericans in her text as conquerors and demonstrates ecologically sound ways her characters and readers can restore broken bonds with the natural world. In all three novels, characters, communities, and the reader begin to experience a healing of deep wounds inflicted by attitudes that position humans as superior to the rest of the world and interactions with the environment based on economics and domination rather than balance. Through this cross-cultural comparison, an understanding of multiple ways in which humans can participate in a restoration of the broken bonds with the natural world emerges.