‘Shattering’ and ‘Violent’ Forces : Gender, Ecology, and Catastrophe in George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss
(2021) In Victoriographies 11(1). p.38-57- Abstract
- This article argues that George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss (1860) aligns natural catastrophe with the image of the disastrous female body in order to challenge contemporary geological readings of nature as a balanced, self-regulating domain. Both incorporating and revising the work of Charles Lyell, Oliver Goldsmith, and Georges Cuvier, Eliot emphasises the interconnectedness of human and planetary processes, feminises environmental catastrophe, and blends human and ecological history. She does so in order to write the human presence back into geological histories that tended to evacuate the human, and to invite readers to account for the effects their lifestyles and industries have upon the supposedly balanced and orderly processes of... (More)
- This article argues that George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss (1860) aligns natural catastrophe with the image of the disastrous female body in order to challenge contemporary geological readings of nature as a balanced, self-regulating domain. Both incorporating and revising the work of Charles Lyell, Oliver Goldsmith, and Georges Cuvier, Eliot emphasises the interconnectedness of human and planetary processes, feminises environmental catastrophe, and blends human and ecological history. She does so in order to write the human presence back into geological histories that tended to evacuate the human, and to invite readers to account for the effects their lifestyles and industries have upon the supposedly balanced and orderly processes of nature. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/d1e76107-a2c1-4561-b897-f54fdd304fb6
- author
- Barrow, Barbara LU
- publishing date
- 2021
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Anthropocene, ecocriticism, environment, deep time, feminism
- in
- Victoriographies
- volume
- 11
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 38 - 57
- publisher
- Edinburgh University Press
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85102530587
- DOI
- 10.3366/vic.2021.0408
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- d1e76107-a2c1-4561-b897-f54fdd304fb6
- date added to LUP
- 2022-08-23 17:58:18
- date last changed
- 2022-09-06 11:22:08
@article{d1e76107-a2c1-4561-b897-f54fdd304fb6,
abstract = {{This article argues that George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss (1860) aligns natural catastrophe with the image of the disastrous female body in order to challenge contemporary geological readings of nature as a balanced, self-regulating domain. Both incorporating and revising the work of Charles Lyell, Oliver Goldsmith, and Georges Cuvier, Eliot emphasises the interconnectedness of human and planetary processes, feminises environmental catastrophe, and blends human and ecological history. She does so in order to write the human presence back into geological histories that tended to evacuate the human, and to invite readers to account for the effects their lifestyles and industries have upon the supposedly balanced and orderly processes of nature.}},
author = {{Barrow, Barbara}},
keywords = {{Anthropocene; ecocriticism; environment; deep time; feminism}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{38--57}},
publisher = {{Edinburgh University Press}},
series = {{Victoriographies}},
title = {{‘Shattering’ and ‘Violent’ Forces : Gender, Ecology, and Catastrophe in George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/vic.2021.0408}},
doi = {{10.3366/vic.2021.0408}},
volume = {{11}},
year = {{2021}},
}