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Legacy of Henry David Thoreau, John Muir and Edward Abbey

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Legacy of Henry David Thoreau, John Muir and Edward Abbey Anotace Tato práce se zabývá komparativní analýzou děl Henryho Davida Thoreaua, Johna Muira a Edwarda Abbeyho v širším kontextu amerického environmentálního myšlení. Cílem je identifikovat charakter a inspirační zdroje amerického environmentálního myšlení a poukázat na vliv a potenciál environmentální literatury. Teoretická část práce je věnována zejména konceptu divočiny v americkém kontextu a svébytnému žánru environmentální literatury. Pozornost je také věnována hlubšímu zkoumání vlivu amerických Indiánů na myšlení uvedených autorů. Američtí Indiáni tak nepřímo ovlivňují ideový základ environmentálního myšlení v Americe. Hlavním tématem je však analýza přístupů jednotlivých autorů ke konceptu divočiny a jejich dopad na širší realitu amerického environmentálního hnutí. Důraz je kladen i na praktické přínosy v podobě vývoje myšlenky národních parků a jejich dalšího směřování ke komerčnímu využití divočiny, založení Sierra Clubu či radikálního environmentílního hnutí Earth First! Annotation This thesis deals with a comparative analysis of writings of Henry David Thoreau, John Muir and Edward Abbey in the wider context of American environmental thought. The aim is to identify the nature and sources of inspiration of American environmental thought and to point out the influence and potential of nature writing. The theoretical part is devoted especially to the concept of wilderness in American context and to a distinct genre of nature writing. Some attention is also given to a deeper examination of American Indians‟ influence on personal viewpoints of the selected authors. American Indians thus indirectly influence the ideological basis of American environmental thought. The main topic, however, is an analysis of the individual authors‟ concepts of wilderness and their impact on the wider realities of the American environmental movement. An Emphasis is also put on practical achievements such as the development of the idea of National Parks and their subsequent move toward the commercial use of wilderness, foundation of the Sierra Club, or foundation of the radical environmental movement Earth First! Rozsah práce: 28 999 slov 1 Table of Contents Anotace ....................................................................................................................................... 1 Annotation .................................................................................................................................. 1 Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... 2 1. Introduction: American Environmentalism ................................................................ 3 1.1. Wilderness in American Context ................................................................................... 8 1.2. Nature Writing: An American Phenomenon ................................................................. 13 1.3. Starring: Wilderness Prophets ....................................................................................... 15 1.3.1. Henry David Thoreau: Walden Woods Rebel ....................................................... 16 1.3.2. John Muir: Wilderness Champion ......................................................................... 18 1.3.3. Edward Abbey: Desert Anarchist .......................................................................... 21 2. The Indian: Source of Inspiration and Guilt ............................................................ 24 2.1. Thoreau: Friend of Indians ............................................................................................ 24 2.2. John Muir: Brother of All Men ..................................................................................... 28 2.3. Edward Abbey: Racist or Sympathizer? ....................................................................... 34 3. Wilderness, Home, Freedom, Patriotism .................................................................. 39 3.1. Henry David Thoreau: Wilderness Means Preservation ............................................... 39 3.2. John Muir: Wilderness Means Home ............................................................................ 45 3.3. Edward Abbey: Preservation Means Wilderness .......................................................... 49 3.4. National Parks: “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People” .................................. 55 3.5. Industrial Tourism: from Muir to Abbey toward the National (Amusement) Park System .................................................................................................................................. 58 4. Conclusion: One Brave Deed and a Thousand Books ........................................... 62 Works Cited .............................................................................................................................. 65 Index ......................................................................................................................................... 68 2 1. Introduction: American Environmentalism The American environmentalism is very specific because it is based on many phenomena that are directly linked to the American identity. The term itself in the American context carries a certain kind of aura and stimulates emotions partially because it heavily lies on another term that is crucial in the American way of relating to nature and that is wilderness. As William Cronon notes “wilderness serves as the unexamined foundation on which so many of the quasi-religious values of modern environmentalism rest” (“The Trouble with Wilderness”1 96). There is also a pinch of pride and sense of opposition in the word “environmentalism”. Environmentalism in the United States belongs next to all other –isms in the realm of social criticism; its range is therefore much wider than a mere focus on the protection of the environment. In short, environmentalism is as much about society as it is about its environment called nature. There are several preconditions that make American environmentalism distinct and unique: First, it builds up on the history of rebellion against an authority. May it be the rebellion against the British oppressive rule, the American unjust government permitting slavery, the beat rebellion against conventional American values and the subsequent countercultural rebellion in the 1960s, or a grassroots rebellion against the government that destroys the environment, there always is some authority or institution serving as a unifying force for the counter-attack. Second, it is based on the individual rather than on the collectivity. There are individual thinkers like Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Edward Abbey and many others, whose writings had a tremendous impact on the environmental movement as a whole even though their attitude towards the natural world was highly individual and personal. This personal message, however, is a very effective tool that enables readers to identify with this personal experience and direct the reader to a similar way of perceiving the natural world. Third, it is fixed on the notion of the wilderness, a uniquely American nation-building category. The three above mentioned characterizations of the American environmentalism – the counter-undertone, individualism and the idea of wilderness – are also the most essential American values and therefore, I linked American environmentalism with American identity. Being an environmentalist, a naturalist or nature writer has a lot to do with being a patriot. Thoreau sees the bright future and freedom in America‟s vast wilderness. “I must walk 1 Further abbreviated as “The Trouble”. 3 toward Oregon, and not toward Europe”, he says and urges the nation to “forget the Old World and its institutions” and follow the sun as it migrates westward because “[h]e is the Great Western Pioneer whom the nations follow” (“Walking” 234-35). For Thoreau the Old World had nothing to offer since the wilderness and freedom were in America. John Muir was not such an outspoken patriot like Thoreau; nevertheless, his biggest achievement was in the advocacy of the National Park System and founding the Sierra Club, the very two institutions which create and support the myth of wilderness as a truly American icon. Finally, Edward Abbey, whose allegiance to the United States was questioned and researched by the FBI (Bishop 92), was in fact a patriot of Thoreau‟s kind. Critical of his own government and directly engaged in various acts of civil disobedience in the name of wilderness, Abbey gave the link between wilderness and freedom a more acute political meaning. These nature writers and many more are also an unprecedented part of the American environmental movement as such. Though they are primarily writers and not activists, they give the movement emotional drive and new approach. The individual struggle for nature conservancy set a powerful example for others to follow. And they do. Although the environmental movement thus inevitably becomes a mainstream and wilderness is more a concept than a reality, the whole movement still largely builds on the original premises. This emotional and personal tone of American nature writing is in stark contrast to the factual and scientific tone of the European nature writing. American nature writing is much more accessible to readers, therefore it is more popular and effective. In the United States the personal wilderness experience in the spiritual sense is valued more than knowledge about ecology because, in fact, it initiates
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