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Reading the Environment: Narrative Constructions of Ecological Subjectivities in Australian Children's Literature

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Reading the Environment: Narrative Constructions of Ecological Subjectivities in Australian Children's Literature Reading the Environment: Narrative Constructions of Ecological Subjectivities in Australian Children’s Literature Thesis submitted by Geraldine Massey B.A., Dip.Ed. ( UQ), Grad-Dip. T-L., M.Ed. (Research) ( QUT ) July 2009 Centre for Learning Innovation Queensland University of Technology For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ii Abstract Ways in which humans engage with the environment have always provided a rich source of material for writers and illustrators of Australian children’s literature. Currently, readers are confronted with a multiplicity of complex, competing and/or complementing networks of ideas, theories and emotions that provide narratives about human engagement with the environment at a particular historical moment. This study, entitled Reading the Environment: Narrative Constructions of Ecological Subjectivities in Australian Children’s Literature , examines how a representative sample of Australian texts (19 picture books and 4 novels for children and young adults published between 1995 and 2006) constructs fictional ecological subjects in the texts, and offers readers ecological subject positions inscribed with contemporary environmental ideologies. The conceptual framework developed in this study identifies three ideologically grounded positions that humans may assume when engaging with the environment. None of these positions clearly exists independently of any other, nor are they internally homogeneous. Nevertheless they can be categorised as: (i) human dominion over the environment with little regard for environmental degradation (unrestrained anthropocentrism); (ii) human consideration for the environment driven by understandings that humans need the environment to survive (restrained anthropocentrism); and (iii) human deference towards the environment guided by understandings that humans are no more important than the environment (ecocentrism). iii The transdisciplinary methodological approach to textual analysis used in this thesis draws on ecocriticism, narrative theories, visual semiotics, ecofeminism and postcolonialism to discuss the difficulties and contradictions in the construction of the positions offered. Each chapter of textual analysis focuses on the construction of subjectivities in relation to one of the positions identified in the conceptual framework. Chapter 5 is concerned with how texts highlight the negative consequences of human dominion over the environment, or, in the words of this study, living with ecocatastrophe. Chapter 6 examines representations of restrained anthropocentrism in its contemporary form, that is, sustainability. Chapter 7 examines representations of ecocentrism, a radical position with inherent difficulties of representation. According to the analysis undertaken, the focus texts convey the subtleties and complexities of human engagement with the environment and advocate ways of viewing and responding to contemporary unease about the environment. The study concludes that these ways of viewing and responding conform to and/or challenge dominant socio-cultural and political-economic opinions regarding the environment. This study, the first extended work of its kind, makes an original contribution to ecocritical study of Australian children’s literature. By undertaking a comprehensive analysis of how texts for children represent human engagement with the environment at a time when important environmental concerns pose significant threats to human existence, I hope to contribute new knowledge to an area of children’s literature research that to date has been significantly underrepresented. iv Key Words Anthropocentrism, Australian Children’s Literature, Ecocatastrophe, Ecocentrism, Ecocriticism, Ecological Subjectivity, Environment, Environmental Discourses. v vi Statement of Original Authorship The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted to meet requirements for an award at this or any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, this thesis contains no material previously published or written by another except where due reference is made. Signed: ___________________________________ Date: _____________________________________ vii viii Table of Contents ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................................... III KEY WORDS ....................................................................................................................................... V STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP .......................................................................................... VII TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................ IX LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................. XIII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................... XV CHAPTER 1: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY..............................................................1 THE ERA OF THE ENVIRONMENT : A DISCURSIVE APPROACH .............................................................5 AUSTRALIAN CHILDREN ’S LITERATURE , ENVIRONMENTAL DISCOURSES , AND ECOLOGICAL SUBJECTIVITIES : THE REASON FOR THE STUDY ...............................................................................12 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ...........................................................................................................21 KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS .............................................................................................................22 Australian Children’s Literature ................................................................................................ 22 Environment................................................................................................................................ 23 Discourses .................................................................................................................................. 24 Narrative Discourses.................................................................................................................. 25 Environmental Discourses.......................................................................................................... 25 Anthropocentrism ....................................................................................................................... 26 Ecocentrism ................................................................................................................................ 26 Ecological Subjects, Subjectivities, Subject Positions and Agency ............................................ 27 Ecocriticism................................................................................................................................ 28 THE AIM OF THE STUDY ...................................................................................................................29 THE RESEARCH APPROACH ..............................................................................................................30 Criteria for Selecting Texts......................................................................................................... 31 Parameters of the Study.............................................................................................................. 33 OVERVIEW OF CHAPTERS .................................................................................................................36 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................41 ix CHAPTER 2: ECOCRITICAL RESEARCH INTO CHILDREN’S LITERATURE: A LOCUS FOR THE STUDY...............................................................................................................43 AN OVERVIEW OF ECOCRITICAL STUDIES INTO CHILDREN ’S LITERATURE ......................................45 ENVIRONMENTAL TROPES : THE FOCUS OF EARLIER STUDIES ..........................................................50 Pastoral ...................................................................................................................................... 52 Wilderness .................................................................................................................................. 55 Apocalypse.................................................................................................................................. 57 Georgic....................................................................................................................................... 62 OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL TROPES : WAYS OF KNOWING AND ENGAGING ........................................65 The Environment as Female ....................................................................................................... 66 The Environment as Spiritual Entity........................................................................................... 71 The Environment as Moral Guide (or Teacher) ......................................................................... 71 The Environment as Resource or Artefact.................................................................................. 72 Living Creatures as Human Beings............................................................................................ 72 SUMMARY
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