Publication Date
Summer 2017
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
English
First Advisor
Christopher T. White, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Rosemary Erickson Johnsen, Ph.D.
Third Advisor
Kerri K. Morris, Ph.D.
Abstract
Ecofeminism has permeated the disciplines of politics, philosophy, science, and literature – all of which are embedded in the fiction of Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer and Ruth Ozeki’s All Over Creation. In this thesis, I consider the authors’ use of scientific evidence to engage readers with their rhetorical goals of protecting the systems of nature and gender. In the first chapter, I define the history of ecofeminist activism and how Kingsolver and Ozeki continue its tradition. The second chapter considers the parallels between biodiversity and cultural diversity within both Prodigal Summer and All Over Creation. In the final chapter, I analyze themes of motherhood, maternity, and fertility in each novel, specifically as they are impacted by toxic human behavior.
Recommended Citation
Hirsch, Sarah J., "Protecting Systems of Nature and Gender: Ecofeminism in Barbara Kingsolver's Prodigal Summer and Ruth Ozeki's All Over Creation" (2017). All Student Theses. 103.
https://opus.govst.edu/theses/103
Included in
Comparative Literature Commons, English Language and Literature Commons, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons