Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date

2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

History

Committee Chair

Andrew Daily

Committee Member

Jean-Marie Roulin

Committee Member

Daniel Unowsky

Committee Member

Melanie Conroy

Abstract

The question of French literatures portrayal of the environment has been widely debated in the ecocriticism field, with scholars such as Douglas Boudreau and Marnie Sullivan arguing that ecocriticism is predominately focused on literature written in English. In order to further our understanding of French environmental writing, we need to understand how the literary side of French Romanticism has influenced scientific advances that took place in late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century France. This project addresses the issue of Chateaubriands gardens at Valle aux Loups and his later, non-fictional work Voyage en Amrique (1827). Although he was not the first French author to traverse the Western Hemisphere and write about his voyages or bring back flora to France, I argue that his reinterpretation of North American flora, fauna, and indigenous peoples to be worth exploring. Some of the questions I pose throughout this project are the following: Which plants from his travel gardens are present in his later work, Voyage en Amrique (1827)? What is the significance of each flora? What can the organization of the garden tell us? How does he tie the gardens to his ethnography of Amerindians? Specifically, in this project, I closely analyze the flora at Valle aux Loups and Chateaubriands ethnography of North America, Voyage en Amrique. I argue that Chateaubriands ever-changing perspective of the environment can be seen clearly during the time lapse between the creation of his gardens, which were based on his earlier works Atala (1801) and Ren (1802), and his more serious attempts of scientific writing in Voyage en Amrique. What does this tell us about the capricious European perspective of the garden and their interpretations of plants both indigenous and exotic? In this project, I combine my backgrounds in French literature and history in order to delve into the question of revolutionary Frances ever-evolving gardening history and how the obsession of botany and the exotic brought about the rise of travel-inspired gardens in the nineteenth century forward.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest

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