ABSTRACT
American nature writing and poetry of the natural world have grappled with the appropriate relationship of human beings to the natural world, arguably since their very inception. Beginning with a nineteenth-century pioneer of stewardship – Susan Cooper – and continuing through several twentieth-century authors who wrestle with science and ethics in our interactions and interdependence with the Earth – Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, and Gary Snyder – this essay traces some of the key lines of development of stewardship, or care for the natural world, making the case for the critical importance of this idea, in its various forms, both for understanding literary history, as well as for the promise of helping us successfully address our current ecological challenges.
