British Nature Writing in the Twentieth Century

British writing has consistently displayed an affinity with the natural world’s geography, topography and flora and fauna. Indeed the lyrical tradition of English poetry, with its melancholic cast exemplifies this, and we will refer to this poetic tradition in our examination of Edward Thomas and Ted Hughes. The first Thomas, will take us into the territory of the seismic change wrought on the British landscape by the fallout from the Great War.

The course will explore additionally the various palimpsests that have overlaid the natural world, seeing it as spiritual, an emblem for transience and melancholy and rebirth.

Naturally many of our writers were naturalists, and we will discover how the naturalist’s eye has evolved in the last century, as ecological concerns have become more pressing.

The authors selected will each exemplify different concerns and different styles, and will be seen to reflect a diversity of responses to the natural world, as well as reflecting the different expectations of that world, individuals and society has had in the last one hundred years. In this respect certain movements such as the Ramblers, the National Trust and the National Parks will cross our eyes and involve us in a discussion about the politicisation of Nature.