<b>The Limits of Violence: People and Property in Edward Abbey’s "Monkeywrenching" Novels</b> // Los límites de la violencia: La gente y la propiedad en las novelas "Monkeywrenching" de Edward Abbey

Autori

  • David Thomas Sumner Linfield College

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37536/ECOZONA.2013.4.2.535

Parole chiave:

Edward Abbey, radical environmentalism, environmental ethics, eco-fiction, ecología radical, ética medioambiental, eco-ficción

Abstract

This paper explores Edward Abbey’s fiction asking what kind ethical imperative his monkeywrenching novels offer.  While advocating the destruction of property in defense of wilderness, The Monkey Wrench Gang draws a clear ethical distinction between the destruction of property in defense of wilderness and the harming of people. Yet the sequel, Hayduke Lives!, blurs this ethical line when a security guard is killed during the novel’s final eco-sabotage scene.  After exploring several possible textual explanations for this apparent change and then interviewing several of Abbey’s close friends regarding this issue, the author concludes that the shift does not represent a change in Abbey’s worldview, but rather a change in fictional circumstance.

 

Resumen

 

            Este trabajo explora la ficción de Abbey cuestionando qué clase de imperativo ético ofrecen sus novelas "monkeywrenching" (de sabotaje). Mientras aboga por la destrucción de la propiedad en defensa de la naturaleza, The Monkey Wrench Gang también traza una distinción ética clara entre la destrucción de la propiedad en defensa de la naturaleza y el daño a la gente. Pero la secuela, Hayduke Lives!, desdibuja esta línea cuando un guardia muere durante la escena final de eco-sabotaje de la novela. Tras explorar las diversas explicaciones textuales posibles para este cambio aparente, y después de entrevistar a varios amigos de Abbey en relación a este asunto, el autor concluye que la variación no representa un cambiola visión del mundo de Abbey, sino más bien un cambio en las circunstancias de la ficción.

Downloads

I dati di download non sono ancora disponibili.

Biografia autore

David Thomas Sumner, Linfield College

Linfield College, United States

dsumner@linfield.edu

David Sumner is associate professor of English and environmental studies at Linfield College.  He teaches courses in American Literature, philosophy and literature, American nature writing, and Western American Literature.  He also directs Linfield’s writing program.  Professor Sumner has published in the fields of American literature, literature and the environment, rhetoric, and writing pedagogy.  He has also published a series of interviews with contemporary nature writers such as Terry Tempest Williams, Barry Lopez, and David Quammen.  His work is particularly focused on the intersection between literature and ethics. When not teaching or writing, Professor Sumner likes to wander the wild places of the American West with his family and his fly rod.

##submission.downloads##

##submission.additionalFiles##

Pubblicato

2013-09-30

Fascicolo

V. 4 N. 2 (2013): Mediterranean Ecocriticism

Sezione

General Section 4.2 (Autumn 2013)

Licenza

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

a) Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal (CC BY-NC for articles and CC BY-NC-ND for creative work, unless author requests otherwise.

b) Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

c) Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).