Wetlands and Western Cultures: Denigration to Conservation

(Hardback)

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In Wetlands and Western Cultures: Denigration to Conservation, Rod Giblett examines the portrayal of wetlands in Western culture and argues for their conservation. Gibletts analysis of the wetland motif in literature and the arts, including in Beowulf and the writings of Tolkien and Thoreau, demonstrates two approaches to wetlandstheir denigration as dead or their commendation as living waters with a potent cultural history.

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Wetlands and Western Cultures is a visceral and imaginative foray into the connectivities between landscape and human civilization across time. Rod Giblett gracefully traces our collective changing attitudes toward, and appropriation of, wetland ecosystems from drain and reclaim narratives to a growing awareness of the necessity of embedding wetlands within sustainable and regenerative futures. This beautifully sculpted work serves as a reminder of the intractable relationship which exists between nature and culture with humans acting as both conduit and fabricator.

Author Bio

Rod Giblett is honorary associate professor of environmental humanities at Deakin University.