The effects of literature as a guidebook: reimagining landscapes through Barry Lopez’s Desert Notes
Graduation Date
2015
Document Type
Thesis
Program
Other
Program
Thesis (M.A.)--Humboldt State University, English: Literary and Cultural Studies, 2015
Committee Chair Name
Mary Ann Creadon
Committee Chair Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Keywords
Landscapes, Literature, Humboldt State University -- Projects -- English, Refamiliarize, Guidebook, Audience, Lopez, Multiperspectival, Desert Notes, Reimagine, Narrative forms
Abstract
In "The American Geographies," Barry Lopez characterizes the Western world's exploitation of the environment as due to its superficial "knowledge of the real dimensions of the land it occupies." In my thesis, I analyze how Lopez utilizes unique narrative forms and multiperspectival approaches to offer his audience a space to reverse this predicament. By tracking his use of these literary devices, I illustrate how Lopez brings the landscape to the foreground as both his story's reality and a metaphor for the reader's landscape to guide them towards refamiliarizing themselves with each.
Recommended Citation
Gabriels, Samuel T., "The effects of literature as a guidebook: reimagining landscapes through Barry Lopez’s Desert Notes" (2015). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 1077.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/1077
https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/concern/theses/vh53wx87r