An Ecopsychological Reading of Susan Fennimore Cooper’s “Rural Hours”

Authors

Abstract

Ecopsychology explores the relationships between the mind (psyche) and the surrounding environment. As Andy Fisher puts it in Radical Ecopsychology (2013), ecopsychology, “would approach the psyche in relation to its earthly or natural home, its native abode” as well as the “the basic shifts in our patterns of identity and relationship that occur when we include our connection to the web of life around us as essential to human well-being.” Fisher considers ecopsychology as a project that paves the ground for changing the role of humans from exploiters to members in the biotic community. If eco or ‘oikos’ refers to home, and psychology in the study, order of meaning, or speech, of the psyche or soul, then ecopsychology can positively contribute to improving our relationship(s) with nature, our home. This essay looks at Rural Hours from an ecopsychological perspective in an attempt to discuss how Cooper describes the relation between the self and environment.

Recommended Citation

(2024) "An Ecopsychological Reading of Susan Fennimore Cooper’s “Rural Hours”," The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE): Vol. 9: Iss. 1, Article 5.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/ije/vol9/iss1/5