Semester
Spring
Date of Graduation
2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Type
PhD
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
English
Committee Chair
Tim Sweet
Committee Member
Stephanie Foote
Committee Member
Lara Farina
Committee Member
Stewart Plein
Abstract
The project first traces the earliest origins of natural history writing, surveying how natural history writing from antiquity presented and categorized the living world, and then how the rise of print culture and growing popularity of natural history writing would facilitate the rise of European empires. Values and conventions emerged that would later feed into the field guide, like the pairing of text and illustration to aid identification and the decontextualizing of plants and animals from their environments.
Near the end of the nineteenth century, the field guide genre emerged. Some wildly popular books, mostly written by women, emphasized the virtuousness of learning birds and plants, using a domestic rather than national organizational framework. Other early field guides emphasized learning taxonomy and were more closely aligned with scientific disciplines. Both archetypes upheld values still present in the field guide.
Modern field guides have solidified Linnaean taxonomy as the default framework for understanding distinct lifeforms, but they also chronicle a growing extinction anxiety about the destructive power of humans. Modern field guides endorse consumerism, the experiencing of nature as a product. This widespread genre encapsulates the belief that through prosperity and desire, we can spread enough awareness to protect biodiversity despite our own destructive tendency. Field guides not only reflect our own values, they champion them.
Recommended Citation
Izaguirre, Frank PhD, "The Names of All Wild Things: Field Guides and Environmental Thinking" (2024). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 12463.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/12463