ASLE 2027 Panel: Preserving Natures, Preserving Nations in the British Imagination
In “The Dawn of Green,” Harriet Ritvo details how nineteenth century British environmentalist movements gave birth to the idea that “the citizenry as a whole—the nation, that is to say—had a vested interest in preserving the traditional appearance of certain rural landscapes” (4). The entanglement of environment and nation has since persisted in British culture: through images of England as a garden, former British colonies as tourist and extractivist Edens, the establishment of national parks and preservation societies such as the National Trust ...