“Only a Light Wreath of The New-Fallen Snow”?: Ecogothic Tropes and the Diffractive Gaze in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Snow-Image”
In the article I discuss Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ecological imagination as problematized in his lesser-known short story “The Snow-Image: A Childish Miracle” (1849). Although Hawthorne wrote the story for children, it carries a darker gothic undertone, illustrating the problematic aspect of the Romant...
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European Association for American Studies
2023-09-01
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| Series: | European Journal of American Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/20603 |
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| author | Paulina Ambroży |
| author_facet | Paulina Ambroży |
| author_sort | Paulina Ambroży |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the article I discuss Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ecological imagination as problematized in his lesser-known short story “The Snow-Image: A Childish Miracle” (1849). Although Hawthorne wrote the story for children, it carries a darker gothic undertone, illustrating the problematic aspect of the Romantic nature/culture division. The focus of my inquiry are the potential ecological implications. The analytical framework is taken from Andrew Smith and William Hughes’ edited collection Ecogothic (2013), in which several scholars work towards a definition of an environmentally conscious variety of the gothic genre. Using some of their findings and concepts along with selected ecocritical and New Materialist theories, I interrogate Hawthorne’s highly ambiguous and shifting tropes of nature which reveal the correlation between the crisis of the imagination and that of the environment. I argue that the central trope of the snow-child and the trajectory of the narrative conceal a Frankensteinesque subplot employed to critically rethink nature as a transcendental experience. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4d22604c3a594bd492255e93f4cbb0a7 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1991-9336 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | European Association for American Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of American Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-4d22604c3a594bd492255e93f4cbb0a72025-01-06T09:08:09ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-93362023-09-0118310.4000/ejas.20603“Only a Light Wreath of The New-Fallen Snow”?: Ecogothic Tropes and the Diffractive Gaze in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Snow-Image”Paulina AmbrożyIn the article I discuss Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ecological imagination as problematized in his lesser-known short story “The Snow-Image: A Childish Miracle” (1849). Although Hawthorne wrote the story for children, it carries a darker gothic undertone, illustrating the problematic aspect of the Romantic nature/culture division. The focus of my inquiry are the potential ecological implications. The analytical framework is taken from Andrew Smith and William Hughes’ edited collection Ecogothic (2013), in which several scholars work towards a definition of an environmentally conscious variety of the gothic genre. Using some of their findings and concepts along with selected ecocritical and New Materialist theories, I interrogate Hawthorne’s highly ambiguous and shifting tropes of nature which reveal the correlation between the crisis of the imagination and that of the environment. I argue that the central trope of the snow-child and the trajectory of the narrative conceal a Frankensteinesque subplot employed to critically rethink nature as a transcendental experience.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/20603Hawthorne“The Snow-Image” Ecogothicdiffractive visionnature as a space of crisis |
| spellingShingle | Paulina Ambroży “Only a Light Wreath of The New-Fallen Snow”?: Ecogothic Tropes and the Diffractive Gaze in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Snow-Image” European Journal of American Studies Hawthorne “The Snow-Image ” Ecogothic diffractive vision nature as a space of crisis |
| title | “Only a Light Wreath of The New-Fallen Snow”?: Ecogothic Tropes and the Diffractive Gaze in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Snow-Image” |
| title_full | “Only a Light Wreath of The New-Fallen Snow”?: Ecogothic Tropes and the Diffractive Gaze in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Snow-Image” |
| title_fullStr | “Only a Light Wreath of The New-Fallen Snow”?: Ecogothic Tropes and the Diffractive Gaze in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Snow-Image” |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Only a Light Wreath of The New-Fallen Snow”?: Ecogothic Tropes and the Diffractive Gaze in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Snow-Image” |
| title_short | “Only a Light Wreath of The New-Fallen Snow”?: Ecogothic Tropes and the Diffractive Gaze in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Snow-Image” |
| title_sort | only a light wreath of the new fallen snow ecogothic tropes and the diffractive gaze in nathaniel hawthorne s the snow image |
| topic | Hawthorne “The Snow-Image ” Ecogothic diffractive vision nature as a space of crisis |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/20603 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT paulinaambrozy onlyalightwreathofthenewfallensnowecogothictropesandthediffractivegazeinnathanielhawthornesthesnowimage |