In my search to engage students in a more complex investigation of environmental literature, I wanted to challenge the implicit messages delivered in this unit. First, I sought to dispel the myth that environmental literature is a colorblind genre bereft of human influence, fully divested from any notions of race, power, or justice. Second, the implicit message in much of the curriculum surrounding environmental literature is that it is written by and for white people; the dominant narrative present in environmental literature tends to be of a white man finding solace and peace in conveniently pristine forests, while people of color, if mentioned at all, are cast as subhuman beings, mystically connected to the natural world. Third, I wanted to foster an understanding of environmental justice: the understanding that humans are inherently connected to their environment. Injustices committed against marginalized groups can not be separated from the environment, and injustices committed against the environment disproportionately harm marginalized groups. Lastly, I wanted to ensure that these three curricular goals were explicitly taught to and understood by students, allowing them to reclaim the power often denied to learners in the study of the environment and enabling them to critique the dominant narratives of nature writing.
To organize and facilitate a clear understanding of a more complex and comprehensive reimagining of an environmental literature unit, I divided readings, discussions, and activities into three thematic understandings:
- Review: How can we critique the dominant approach to nature writing and environmental literature?
- Resistance: How do authors and artists serve as revolutionaries in the face of environmental injustice?
- Renaissance: How do authors and artists celebrate and affirm their identities as they intersect with their environment?
