The Post-Pastoral Elements in Michael Longley’s Poetics

When discussing the internal contradictions and issues of ideology and representation posed by the literary pastoral, Lawrence Buell suggests the need for “a more mature environmental aesthetics” than the pastoral provides (32). Terry Gifford insists that “‘A mature environmental aesthetics’ would n...

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Main Author: Cassandra O’Loughlin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Asociación Española de Estudios Irlandeses 2017-03-01
Series:Estudios Irlandeses
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.estudiosirlandeses.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DEF.OLOUGHLIN.pdf
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author Cassandra O’Loughlin
author_facet Cassandra O’Loughlin
author_sort Cassandra O’Loughlin
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description When discussing the internal contradictions and issues of ideology and representation posed by the literary pastoral, Lawrence Buell suggests the need for “a more mature environmental aesthetics” than the pastoral provides (32). Terry Gifford insists that “‘A mature environmental aesthetics’ would need to recognise that some literature has gone beyond the closed circuit of pastoral and anti-pastoral to achieve a vision of an integrated natural world that includes the human” (148). The Irish poet Michael Longley has increasingly avoided pastoral’s anthropocentric worldview that the universe centres on humans; he reassigns preference to the concerns of the biosphere, including its human participants. He seamlessly integrates social systems and ecosystems, proposing what Donna Potts terms a “more radical reordering of cultural values” (79). This article analyses the ecocritical value of Longley’s poetry in light of Terry Gifford’s suggested requisites for post-pastoral literature.
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spelling doaj.art-6b272d8170924b9998e2e583c1d64c862022-12-22T03:37:14ZengAsociación Española de Estudios IrlandesesEstudios Irlandeses1699-311X1699-311X2017-03-01131382978098The Post-Pastoral Elements in Michael Longley’s PoeticsCassandra O’Loughlin0 University of Newcastle, Australia When discussing the internal contradictions and issues of ideology and representation posed by the literary pastoral, Lawrence Buell suggests the need for “a more mature environmental aesthetics” than the pastoral provides (32). Terry Gifford insists that “‘A mature environmental aesthetics’ would need to recognise that some literature has gone beyond the closed circuit of pastoral and anti-pastoral to achieve a vision of an integrated natural world that includes the human” (148). The Irish poet Michael Longley has increasingly avoided pastoral’s anthropocentric worldview that the universe centres on humans; he reassigns preference to the concerns of the biosphere, including its human participants. He seamlessly integrates social systems and ecosystems, proposing what Donna Potts terms a “more radical reordering of cultural values” (79). This article analyses the ecocritical value of Longley’s poetry in light of Terry Gifford’s suggested requisites for post-pastoral literature.https://www.estudiosirlandeses.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DEF.OLOUGHLIN.pdfMichael LongleyTerry GiffordPost-Pastoral PoetryEcopoetryEcocentrismEcocriticism
spellingShingle Cassandra O’Loughlin
The Post-Pastoral Elements in Michael Longley’s Poetics
Estudios Irlandeses
Michael Longley
Terry Gifford
Post-Pastoral Poetry
Ecopoetry
Ecocentrism
Ecocriticism
title The Post-Pastoral Elements in Michael Longley’s Poetics
title_full The Post-Pastoral Elements in Michael Longley’s Poetics
title_fullStr The Post-Pastoral Elements in Michael Longley’s Poetics
title_full_unstemmed The Post-Pastoral Elements in Michael Longley’s Poetics
title_short The Post-Pastoral Elements in Michael Longley’s Poetics
title_sort post pastoral elements in michael longley s poetics
topic Michael Longley
Terry Gifford
Post-Pastoral Poetry
Ecopoetry
Ecocentrism
Ecocriticism
url https://www.estudiosirlandeses.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DEF.OLOUGHLIN.pdf
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