Annotated Bibliography
Wendell Berry’s Voice in Environmental Writing
Mark Stephens
Angyal, Andrew J. “Wendell Berry.” New York: Twayne Publishers, 1995. [Infokat Catalogue]
Angyal’s book is a biography of Wendell Berry, tracing his roots from rural living in Henry County, Kentucky to his academic endeavors in New York and abroad. The history of the writer provides insight into his writing style and gives the background from which the author bloomed. Later in the biography, Angyal examines Wendell’s publication record and notes changes that occur as his lifetime progresses. It provides information that helps frame stylistic changes within their chronological context. For example, at the end of the book Berry’s poetry is analyzed in respect to the events that encompassed the writing. The biography goes beyond the normal bounds of its genre and touches on stylistic and rhetorical matters. (115 words)
Christensen, Laird. “Spirit Astir in the World: Wendell Berry’s Sacramental Poetry.” Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature 52, No. 2 (2000 winter): 163-81. [MLA bibliography/FirstSearch]
“Spirit Astir in the World: Wendell Berry’s Sacramental Poetry” examines the religious and spiritual themes within Berry’s poetry. Christensen’s article utilizes many of Berry’s poetic works, but focuses on a select few, particularly the “Sabbath” poems. He analyzes the poetry with a heavily Christian perspective, but still illuminates many stylistic details relevant to Wendell’s reverent style. The majority of the article is concerned with investigating the implications of Berry’s arguments in relation to conventional Christian beliefs. Although the main topic of discussion is religion and spirituality, environmental themes and organic motifs permeate the body of the text. Christensen concludes with the idea that Berry’s writing suggests, or even urges a change in the reader’s lifestyle through his familiar and prophetic voice. (121 words)
Decker, William Merrill. “The Wild, the Divine, and the Human Word: Rereading Wendell Berry.” North Dakota Quarterly Vol. 59, no. 2 (1991 spring): 242-58. [MLA bibliography/FirstSearch]
Decker’s article explores the relationships of the divine and the wild that exist within Berry’s works. He compares Wendell with many earlier writers, including Dryden and Pope, which fulfill the role of “Christian nature writer.” Decker traces the threads of wilderness through Berry’s literature and reveals the stylistic tie to divinity within those pieces of narrative. The themes of rebirth and homecoming are also present in Berry’s work, and Decker analyzes these ideas within spiritual connotations. These same ideas also are present in Wendell’s political ideas, which assume that ecological behavior is also political behavior. The article brings the spiritual, natural, and political facets of Berry’s writing together to create a better understanding of his stylistic intentions. (117 words)
Hinkel, Howard. “Prophets of Nature: Wordsworth’s Environmental Second Selves.”
The Wordsworth Circle Vol. 34 No. 1 (Winter 2003): 49-53. [MLA Bibliography/FirstSearch
“Prophets of Nature” introduces Berry as a voice that has inherited a “prophetic and inspiring voice as one who will speak for Nature’s interests.” Hinkel adds to the existing literature that describes Berry as a prophet of modern times; furthermore, he places Wendell within a timeline of writers, such as Wordsworth, who have fulfilled this role in the past. The article outlines parallels with Wordsworth and details Berry’s Romantic and spiritual influences, which are evident in his reverent descriptions of wildlife. Hinkel cements the relationship between the two writers’ styles in a comparison of their personal desires to “keep their land, thereby maintaining their independence.” This desire is evident within the rhetoric of all of Berry’s writing, including his political commentary Citizenship Papers. (123 words)
Howell, Cynthia M. “Rereading Agrarianism: Despoliation and Conservation in the Works of Wendell Berry, Lee Smith, and Bobbie Ann Mason.” Diss. U. of KY, 1996 [Infokat Catalogue]
Howell examines the progression of the agrarian movement through the past century, beginning with the essays “Twelve Southerners” and continuing through contemporary literature. She analyzes a variety of authors, comparing each individual’s perspective on the evolving topic of agrarianism. Throughout this, she compares each writer’s style and beliefs in relation to the original collection of essays. She portrays Wendell as the most researched of the authors, and also as the one that holds most true to the original beliefs. His reverent style and voice of common sense distinguish him from the other writers. She includes an examination of Berry’s spiritual and religious rhetoric concerning agrarianism. (106 words)
Occhino, Janet L. “The Unforeseen Self: Autobiography in the Works of Wendell Berry.” Diss. U. of KY, 1998. [Infokat Catalogue]
Occhino’s thesis on autobiographical themes within Berry’s works focuses on the variety of personas that Wendell uses in his writing. Her chapter titles outline the five personalities of autobiographer, poet, farmer, prophet, and neighbor that run throughout his literature. She emphasizes his simple style, declaring it a “sane and somehow familiar voice… [with a] jarringly personal quality…” Each aspect of Berry’s persona is examined individually in respect with its totality. Occhino reveals the stylistic effects of each of these facets in relationship to Wendell’s ecological vision. The culmination of these perspectives provides deeper insight to Berry’s rhetoric and gives the reader a deeper understanding of his beliefs and diction. (108 words)
Smith, Kimberly K. “Wendell Berry and the Agrarian Tradition: A Common Grace.” University Press of Kansas, 2003. [Infokat Catalogue]
Smith’s book “concerns Wendell Berry’s reformulation of democratic agrarianism” and an “exploration of Berry’s moral vision- a vision that becomes more relevant as we move farther from our agrarian past.” Taking a more political angle, the book reveals the moral and political ideas within Wendell’s writing and examines his diction in relationship to those ideas. Smith establishes an expanded definition of Berry’s terms and explores the stylistic effects it has on his social and political commentary. She ends the book reinforcing the intentions of his writing towards a “broader public, to everyone who is or should be concerned with achieving a healthy and sustainable relationship to the living world.” (109 words)
Scigaj, Leonard M. “Sustainable Poetry: Four American Ecopoets.” Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1999. [Infokat Catalogue]
Scigaj’s chapter is a piece of critical literature on the poetry of Wendell Berry and covers a wide range of his published work. Intending to reveal the organic and environmental style that underlies Berry’s work, Scigaj examines the poetic images within Berry’s works and brings his motifs of the spiritual and ecological value of nature. He describes Berry’s attitude toward life and writing as “simple, profound, and resonant with significance.” Through critique, Scigaj presents the reader with many of Berry’s themes, including harmony, life and death, stewardship, and responsible living. He ends the chapter claiming that Wendell, “in his best work proves that his ‘art of the commonplace’ can convey the density and mystery of lived experience…” (117 words)