Article ID: CBB001201777

Extinction and Progress in Charles Kingsley's Alton Locke (1850) (2013)

unapi

Charles Kingsley's Alton Locke (1850), written a decade before the publication of Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection, emphasizes newly-emerging definitions of nature and modem perceptions of the interrelations between the human social system and the ecosystem. In so doing, the modern conceptions of the natural environment which the novel highlights, shape a Utopian model for a more democratic society. As this paper points out, by using environmental metaphors, Kingsley questions human nature and the potential of the environment to change it. As a result, his depiction of natural ecosystems, though charged with ideology and the weight of conservative discourse, is progressive, inviting humans to change society--and themselves in the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Authors & Contributors
Hale, Piers J.
Murphy, Olivia
Herschthal, Eric
Weikart, Richard
Straley, Jessica
Ruse, Michael
Concepts
Social Darwinism
Evolution
Science and literature
Science and society
Darwinism
Science and culture
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
20th century, early
18th century
21st century
Places
Great Britain
United States
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