David Latour
Preserving the American Wild in the Anthropocene: Snyder in Ecocritic Conversations with Thoreau about the Wild, Wildness and Wilderness
Polish Journal for American Studies, vol. 19 (2025), pp. 67-79.

Abstract: In the face of the ecological crises brought about by the Anthropocene, restoring the rights of wild nature has become a moral and political imperative. This study explores how, through an ecocritical lens, both Henry David Thoreau and Gary Snyder urge a collective awakening of environmental consciousness among their fellow Americans. Drawing on the foundational notions of “wild,” “wilderness,” and “wildness,” the two authors develop a coherent eco-philosophy that transcends literary boundaries and enters the realm of environmental activism. Their writings laid the groundwork for influential movements such as bioregionalism and Deep Ecology, emphasizing a deep, spiritual, and political connection to the natural world. By adopting a radical stance toward the defense of ecosystems, Thoreau and Snyder challenge modern exploitative relationships with the environment and advocate a return to more harmonious, localized, and respectful modes of inhabiting the Earth. Their vision resonates with today’s urgent environmental concerns and continues to inform 21st-century ecological literature and political thought. This paper argues that Thoreau’s legacy, reinterpreted and amplified by Snyder, remains crucial to rethinking the human-nature relationship in the current context of ecological collapse. In doing so, it underscores the enduring power of literature as a tool for ecological awareness and resistance.

Keywords: Henry David Thoreau, Gary Snyder, ecocriticism, Wild, Anthropocene

DOI: 10.7311/PJAS.19/2025.06

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