Narnia and the Fields of Arbol: The Environmental Vision of C.S. Lewis

by Matthew Dickerson; David O'Hara

Publisher:

The University Press of Kentucky

, 2020

An exploration of the Chronicles of Narnia and the Space Trilogy that “enriches our understanding of how to care for our world” (Alan Jacobs, author of Breaking Bread with the Dead).
 
In Narnia and the Fields of Arbol: The Environmental Vision of C. S. Lewis, authors Matthew Dickerson and David O’Hara illuminate an important yet overlooked aspect of the author’s visionary work. They go beyond traditional theological discussions of Lewis’s writing to investigate themes of sustainability, stewardship of natural resources, and humanity’s relationship to wilderness. The authors examine the environmental and ecological underpinnings of Lewis’s work by exploring his best-known works of fantasy, including the seven books of the Chronicles of Narnia and the three novels collectively referred to as the Space Trilogy. Taken together, these works reveal Lewis’s enduring environmental concerns, and Dickerson and O’Hara offer a new understanding of his pioneering style of fiction.
 
Narnia and the Fields of Arbol, the first book-length work on the subject, finds the author’s legacy to have as much in common with the agrarian environmentalism of Wendell Berry as it does with the fantasy of J. R. R. Tolkien. In an era of increasing concern about deforestation, climate change, and other environmental issues, Lewis’s work remains as pertinent as ever. The widespread adaption of his work in film lends credence to the author’s staying power as an influential voice in both fantastical fiction and environmental literature. With Narnia and the Fields of Arbol, Dickerson and O'Hara have written a timely work of scholarship that offers a fresh perspective on one of the most celebrated authors in literary history.
 
“Both revelatory and a pleasure to read.” —Robert Siegel, award-winning author of The Whalesong Trilogy

Product Details

• Title: Narnia and the Fields of Arbol: The Environmental Vision of C.S. Lewis
• Authors: Matthew Dickerson, David O'Hara
• Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky
• Print Publication Date: 2020
• Logos Release Date: 2023
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Ebook
• ISBNs: 9780813138657, 9780813125220, 0813125227, 0813138655
• Resource ID: LLS:9780813138657
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-07-04T05:59:34Z

About the Authors

Matthew T. Dickerson is professor of environmental studies and computer science at Middlebury College, author of Ents, Elves, and Eriador: The Environmental Vision of J. R. R. Tolkien,Following Gandalf: Epic Battles and Moral Victory in The Lord of the Rings and The Finnsburg Encounter, and coeditor of From Homer to Harry Potter: A Handbook on Myth and Fantasy. David O'Hara is assistant professor of philosophy and instructor in classical Greek at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He is coeditor of From Homer to Harry Potter: A Handbook on Myth and Fantasy.