Trent Prof Explores Our Relationship with Nature Through the Words of L.M. Montgomery
L.M. Montgomery, the Canadian author well-known for Anne of Green Gables, had a love of nature that was well-know amongst her readers. It was the way she would describe the natural world with such vividness, combined with the current cultural interest in environmental impacts, that drew Trent University Durham GTA English professor Dr. Rita Bode to co-edit, along with Dr. Jean Mitchell, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Prince Edward Island, a collection of critical studies on Montgomery’s work by various scholars focusing on the natural world titled L.M. Montgomery and the Matter of Nature(s).
This collection takes a look at humans’ interactions with nature and the material environment. For professor Bode, her interest lies not only in Montgomery’s published work, but in Montgomery’s life itself.
“I am interested in Montgomery’s struggles as an artist,” said Prof. Bode. “She had a challenging personal life – she was married to a minister who grew increasingly mentally ill during the years of their marriage – and she suffered from bouts of depression herself, yet produced works that are known for their ability to help people move through trying times. Her life-writing in her journals shows the complicated inner life of a female artist.”
This isn’t the first time Prof. Bode has focused her work on Montgomery. In 2015 Prof. Bode edited L.M. Montgomery’s Rainbow Valleys: the Ontario Years, 1911-1942. Prof. Bode has plans to continue exploring Montgomery’s work. She’s been invited to join the editorial board for The Journal of L.M. Montgomery Studies, and is working with three other editors on a collection of essays focusing on Montgomery’s “conversations” with other writers, specifically about childhood.
Posted on May 10, 2018