Thoreauvian Modernities: Transatlantic Conversations on an American Icon

Thoreauvian Modernities is a fitting tribute to the American philosopher who was, in so many ways, ahead of his time. As an environmentalist, social progressive, postmodern literary stylist, theorist of embodied knowledge, and opponent of the fact-value distinction, Henry David Thoreau was a thinker whose audience had not yet arrived. Yet his voice is also untimely because it is deeply suspicious of novelty and fashion, inspired by ancient wisdom traditions, and decidedly ambivalent about modern technology and culture. This interdisciplinary collection of essays analyzes Thoreau’s contested legacy, exploring various aspects of his incredibly rich writings and bringing to light many valuable insights. It will enable readers to understand better the intricacies of Thoreau’s work and the ways in which it refuses to conform to any of our standard assumptions about intellectual history.

–Rick Anthony Furtak “coeditor of Thoreau’s Importance for Philosophy“

Thoreauvian Modernities offers a provocative variety of essays about Thoreau’s relevance to modernity both in his own day and ours. It also contains a groundbreaking transcontinental exchange of critical perspectives between European and American scholars. Although European postmodern theory and American ecocritical concerns often seem opposed to each other, this volume shows that the two can cross-fertilize rather than contradict each other, and the quality of the essays throughout the volume is consistently excellent.

–Richard J. Schneider “editor of Thoreau’s Sense of Place: Essays in American Environmental Writing“

Given the worldwide impact of Thoreau’s Walden and ‘Civil Disobedience, ‘ it’s hard to believe that there has never been a bona fide gathering of international perspectives on his work and significance. Thoreauvian Modernities handsomely supplies this need, almost on the eve of the bicentennial of his birth.

–Lawrence Buell “Harvard University”

What a wonderful idea, to bring together top scholars from both sides of the Atlantic to consider how Thoreau spoke to his own time and how he speaks to ours! Thoreau turns out to be an endlessly fruitful source for new ideas and insights regarding modernity. American readers may find the Europeans’ reflections on this quintessentially American writer particularly interesting–although the Americans’ essays also provide many valuable new insights. I highly recommend Thoreauvian Modernities.

–Philip Cafaro “author of Thoreau’s Living Ethics: Walden and the Pursuit of Virtue“

Several of the sixteen contributions present compelling new ideas on hotly debated topics in recent Thoreau scholarship, particularly regarding Thoreau’s intense preoccupation, in his later life, with recording the particularity of his natural surroundings. . . . An important addition to Thoreau scholarship for the way its contributors’ views overlap in the questions raised, and dramatically diverge in the interpretations offered.–Johannes Voelz “Amerikastudien / American Studies”

François Specq (Editor)
FRANÇOIS SPECQ is a professor of American literature and culture at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon-Université de Lyon/CNRS.

Laura Dassow Walls (Editor)
LAURA DASSOW WALLS is William P. and Hazel B. White Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame.

Michel Granger (Editor)
MICHEL GRANGER is a professor of American literature and culture at the Université de Lyon/CNRS.