Great Plains Studies, Center for
Date of this Version
Spring 2012
Citation
Great Plains Quarterly 32:2 (Spring 2012).
Abstract
When do the prairies begin in history? And are they now in danger of ending? Jenny Kerber notes that settler cultures have relied upon two narratives to understand the Great Plains of North America. The first is about how history begins on the prairie when it is recultivated as an Edenic garden; the second is about how that garden falls from grace into a barren wasteland.
Kerber opens up these Western, Christian traditions for interdisciplinary critique. By considering ecological, feminist, Indigenous, and other marginalized perspectives, she explores "how different stories might contribute to a vision of sustainable dwelling on the prairies in the twenty-first century." Writing in Dust should be read by anyone interested in the past and future of the prairies.
Comments
Copyright © 2012 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska.