Ecologies of Innovation: Economy, Empire, and Environment in Eighteenth-Century British Literature

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dc.contributor.advisorCampana, Josephen_US
dc.contributor.advisorEllenzweig, Sarahen_US
dc.creatorMacDonnell, Kevin T.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2021-05-03T21:01:01Zen_US
dc.date.available2023-05-01T05:01:11Zen_US
dc.date.created2021-05en_US
dc.date.issued2021-04-29en_US
dc.date.submittedMay 2021en_US
dc.date.updated2021-05-03T21:01:01Zen_US
dc.description.abstract“Ecologies of Innovation: Economy, Empire, and Environment in Eighteenth-Century British Literature” examines how eighteenth-century literature shaped the reception and articulation of innovative modes of production in the Atlantic world. “Innovation” is a concept that is now as ubiquitous as it is elusive. And yet, attending to the cultural histories of innovation is essential to understanding our moment, from the conceptual foundations of global capitalism to the environmental legacies of colonialism. This project explores literary encounters with innovations in mining, shipping, plantation agriculture, and manufacturing that not only advanced Britain’s imperial ascendancy but also registered as forms of capitalist enterprise legible on a planetary scale. From Daniel Defoe, to Olaudah Equiano, to James Grainger, British writers negotiated the conventions of eighteenth-century literary culture with the innovations that were enabling capital accumulation and territorial expansion. By analyzing the interplay of literary and technical discourse in eighteenth-century Britain, I recast paradigmatic modes of the period’s literary culture—the novel, aesthetic philosophy, the slave narrative, and the georgic—as means of turning toward and responding to innovation. In the end, “Ecologies of Innovation” traces a prehistory of our troubled relationship with innovation, illustrating how and to what extent literature and language shaped the early expression of colonial capitalism.en_US
dc.embargo.terms2023-05-01en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.citationMacDonnell, Kevin T.. "Ecologies of Innovation: Economy, Empire, and Environment in Eighteenth-Century British Literature." (2021) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/110402">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/110402</a>.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/110402en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.subjectBritish literatureen_US
dc.subjectEnlightenmenten_US
dc.subjectenvironmenten_US
dc.subjectcapitalismen_US
dc.subjectindustrializationen_US
dc.subjectinnovationen_US
dc.titleEcologies of Innovation: Economy, Empire, and Environment in Eighteenth-Century British Literatureen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentEnglishen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineHumanitiesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen_US
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