Date of Award

8-2007

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

English

First Advisor

Dr. Daneen Wardrop

Abstract

From the perspective of ecology, many scholars have examined works of Gary Synder, who is an environmental activist, a peasant-Buddhist, and one of the most beloved and significant poets in the East and West. While his poems have been widely read, they have been rarely articulated from the perspective of East Asian Mahayana Buddhism or, which I would call, Green Buddhism. Considering this, my dissertation focuses on Snyder's Green Buddhism poetry and delineates the concept of Green Buddhism and how it has emerged in his Green Buddhism poetry over the past fifty years. According to my research, his poetic dimensions should be divided into three, and each dimension is closely related to his biographical stage. Based on this, the concept of Green Buddhism will be discussed at the beginning of my dissertation. Then, each chapter of my dissertation focuses on Snyder's representative poetry collections by following his biographic and poetic dimensions: Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems (1965), Mountains and Rivers Without End (1996), and danger on peaks (2004). My research points to ways in which Gary Snyder encourages readers to live harmoniously with other living creatures on this planet, Earth.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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