Mary Bowden
Biography
Mary Bowden specializes in British literature of the long nineteenth century, focusing particularly on environmental topics. Her current book project, "Radical Science: Plants, Agency, and British Narrative, 1800-1900" explores how nineteenth-century advances in plant science influenced how literary authors positioned plants in narrative fiction. Her work brings together current discussions in critical plant studies, science and literature, the environmental humanities, and narrative theory.
Professor Bowden's teaching interests include nineteenth-century literature, science and literature, environmental topics, nature writing, and Native American literature.
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Recent Publications
鈥淎n Empire of Red Weed: Environmental Infrastructure in H. G. Wells鈥 The War of the Worlds鈥 in 鈥淚nfrastructure,鈥 special issue of Victorian Literature and Culture, eds. Timothy P. Watson and Zarena Aslami, vol. 52, no. 3, 2024, pp. 313-32.
鈥淐ultivating Arboreal Time in Hardy鈥檚 Fiction鈥 in 鈥淯nusual Gardens: Towards a Poetics of Cultivated Earth鈥 special issue of Dibur, vol. 11, Spring 2022.
鈥淰egetal Being in Samuel Butler鈥檚 Erewhon: The Narrative Challenge of Nineteenth-Century Plant Science,鈥 ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, vol. 28, no. 3, 2021, pp. 966-85.
鈥淣ight-Soil and Nation-Building: Trollope鈥檚 The Prime Minister, the Guano Economy, and Victorian Sustainability,鈥 Victorian Review, vol. 47, no. 2, 2021, pp. 79-96.