Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Semester of Degree Completion

2000

Thesis Director

John Martone

Abstract

Early in Gary Snyder's life, he lived a rootless existence in pursuance of gaining spiritual satisfaction through a more harmonious relationship with nature. This rootlessness that dominated this period of Snyder's life originated in Snyder's European ancestors lifestyle, which valued exploiting the natural world for a profit. Through exposure to Chinese landscape paintings, Snyder found Buddhism and began to practice it as a means to reconcile his own humanity with the natural world, which his cultural heritage has alienated himself from. Through Buddhism, Snyder realizes the importance of reuniting humanity with the natural world.

Upon gaining this knowledge, Snyder assumes the role of shaman and attempts to help humanity reconnect with the natural world. Snyder withdrew from the human realm and immersed himself in the natural in shamanistic ritual in order to focus his thoughts on how to reunite humanity to the old ways. The goal is to reestablish a relationship between earlier cultures and modem American culture that would ultimately harmonize the natural world with the human world, and through his poems, Snyder establishes a path that shows the way to do so.

In order to fully reconnect humanity with the natural world, Snyder urges a deep ecology stance; he urges all humans to settle down and root themselves in one place. Rooting oneself in one place will help to create a community, which will include the natural world, and an equal relationship will grow between the human inhabitants and the natural. Without a relationship with the land one lives on, one is unable to fully understand him/herself and will be unable to live life to the degree that one is who roots him/herself and fully understands what occurs in that one area on a daily basis.

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