Hellscapes of Environmental Crisis: Hellish Landscapes in the Nineteenth-Century Popular Imagination
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Warwick
Department Name: English and Comparative Literary Studies
Abstract
Hell is on the rise. With headlines describing our "descent into Covid hell" (Petersen, 2021) and
"apocalyptic" wildfires (Smith, 2021), writers are turning to Hell to express environmental concern. As
this terminology gains currency in popular culture, a recuperation of Hell's history, theological roots, and
subsequent secularisation into metaphor is especially urgent.
This study establishes the "hellscape" as a new term for reading Hell-like spaces in the long nineteenth
century, the period often associated with Hell's theological demise (Turner, 1993; 232). In three
representative case studies, I analyse how Victorian writers used hellscapes to express their darkest
fears in socio-ecological crises, creating a shared language that bridged numerous British dialects and
regions.
Research questions
1. Why does Victorian literature repeatedly turn to hellish language and metaphors to describe
landscapes in moments of social and environmental crisis?
2. What are the characteristic features of nineteenth-century hellscapes compared to theological and
literary Hells?
3. How does ecoGothic literary criticism deepen our understanding of intersections between theological
thought and depictions of environmental corruption in the nineteenth century?
4. How do the differing geographies of each case study impact depictions of the hellscape in nineteenth century literature?
"apocalyptic" wildfires (Smith, 2021), writers are turning to Hell to express environmental concern. As
this terminology gains currency in popular culture, a recuperation of Hell's history, theological roots, and
subsequent secularisation into metaphor is especially urgent.
This study establishes the "hellscape" as a new term for reading Hell-like spaces in the long nineteenth
century, the period often associated with Hell's theological demise (Turner, 1993; 232). In three
representative case studies, I analyse how Victorian writers used hellscapes to express their darkest
fears in socio-ecological crises, creating a shared language that bridged numerous British dialects and
regions.
Research questions
1. Why does Victorian literature repeatedly turn to hellish language and metaphors to describe
landscapes in moments of social and environmental crisis?
2. What are the characteristic features of nineteenth-century hellscapes compared to theological and
literary Hells?
3. How does ecoGothic literary criticism deepen our understanding of intersections between theological
thought and depictions of environmental corruption in the nineteenth century?
4. How do the differing geographies of each case study impact depictions of the hellscape in nineteenth century literature?
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Emma Mason (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Ruth-Anne Walbank (Student) |