Personification of nature in Ursula K. Le Guin's science fiction

Abstract

hort stories by the American science fiction writer Ursula Le Guin, focusing on the science and philosophy of animal and plant intelligence. The Introduction explains the aims and structure of the thesis. The Literature Review section explores the history of science fiction, ecocritical thought, plant and animal intelligence as well ecological themes in Le Guin's work, with the goal of providing context for the analysis in the following section. The empirical section contains an overview and analysis of each of the stories, where animals and plants are personified in different ways. After that, the Discussion compares how the stories relate to the science and philosophy of animal and plant personhood. Finally, the Conclusion provides an overview of the findings of this paper and how Le Guin's stories match the philosophy of deep ecology. Keywords: American literature, deep ecology, representation of nature, plant intelligence, science fiction, Ursula Le Guin