scholarly journals “Her Joyous Enthusiasm for Her Life-Work …”: Early Women Authors in The American Naturalist

2018 ◽  
Vol 192 (6) ◽  
pp. 655-663 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith L. Bronstein ◽  
Daniel I. Bolnick
1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
DALE R. CALDER ◽  
LESTER D. STEPHENS

Samuel Fessenden Clarke was the leading specialist on hydroids (phylum Cnidaria) in North America over the last quarter of the nineteenth century. During that period he published taxonomic papers on hydroids from both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the continent, from the Gulf of Mexico, and from the eastern Pacific off Central and South America. He also authored a section on hydrozoan biology for “The Riverside Natural History” series. Most of his papers on hydroids were published while he was in his twenties. Clarke described as new 61 nominal species, three nominal genera, and one nominal family, as well as two “varieties” of hydroids. A list of these, and their current taxonomic status, appears in the present work. Clarke consistently provided sound descriptions and locality data for all supposed new species, and drew accurate illustrations of most of them. His research on Hydrozoa, beyond alphataxonomy, was directed towards faunal distributions and the use of hydroid assemblages as biogeographic indicators. In addition to investigations on hydroids, Clarke carried out research on the developmental biology of amphibians and reptiles. His doctoral dissertation at Johns Hopkins University was based on the embryology of the “Spotted Salamander” (=Yellow-spotted Salamander), and he published a major paper on the habits and embryology of the American Alligator. Most of Clarke's career was devoted to academic duties at Williams College, Massachusetts, where he was recognized as a dedicated and inspiring teacher. He served the American Society of Naturalists in various capacities, including a term as its president, was an influential trustee of the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, and promoted the study of science in American schools.


Author(s):  
Begüm Tuğlu

Feminist authors have long been trying to alter the patriarchal structure of the Western society through different aspects. One of these aspects, if not the strongest, is the struggle to overcome centuries long dominance of male authors who have created a masculine history, culture and literature. As recent works of women authors reveal, the strongest possibility of actually achieving an equalitarian society lies beneath the chance of rewriting the history of Western literature. Since the history of Western literature relies on dichotomies that are reminiscences of modernity, the solution to overcome the inequality between the two sexes seems to be to rewrite the primary sources that have influenced the cultural heritage of literature itself. The most dominant dichotomies that shape this literary heritage are represented through the bonds between the concepts of women/man and nature/culture. As one of the most influential epics that depict these dichotomies, Homer's Odysseus reveals how poetry strengthens the authority of the male voice. In order to define the ideal "man", Homer uses a wide scope of animal imagery while forming the identities of male characters. Margaret Atwood, on the other hand, is not contended with Homer's poem in that it never narrates the story from the side of women. As a revisionist mythmaker, Atwood takes the famous story of Odysseus, yet this time presents it from the perspective of Penelope, simultaneously playing on the animal imagery. Within this frame, I intend to explore in this paper how the animal imagery in Homer's most renowned Odysseus functions as a reinforcing tool in the creation of masculine identities and how Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad defies this formation of identities with the aim of narrating the story from the unheard side, that of the women who are eminently present yet never heard.


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