Reimagining Nature Writing

Trauma, Healing, and the Aesthetic of Relinquishment in Richard Powers’ Bewilderment and Shelby Van Pelt’s Remarkably Bright Creatures

Abstract

Drawing upon Lawrence Buell’s concept of the “aesthetic of relinquishment” (1995), this article examines the legacy of nature writing in Richard Powers’ Bewilderment (2021) and Shelby Van Pelt’s Remarkably Bright Creatures (2022). I position these contemporary fictions of sci-fi and magical realism within the narrative prose tradition and extend criticism of nature writing beyond the traditional autobiographical framework. My analysis reveals that three core elements of nature writing—natural history, spiritual autobiography and travel writing (Scheese, 2002)—form the foundation of the protagonists’ journeys, particularly their processes of relinquishing material possessions and egocentric selves. In Bewilderment, the protagonist’s trauma, ecological knowledge and engagement with Buddhist philosophy enable his gradual relinquishment of the egocentric self. Similarly, Remarkably Bright Creatures portrays a protagonist whose extended sense of self—fostered by her bond with Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus—facilitates her emotional healing. Ultimately, I contend that both protagonists’ transformations into ecocentric selves prompts actions which safeguard the natural world, thereby rendering the abstract concept of the “aesthetic of relinquishment” concrete. As a whole, my analysis underscores how contemporary narrative prose not only inherits but also reinvents the legacy of nature writing, illustrating its relevance to trauma, environmental consciousness and personal healing.