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B o o k R e v i e w s N at u r e ’s S t at e : I m agin in g A la sk a as t h e L a st Fro n t ie r. By Su san Kollin . Ch apel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001. 242 pages, $39.95/ $16.95. R e v i e w e d b y E r i c H e y n e University of Alaska Fairbanks Su san Kollin ’ s N at u re ’ s St at e w ill be received very differen tly by tw o distin ct au dien ces. H er title deliberately ech oes Perry M iller, w h o m ore th an th irty years ago “w arn ed ab ou t th e n eed to assess w h at h e regarded as th e ‘sin ister’ d yn am ics operatin g b eh in d n ation al con cep tion s o f N atu re ” (22). O n e set o f Kollin ’s read­ ers will h ave n o trouble w ith th e idea th at “n atu re is perh aps culture’ s best in ven ­ tion ” an d w ill be eager to u n cover th e “sin ister” aspects o f A m erican con sum erism R ich ard Sh aw . S T I L L L I F E W I T H G R E E N A P P L E . 1998. 14" x 10" x 10". C e r am ic (p o r ce lain w ith art d e cal ov er glaze). N o r a Eccles Treadw ell Fou n d ation G ift, N o r a Eccles H arrison M u seu m o f A r t, U t a h St at e U n iversity. 3 7 6 WAL 3 7 . 3 F a l l 2 0 0 2 an d im perialism sh apin g our con ce p tion o f A lask a (21). H er oth er set o f readers w ill be brou gh t up sh ort by th e claim th at “lan dscapes are n ot n atu rally given , b u t rath er are socially con stitu ted en tities,” an d dism ayed to learn th at en viron ­ m en talist w riters su ch as Jo h n M uir, R obert M arsh all, an d M argaret M urie actu ­ ally con tribu ted to th e h egem on y o f a con su m erist eth os (19). N at u re ’s St at e is b oth an excellen t test case for th e valu e o f cu ltu ral studies itself an d a good lit­ m us test for th e r eception of cu ltu ral stu dies am on g sch olars o f w estern literature. Love it or h ate it, you can ’t ign ore it. It’s n ot th at cu ltu ral stu dies is bran d-n ew to th e readers o f W estern A m e ric an L iteratu re. T h e sprin g 2001 issue in clu ded b oth an essay review by Kollin o f Kr ista C o m e r ’s L an d sc ap e s o f th e N e w W e st : G e n d e r an d G e o grap h y in C o n te m p o rary W o m en ’s W ritin g (1999), praisin g C o m e r for “[e]sch ew in g th e n aive realism an d oth er ath eoretical paradigm s u p on w h ich th e N e w W estern H istory h as d eveloped ” in favor o f “cultural stu dies an d postm odern th eory,” an d an essay by...

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