ature abhors a vacuum, and the aftermath of environmental destruction is often a felt sense of absence, of longing for a place that no longer exists. Solastalgia, a term from the field of ecopsychology, describes an affective response to ecological loss, a deep sadness or sense of mourning after the felling of forests, the damming and flooding of valleys, urban sprawl, industrial development, and the consequent displacement of rural and urban populations. Feelings of loss and melancholy accompanied the acceleration of such changes over the course of the nineteenth century, and Victorian literature is replete with accounts of solastalgia "avant le lettre."
The Welsh language offers a related word, "hiraeth" – a deep longing for a lost time or place, and we might seek to recover other words or forms of expression that embody moments in the history of ecological loss. Just as populations are displaced through environmental disruption, so affective responses may manifest themselves in indirect or deceptive ways, appearing in seemingly unrelated expressions of mourning and loss, as well as compensatory fantasies of permanence and belonging. Grief may also express itself in action, and we might find in solastalgia the roots of environmental activism.
The NAVSA 2025 conference theme is "Aftermaths" and the event will be held November 13-16 in Washington D.C.
For this panel we are seeking paper proposals on a wide variety of topics related to ecological loss and grief, in all forms and genres of Victorian writing. Please send queries or proposals of 200 words to mayere@newpaltz.edu by March 1
Created 25 February 2025