Summary

The author opens “Discursive Thoughts on Wetlands” with a series of three definitions that establish the meaning of the terms “Fen,” “Bog,” and “Swamp.” She relayed the story of her youth, and how her mother cultivated in her a passion for wetland ecosystems. These childhood experiences were responsible for her life-long love of wetlands, and her feeling of deep interconnection with nature. Proulx notes how previous generations had a profound love for the natural world but paradoxically possessed the will to destroy the environment for short term gain.

Humanity’s passion for place is exhibited in the ethnography of native peoples who maintained a vernacular that demonstrated a deep understanding of the complexity of the natural world. Proulx contrasts this with the attitude of modern society, where a poverty of language relating to the natural world is partly responsible for the wholesale destruction...