Document Type
Creative Work
Publication Date
2025
Abstract
George Sand’s 1832 novel Indiana explores themes of love, individuality and social class as the titular character, Indiana, battles with the temptations and consequences of an affair with the handsome and elusive Raymon de Ramière. Sand’s novel centrally explores place as it jumps back and forth from high society France and Paris to the Ile Bourbon where Indiana is from. Sand’s depiction of the Ile Bourbon presents the agency of the more-than-human world as Indiana struggles against the society that she has been forced into and the male characters that control her life. The novel’s interplay between the more-than-human world and women’s struggle relates to and historically influenced the modern philosophy of ecofeminism. A feminist writer herself, George Sand clearly puts an emphasis on the relationship between humanity and the natural world and the importance of finding individuality and harmony in collaboration with human and otherthan- human others to live for a life of equality. In addition to presenting a more traditional genderbased analysis of Indiana’s relationships with the two loves (Ramière and her loyal friend Sir Ralph) as well as her woman servant Noun, this paper shows how Sand’s enactment of the characters’ relationships with the Ile Bourbon influences not only original 19th century-concepts of ecofeminism but also more recent ecofeminist theories. These later conceptualizations emphasize the importance of following connections that appear from the intra-action of groups of people and living phenomena in order to be able to understand the historical oppression of both women and the more-than-human world alike.
Recommended Citation
Gauntt, Lily, "Indiana par George Sand : une perspective écoféministe" (2025). World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones. 29.
https://kb.gcsu.edu/wlc_capstone/29
Included in
European Languages and Societies Commons, French and Francophone Literature Commons, Modern Languages Commons, Women's Studies Commons
