Language, landscape and setting

This paper argues that within CW scholarship and textbooks, discussion of setting has been limited to considering it as a literary device pursued for purposes of realism, mood, backdrop, etc. Such a view is reflected in Welty’s assertion that setting is a ‘lesser angel’ of fiction, something which has become a widely held stance. The paper challenges this idea by arguing that setting reflects historically and philosophically specific understandings of landscape, its value and its relationship to humanity. By viewing the setting in this way, we can come to a broader understanding about what readers and writers are doing when they engage with setting in works of literary art.