| "A River and Its City" is a cultural and environmental history exploring the reciprocal relationship between the Mississippi River and the city of New Orleans. At first glance, this story appears to be an example of people alienating themselves from their natural surroundings--the meta-narrative flowing throughout much environmental history. Yet, the history of the Crescent City adds nuance to the traditional tale of declension in the relationship between humans and non-human nature, because the Mississippi has remained an active participant throughout New Orleans's history, shaping the city as surely as New Orleanians have shaped the river. Thus, ultimately this thesis breaks down the traditional opposition between nature and human artifice, positing instead the possibility of an apposition between built and natural environments. With an interdisciplinary approach this work connects discourses on cultural, political, economic, and environmental history, with diverse fields such as law, landscape studies, and geology. As a result, "A River and Its City" is rooted in a variety of sources, including: the records of the French and Spanish colonial administrations; travel narratives; manuscript sources, such as diaries and letters; newspapers, both English and French, as well as other periodicals; government documents from the federal, state, and municipal levels; technical reports from geomorphologists, epidemiologists, meteorologists, and civilian and military engineers; and secondary works from the fields of architecture, engineering, environmental studies, geography, geology, history, and law. Building upon this foundation, this dissertation argues the urban form provides an excellent, and largely neglected, source for understanding people's relationship with nature, and in turn nature's impact on human history. By focusing on questions of property rights, the control of nature, the impact of science and technology on the shape of cities, and battles over public spaces, "A River and Its City" attempts to blur the boundary between the natural and the urban. |
