RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article T1 Land “under the Ditch”: channeling water through Owen Wister’s "The Virginian" T2 Canalizando el agua a través de "The Virginian" de Owen Wister' A1 Ach, Jada K1 Ecocriticism K1 Infrastructure studies K1 Owen Wister K1 Nineteenth and twentieth century American literature K1 New materialism K1 Ecocrítica K1 Estudios de infraestructura K1 Literatura norteamericana del siglo diecinueve y veinte K1 Nuevo materialismo K1 Literatura K1 Literature K1 Medio ambiente K1 Environmental science AB This paper combines envirotech history with elemental ecocriticism to examine the lively presence of water infrastructure in Owen Wister’s "The Virginian" (1902). In Wister’s novel, humans and animals assemble around channels of water, and the fight to divert and control water systems initiates both violence and new alliances. Instead of relegating water infrastructures to the inconsequential background, this paper asks what ditches, water storage containers, and reservoirs can contribute to our understanding of gender and human-environmental relations at the turn of the twentieth century. It argues that Progressive Era water development places “manliness” at risk at the same time that it defines it. Since thirst, aridity, and mobility contribute to the making of hard, manly men in Wister’s view, irrigation emerges as a potent challenge to the novel’s hard logic. PB Universidad de Alcalá SN 2171-9594 YR 2018 FD 2018 LK http://hdl.handle.net/10017/33224 UL http://hdl.handle.net/10017/33224 LA eng DS MINDS@UW RD 29-mar-2024