Abstract

ABSTRACTThis study conducts a textual analysis of Thomas French’s longform journalistic work Zoo Story: Life in the Garden of Captives as an example of how narrative might foster a nuanced understanding of environmental conservation and its complexities. It draws on the work of Alasdair MacIntyre to argue for a virtue-based mediated conservation ethic that ties media producers, audiences, and the shared environment to narratives of human experience. Specifically, narrative offers a means to deconstruct false dualisms, to overcome the limitations of deontological and teleological approaches, and to see ourselves as part of the larger shared story of the natural world.