Writing the Environment: Ecocriticism and Literature: Ecocentrism and Literature

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1856494306 ISBN 13: 9781856494304

Publisher: Zed Books, 1998

The contemporary environmental crisis asks fundamental questions about culture. Like other radical critiques, environmentalism cuts across academic boundaries and offers a major challenge to existing cultural and political divisions. This is the first book to draw together the rich variety of environmentalist positions – from ecofeminism to deep ecology – and theorize their contribution to critical theory, literature and popular culture. Paart one of the book examines theoretical controversies in environmentalist literary criticism. Contributors explore a wide variety of issues including sexual politics and nature, the link between environmental and cultural degradation, the influence of Heidegger on environmentalism, and the degree of continuity between poststructuralist theory and ecological perspectives. Part two presents a green rereading of literary history, with chapters on the manipulation of natural phenomena as a vehicle of social control, ‘nature poetry’ as political intervention, and fin de siecle exotic fiction as an expression of the colonialist’s conception of ‘jungle country’ and Otherness in general. The book concludes by looking at contemporary culture: from poetry to children’s books, including an analysis of television nature programmes.

Synopsis:

The contemporary environmental crisis asks fundamental questions about culture. This book draws together the rich variety of environmentalist positions, from ecofeminism to deep ecology, and theorizes their contribution to critical theory, literature and popular culture. The first part of the book examines theoretical controversies in environmentalist literary criticism. Contributors explore a wide variety of issues including sexual politics and nature, the link between environmental and cultural degradation, the influence of Heidegger on environmentalism, and the degree of continuity between post-structuralist theory and ecological perspectives. Part two presents a green rereading of literary history, including chapters on the manipulation of natural phenomena as a vehicle of social control, "nature poetry" as political intervention, and erotic fiction as an expression of the colonialist's conception of "jungle country" and Otherness in general. The book concludes by looking at contemporary culture: from poetry to children's books, including an analysis of television nature programmes.

About the Author:

Richard Kerridge is Lecturer in English and Course Director of the MA in Creative Writing at Bath College of Higher Education. Neil Sammells is Dean of Humanities and Reader in English at Bath College of Higher Education.