Although ecocriticism already emerged as a field of study in the United States in the 1970s, the nowadays widely acknowledged global scale of the environmental crisis has contributed to the recent prominence of an ecocritical discourse. In the last decades ecocriticism has moved from the margins to a more central position within the humanities and has come to be regardedas a promising horizon to redefine and rethink the age-old relationship between literature and the (natural) world. Yet, despite its popularity, the field of ecocriticism is still hard to define, due to the multidisciplinary and highly diverse approaches. What makes ecocriticism even more problematic is that its main object of study, the physical environment, is subject to constant redefinition. Also, the specific role of literature in ecocriticism needs further consideration. Can literature represent our physical environment or does the ecological sphere lie beyond the limits of representation? Naturally, the notion of nature in its broadest sense has always been an important theme within literature, but what characterizes the narratives of nature in the 21st century and what can these representations tell us about humankind’s attitude towards nature? In what ways can literature provide us with alternative conceptions of humanity’s relationship with his or her environment? And if we focus on ecocritical methodologies: what does it mean to read a text ecologically?
Main Articles
Astrid Bracke | Wastelands, Shrubs and Parks: Ecocriticism and the Challenge of the Urban
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Kym Martindale | Murder in Arcadia: Towards a Pastoral of Responsibility in Phil Rickman’s Merrily Watkins Murder Mystery Series
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Michael Marder and Patricia Vieira | Writing Phytophilia: Philosophers and Poets as Lovers of Plants
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Serpil Opperman | Material Ecocriticism and the Creativity of Storied Matter
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Isabel Hoving | “Earthly Things”: Ecocriticism, Globalization, and the Material Turn
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Simon C. Estok | Terror and Ecophobia
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Almudena Claassen, Jette van den Eijnden en Merlijn Geurts | Transversal Ecocritical Praxis – An Interview with Patrick Murphy
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Masterclass
Mariana Rosa | Bridging Opposites: An Ecocritical Approach to Mary Oliver’s Poetry
Abstract and PDF