Ecocritical explorations in literary and cultural studies : fences, boundaries, and fields / Patrick D. Murphy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Murphy, Patrick D., 1951-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American literature--History and criticism.

American literature.

Ecocriticism.

Ecology in literature.

Philosophy of nature in literature.

Physical Description:

xi, 217 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham : Lexington Books, [2009]

Summary:

In Ecocritical Explorations in Literary and Cultural Studies, Patrick D. Murphy explores environmental literature and environmental cultural issues through both theoretical and applied criticism. He engages with the concepts of referentiality, simplicty, the nation-state, and virtual reality in the first section of the book, and then goes on to interrogate these issues in contemporary environmental literature, both American and international. He concludes his argument with a discussion of the larger frames of family dynamics and unnatural disasters, such as hurricanes and global warming, ending with a chapter on the integration of scholarship and pedagogy in the classroom, with reference to his own teaching experiences.

Murphy's study provides a wide-ranging discussion of contemporary literature and cultural phenomena through the lens of ecological literary criticism, giving attention to both theoretical issues and applied critiques. In particular, he looks at popular literary genres, such as mystery and science fiction, as well as actual disasters and disaster scenarios. Ecocritical Explorations in Literary and Cultural Studies is a timely contribution to ecological literary criticism and an insightful look into how we represent our relationship with the environment.

Contents:

Part I Climbing Through Conceptual Fences

1 The Complexity of Simplicity 17

2 Difference and Responsibility in Literary Alternatives to the Nation-State 33

3 Paradise or a Pair of Dice: Contradictions and Contingencies in Real and Virtual Terrains for Tomorrow's College Students 47

4 Toward Transnational Ecocritical Theory: The Example of Hwa Yol Jung 63

Part II Surveying the Boundaries of Genre

5 Nature in the Contemporary American Novel 79

6 The Non-Alibi of Alien Scapes: Science Fiction and Ecocriticism 89

7 The Non-alibi of Pragmatic Utopianism and Wild Variability; or, Optimistic Variations on a Science Fiction Theme 109

8 Mysteries of Nature and Environmental Justice 119

Part III Culturally Crossing the Field

9 Nature-Nurturing Fathers in a World Beyond Our Control 147

10 Scenarios of Disaster: Crying Wolf, Scaring Away the Elephants, and Heading 'Em off at the Pass 163

11 Hurricanes and Hubris: American Responses in Literature and Culture to Natural Weather Extremes and Their Human-Driven Intensifications 173

12 Ranging Widely in the Classroom 185.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-207) and index.

ISBN:

9780739131732

0739131737

9780739131756

0739131753

OCLC:

297529916