Literature as cultural ecology : sustainable texts / Hubert Zapf.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zapf, Hubert, 1948- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ecology in literature.

American literature--History and criticism.

American literature.

Environmental literature--History and criticism--Theory, etc.

Environmental literature.

Human ecology in literature.

Environmental protection in literature.

Nature in literature.

Ecocriticism.

Literature and society.

Culture in literature.

Physical Description:

ix, 301 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; Oxford ; New York ; New Delhi ; Sydney : Bloomsbury Academic, 2016.

Summary:

Drawing on the latest debates in ecocritical theory and sustainability studies, Literature as Cultural Ecology: Sustainable Texts outlines a new approach to the reading of literary texts. Hubert Zapf considers the ways in which literature operates as a form of cultural ecology, using language, imagination, and critique to challenge and transform cultural narratives of humanity's relationship to nature. In this way, the book demonstrates the important role that literature plays in creating a more sustainable way of life. Applying this approach to works by writers such as Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allen Poe, Herman Melville, William Faulkner, Tom Morrison, Zakes Mda, and Amitav Ghosh, Literature as Cultural Ecology is an essential contribution to the contemporary environmental humanities. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part I Cultural Ecology and Literary Studies

1 Introductory Remarks 3

2 The Ecocultural Potential of Literature 11

3 Sustainability and Literature 15

4 Literature as an Ecological Force within Culture 27

Part II Ecocriticism and Cultural Ecology

5 Ecocriticism in the Twentieth Century: The Return of Nature to Writing about Culture 39

6 Ecocriticism in the Twenty-First Century: The Return of Culture to Writing about Nature 45

7 Politicized Ecocriticism: From Nature Worship to Civilizational Critique 51

8 Ecological Thought and Critical Theory: From Antagonism to Alliance 61

Part III Literature as Cultural Ecology

9 From Natural Ecology to Cultural Ecology 77

10 Cultural Ecology and Material Ecocriticism 81

11 Literature as Cultural Ecology 89

12 Triadic Functional Model of Literature as Cultural Ecology 95

Part IV Transdisciplinary Contexts of a Cultural Ecology of Literature

13 Text and Life 125

14 Order and Chaos 139

15 Connecting Patterns and Creative Energies 159

16 Matter and Mind 177

17 Solid and Fluid 189

18 Wound and Voice 207

19 Absence and Presence 229

20 Local and Global 241.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 269-294) and index.

ISBN:

147427465X

9781474274654

OCLC:

921033617