Ecocriticism

Ecocriticism The study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment.

Ecocriticism writers whose work celebrates nature, the life force, and the wilderness Ralph Waldo Emerson Margaret Fuller Henry David Thoreau

Ecocriticism vs. “green studies” US calls lens “ecocriticism” and focuses on the celebration of nature UK calls lens “green studies” and focuses on the threats or dangers of nature

Ecocritics Reject the belief that everything is socially or linguistically constructed. They reject the entire belief of “constructedness.” Nature really exists beyond ourselves but is with us and affects us (perhaps fatally if we mistreat it)

Shades of Nature Area one: the wilderness (deserts, oceans, uninhabited continents) Area two: the scenic sublime (forests, lakes, mountains, cliffs, waterfalls) Area three: the countryside (hills, fields, woods) Area four: the domestic picturesque (parks, gardens, lanes)

Shades of Nature (cont.) The different areas are basically a continuum from “pure” nature to nature that has become part of culture (is affected by culture) to predominantly culture.

Pathetic fallacy Our instinctive tendency to see our emotions reflected in our environment Example: “cruel sea” projects the human attribute of cruelty onto a natural element

What to do? Human culture connected to the physical world. What had seemed as mere “setting” is taken from a minor point in discussing literature to the center of the discussion. Nature is not a metaphor or other literary device (it just is)

Re-read literature Look at the natural world differently Apply growth and energy, sustainability and unsustainability, balance and imbalance, symbiosis and mutuality, and uses of energy and resources to view of nature in literature

Big Question How is nature represented in this text (or what role does it play) and to what effect?

Works Cited All info borrowed or directly quoted from Peter Barry’s book Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory