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Eco Criticism/Green Studies

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Eco Criticism/Green Studies Into the Wild CIS Literature Definitions Ecocriticism is the study of relationship between literature and the physical environment ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Eco Criticism/Green Studies


1
Eco Criticism/Green Studies
  • Into the Wild
  • CIS Literature

2
Definitions
  • Ecocriticism is the study of relationship between
    literature and the physical environment
    (Glotfelty)
  • Newer theory on the academic margins
  • More popular on the American West Coast
  • First arose in the 1970s

3
Intellectual Influences
  • Influenced by 3 major American Writers
  • Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
  • Margaret Fuller (1810-1850)
  • Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
  • All transcendentalists from the 1840s

4
Beliefs
  • Reject the notion that everything is socially or
    linguistically constructed
  • I.e.. it isnt the language that has a hole in
    its ozone layer (Soper)
  • Repudiates belief of constructedeness
  • Challenges other literary theories

5
Eco Critics believe
  • We must question our anthropocentric world view
    to adopt an ecocentric world view
  • We should change focus, so something like
    setting is brought from the margins to the
    critical center

6
What eco critics do
  • Reread major literary work, with an emphasis on
    the representation of nature
  • Extend the range of ecocentric concepts on things
    beyond the natural world (growth, energy,
    balance, imbalance, etc.)
  • Give special emphasis to writers who foreground
    nature as a part of their subject matter
    (American Transcendentalists and British
    Romantics)

7
What do Eco Critics do?
  • Extend the range of literary critical practice by
    placing emphasis on relevant factual writing,
    including essays, travel writing, memoirs and
    regional literature
  • Turn away from constructivism
  • Emphasize ecocentric values of meticulous
    observation, ethical responsibility, and the
    claims of the earth

8
Focus on the outdoor environment
  • has four areas 
  • wilderness, (deserts, oceans, uninhabited
    continents)
  • the scenic sublime, (forests, lakes, mountains,
    cliffs, waterfalls)
  • the countryside, (hills, fields, woods)
  • the domestic picturesque, (parks, gardens,
    lanes)  

9
Thoughts on Ecocriticism
  • Ecocriticism is, like much contemporary
    criticism, a form of cultural critique,
    interdisciplinary in its tools, and its
    intentions.
  • --Michael P. Cohen

10
Thoughts on Ecocriticism
  • Ecocritics, to do something genuinely
    meaningful, must offer readers a broader, deeper,
    and more explicit explanation of how and what
    environmental literature communicates than the
    writers themselves, immersed in their
    particularized narratives, can offer. Crucial to
    the ecocritical process of pulling things (ideas,
    texts. authors) together and putting them in
    perspective is our awareness of who and where we
    are. Our awareness, literally, of where we stand
    in the world and why we're writing.
  • --Scott Slovic

11
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