During the past twenty-five years, ecocriticism has become an
increasingly prolific field of study. Broadly speaking, ecocriticism
examines historically variable concepts of nature, environments and
ecological knowledge, arguing that these concepts are largely shaped by
discursive representations. The volume 'Ecocriticism - Environments in
Anglophone Literatures' explores the cultural, social, ethical and
theoretical challenges that our understanding of nature and environment
pose from a perspective within literary studies. With particular
interest in Anglophone literatures, the volume takes stock of the state
of the art in ecocriticism and examines literary explorations of nature,
environment, ecologies and environmental knowledge with particular
interest in Anglophone literatures. More specifically, the volume sheds
light on historicized and localized interrelationships between nature,
culture and literature and reveals how literary texts imagine new,
possibly more sustainable relationships between human beings and their
nonhuman environments. Jointly, the essays provide innovative and
exciting perspectives on the aesthetic agency of literature as well as
on the intersections between ecocriticism and postcolonial studies. As
the volume brings together a wide range of interrelated perspectives on
environments, ecocriticism and ethics in Anglophone literatures, it also
offers didactic impulses for rethinking the role of literature in the
Anthropocene.
