Literature as Cultural Ecology Sustainable Texts [Hardcover]

Drawing on the latest debates in ecocritical theory and sustainability studies,Literature as Cultural Ecology: Sustainable Textsoutlines 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 Allan Poe, Herman Melville, William Faulkner, Toni Morrison, Zakes Mda, and Amitav Ghosh,Literature as Cultural Ecologyis an essential contribution to the contemporary environmental humanities.

Part I: Cultural Ecology and Literary Studies
1. Introduction
2. The Ecocultural Potential of Literature
3. Sustainability and Literature
4. Literature as an Ecological Force in Poems by Emily Dickinson, Linda Hogan, and A.R. Ammons
Part II: Ecocriticism and Cultural Ecology
5. Ecocriticism in the 20th Century: The Return of Nature to Writing About Culture
6. Ecocriticism in the 21st Century: The Return of Culture to Writing About Nature
7. Politicized Ecocriticism: From Nature-Worship to Civilizational Critique
8. Ecological Thought and Critical Theory: From Antagonism to Alliance
Part III: Literature As Cultural Ecology
9. From Natural Ecology to Cultural Ecology
10. Cultural Ecology and Material Ecocriticism
11. Literature As Cultural Ecology
12. Triadic Functional Models of Literature as Cultural Ecology: Hawthorne'sThe Scarlet Letter, Melville'sMoby Dick, Chopin'sThe Awakening, Faulkener'sThe Sound and The Fury, Morrison'sBeloved.
Part IV: Transdisciplinary Contexts of a Cultural Ecology of Literature
13. Text and Life
14. Order and Chaos
15. Connecting PlCå