Literature as Cultural Ecology: Sustainable Texts [Paperback]

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com.

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.

Zapf's theoretical argumentation and analytical insights outlined in the four Parts of this rich book undoubtedly bespeak the scholar's erudition. Zapf is very careful to make his point clear to the reader thanks to abundant philosophical documentation ... Zapf's in-depth discussions never fail to provide inspiration for new comparative or transdisciplinary methods of literary analysis. All in all, then, this monograph will certainly become an indispensable tool for scholars wishing to undertake further research in this promising field of enquiry. Recherche Litt?raire

Zapf (Univ. of Augsburg, Germany) brings a global perspective to ecocritical discourse by applying tenets of cultural ecology to a diverse selection of literary works. & Combinil³®