Teaching ecocriticism and green cultural studies captures the diversity and excitement of green reading, including contributions on digital media, film, climate change and digital media. Literature and culture the sustainability connection. An accessible and thorough introduction to literary theory and contemporary critical practice, this book is an essential resource for beginning students of literary criticism. My argument will be that cultural studies requires social theory and that cultural studies in turn is a crucial part of a critical theory of society. Geocriticism offers a timely new approach, and this book presents an array of concrete examples or readings, which also reveal the. Arising from the social turmoil of the 1960s, cultural studies is an academic discipline which combines political economy, communication, sociology, social theory, literary theory, media theory, film studies, cultural anthropology, philosophy, art history criticism etc.
His current research is focussed on culture, governmentality, and the built, natural and immaterial environment. Feminism, cultural studies, new historicism, and so on. This book is available as open access through the bloomsbury open access programme and is available on drawing on the latest debates in ecocritical theory and sustainability studies, literature as cultural ecology. Cultural studies researchers generally investigate how cultural practices relate to wider systems of power associated with or operating through. Henrik otterberg, nature in literary and cultural studies. Nature in literary and cultural studies is a collection of essays written by european and north american scholars who argue that nature and culture can no longer be thought of in. The most central of these is raised by the dissonance between, on one hand, the culturalist epistemological theories that have dominated literary studies for some years now, and, on the other, the common ecocritical claim that there is something unambiguously real about nature. From its origins in the study of nature writing and romantic literature, it has extended into every period, region and genre of cultural analysis. Contemporary literary and cultural theory download ebook. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Nature in literary and cultural studies is a collection of essays written by european and north. Cultural studies is an interdisciplinary field of studies, which means that it draws from many different subject areas, including sociology, anthropology, political science, and history.
Literature and culture the sustainability connection from. Literary and cultural studies department of english nebraska. Theories and concepts that have guided africas development 3. The philosopher richard rorty speaks of a new, mixed genre. Ranging from literary studies to philosophical dialogues, the critical thinking that sustains ruins in the literary and cultural imagination proves that ruins are not esoteric objects and ruin studies are not an antiquated field. To make these assertions is to indulge in lazy thinking. Pdf an introduction to ecocritical literary and cultural studies. Literature introduces us to new worlds of experience. Literature and cultural enrichment in sustainable development 3. Theory in literary studies is not an account of the nature of literature or methods for its study though such matters are part of theory and will be treated here, primarily in chapters 2, 5, and 6. But, literature is more important than just a historical or cultural artifact. Theory in this sense is not a set of methods for literary study but an unbounded group of writings about everything under the sun. They are united in an effort to push the theoretical limits of ecocriticism towards a more rigorous investigation of nature s critical potential as a concept that challenges. The practice of cultural studies will be an essential text for students of cultural studies and a useful guide to others studying culture in a range of disciplinary contexts across the humanities.
Sustainable texts outlines a new approach to the reading of literary texts. Distinctions debates about the relation between literature and cultural studies are replete with complaints about elitism and charges that studying popular culture will bring the death of. As an important academic exchange platform, scientists and researchers can know the most uptodate academic trends and seek. Cultural studies is a field of theoretically, politically, and empirically engaged cultural analysis that concentrates upon the political dynamics of contemporary culture, its historical foundations, defining traits, conflicts, and contingencies. International journal of language and literary studies. Nature in literary and cultural studies is a collection of essays written by european and north american scholars who argue that nature and culture can no longer be thought of in oppositional, mutually exclusive terms. Gilbert white was a great naturalist and went on to write the natural history. Literary into cultural studies antony easthope for fifty years the. In the classroom, a cultural studies approach usually combines literary readings with social and historical analysis. Cultural studies introduction like a kid in an analytical candy store. Freuds theory and its use in literary and cultural studies. Cultural studies is a discursive formation, that is, a cluster or formation of ideas, images and practices, which provide ways of talking about, forms of knowledge and conduct associated with, a particular topic, social acti vity or institutional site in society hall.
Nature in literary and cultural studies is a collection of essays written by european and north american scholars who argue that nature and culture can no longer be thought of. Literary and cultural studies department of english. Literature as an ecological force in poems by emily dickinson, linda hogan, and a. None of them are suitable for readers who are interested in psychoanalysis as a tool for literary and cultural criticism but have no firm knowledge of freuds ideas. Literary theory internet encyclopedia of philosophy. Ruins in the literary and cultural imagination efterpi. The series nature, culture and literature is dedicated to publications approaching literature and. They are united in an effort to push the theoretical limits of ecocriticism towards a more rigorous investigation of natures critical potential as a concept that challenges. Interdisciplinary studies in literature and environment, volume 16, issue 1.
In addition to categories like class, race, gender, ethnicity, or sexuality, nature together with related terms such as environment, place, earth, planet has become a central category of cultural studiesalbeit a strangely hybrid category located somewhere between world and. By nasrullah mambrol on april, 2016 2 raymond williams 19211988 is the most influential marxist critics of the twentieth century, and one of the leading figures of the new left. Culture and cultural studies sage publications ltd. Whatever critical paradigm we use to discuss and analyze literature, there is still an artistic quality to the works. Comparative literature and cultural identity jola skulj. Afield in the study of natureoriented literature 2000, draws on a diverse range of. By working across the boundaries among these fields, cultural studies addresses new questions and problems of today s world. Nature in literary and cultural studies nature, culture and literature 03general editors. Geocriticism offers a timely new approach, and this book presents an array of concrete examples or readings, which also reveal the broad range of geocritical practices. Freuds theory and its use in literary and cultural. From the viewpoint of literary studies, the question of cultural identity is primarily with reference to literary identity in the community we are living in. Research pdf available november 2017 with 648 reads. Literary theory, sometimes designated critical theory, or theory, and now undergoing a transformation into cultural theory within the discipline of literary studies, can be understood as the set of concepts and intellectual assumptions on which rests the work of explaining or interpreting literary texts. The glossary of literary and cultural theory provides researchers and students with an uptodate guide through the vibrant and changing debates in literary and cultural studies.
Think of cultural studies as the equivalent to willy wonkas chocolate factory. Existing books focus either on freudian psychoanalysis in general or on psychoanalytic literary or cultural criticism. Ecocritical explorations in literary and cultural studies. Covers traditional approaches such as formalism and structuralism, as well as more recent developments in criticism such as evolutionary theory, cognitive studies, ethical criticism, and ecocriticism offers explanations. Jun 14, 2019 raymond williams as a marxist literary theorist. Click download or read online button to get contemporary literary and cultural theory book now.
In addition to categories like class, race, gender, ethnicity, or sexuality, nature together with related terms such as environment, place, earth, planet has become a central category of cultural studiesalbeit a strangely hybrid category located somewhere between world and text, realist concept and discursive construct. Its goal is to push ecocriticisms theoretical and conceptual limits toward a more rigorous investigation of nature, not as a concept that reinforces but one that challenges established cultural, political and ethical normativities 10. Cultural studies is a discursive formation, that is, a cluster or formation of ideas, images and practices, which provide ways of talking about, forms of knowledge and con duct associated with, a particular topic, social acti vity or institutional site in society hall. Combining the strengths of the social sciences and the humanities, cultural studies draws on methods and theories from literary studies, sociology, communications studies, history, cultural anthropology, and economics.
By reading texts in this way, students achieve a deeper understanding of how historical circumstances, social traditions, and the media work together to create a cultural milieu in which certain sets of beliefs are either. Cultural studies is supposed to be radical, but the opposition between an activist cultural studies and a passive literary studies may be wishful thinking. This collection includes a range of formats monographs, edited collections, handbooks and palgrave pivots to offer depth of coverage across key subdisciplines. Literacy practices, then, refer to the broader cultural conception of particular. These ruinologists passionately engage with the most pressing political and cultural questions of our moment and. The chapters move from the broad to the particular, offering insights into romanticisms transatlantic discourses on nature and culture, examining british victorian representations of nature in light of their reception by american writers and readers, providing indepth analyses of literary forms such as the adventure novel, travel narratives. Perception by western countries on african literature, culture and development paths 3. Space, place, and mapping in literary and cultural studies. Ecocriticism, cultural ecology, and literary studies hubert zapf universitat augsburg in recent years, ecocriticism has become one of the most visible and productive new directions of literary and cultural studies. Cultural studies by nasrullah mambrol on november 23, 2016 5. They are united in an effort to push the theoretical limits of ecocriticism towards a more rigorous investigation of natures. In recent years the spatial turn in literary and cultural studies has opened up new ways of looking at the interactions among writers, readers, texts, and places.
As an important academic exchange platform, scientists and researchers can know the most uptodate academic trends and seek valuable primary sources for reference. Richard hoggart, the uses of literacy and the cultural turn, stuart hall international journal of cultural studies, 101 2007. In academic circles, this decoding of the text is often carried out through the use of literary theory, using a mythological, sociological, psychological, historical, or other approach. It has productively complicated the nationalist paradigm long dominant in these fields, transformed the nature of the locations we study, and focused our attention on forms of cultural production that take place in the liminal spaces between real and. Graduate students who wish to pursue literary and cultural studies have opportunities to work closely with faculty and design individualized programs of study. The nature and essence of literature the world of english. Ii literature and culture the sustainability connection from an african perspective charles takoyoh eyong, millens mufuaya and irene iwo foy encyclopedia of life support systems eolss occupied with the issue of sustainable development in the subregion because since. These many and varied trends have complicated greatly the task of understanding both the nature of theory and of the literary text.
Since the rise of critical theory in the 1970s, nothing has reshaped literary and cultural studies more than its embrace of transnationalism. Ecocriticism, cultural ecology, and literary studies. Water is the central characteristic of the coastal region between india and bangladesh known as the sundarbans. It may not involve quite as many people drowning in chocolate or turning into giant blueberries, but its a theoretical theme park where you open the door and youre spoiled sweet for choice. Literature, the environment, and the question of the posthuman louise westling. Cultural studies cstu nov 23, 2016 home cultural studies cultural studies. An introduction to cultural studies sage, 2006, the sociology of childhood cambridge university press, forthcoming and various articles in academic journals and edited collections. Literary theory can be understood, as i have suggested, in terms of principles and concepts, strategies and tactics needed to guide critical practice.
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