Ecology and literatures in English : writing to save the planet

La quatrième de couverture indique : "In all latitudes, writers hold out a mirror, leading the reader to awareness by telling real or imaginary stories about people of good will who try to save what can be saved, and about animals showing humans the way to follow. Such tales argue that, in spite of all destructions and tragedies, if we are just aware of, and connected to, the real world around us, to the blade of grass at our feet and the star above our heads, there is hope in a reconciliation with the Earth. This may start with the emergence, or, rather, the return, of a nonverbal language, restoring the connection between human beings and the nonhuman world, through a form of communication beyond verbalization. Through a journey in Anglophone literature, with examples taken from Aboriginal, African, American, English, Canadian and Indian works, this book shows the role played by literature in the protection of the planet. It argues that literature reveals the fundamental idea that everything is connected and that it is only when most people are aware of this connection that the world will change. Exactly as a tree is connected with all the animal life in and around it, texts show that nothing should be separated. From Shakespeare's theatre to ecopoetics, from travel writing to detective novels, from children's books to novels, all literary genres show that literature responds to the violence destroying lands, men and nonhuman creatures, whose voices can be heard through texts." La quatrième de couverture indique : "In all latitudes, writers hold out a mirror, leading the reader to awareness by telling real or imaginary stories about people of good will who try to save what can be saved, and about animals showing humans the way to follow. Such tales argue that, in spite of all destructions and tragedies, if we are just aware of, and connected to, the real world around us, to the blade of grass at our feet and the star above our heads, there is hope in a reconciliation with the Earth. This may start with the emergence, or, rather, the return, of a nonverbal language, restoring the connection between human beings and the nonhuman world, through a form of communication beyond verbalization. Through a journey in Anglophone literature, with examples taken from Aboriginal, African, American, English, Canadian and Indian works, this book shows the role played by literature in the protection of the planet. It argues that literature reveals the fundamental idea that everything is connected and that it is only when most people are aware of this connection that the world will change. Exactly as a tree is connected with all the animal life in and around it, texts show that nothing should be separated. From Shakespeare's theatre to ecopoetics, from travel writing to detective novels, from children's books to novels, all literary genres show that literature responds to the violence destroying lands, men and nonhuman creatures, whose voices can be heard through texts." Dedication 6 Table of Contents 8 Foreword 11 Introduction 15 Part 1 32 Chapter One 34 Chapter Two 45 Chapter Three 55 Chapter Four 112 Chapter Five 119 Part 2 144 Chapter Six 145 Chapter Seven 187 Chapter Eight 200 Part 3 218 Chapter Nine 219 Chapter Ten 247 Chapter Eleven 263 Chapter Twelve 270 Part 4 286 Chapter Thirteen 287 Chapter Fourteen 345 Chapter Fifteen 396 Part 5 436 Chapter Sixteen 437 Chapter Seventeen 452 Chapter Eighteen 461 Conclusion 493 Select Bibliography 498 Acknowledgements 537 Index 544