Practical Ecocriticism: Literature, Biology, and the Environment (Under the Sign of Nature: Explorations in Environmental Humanities)

Practical Ecocriticismis the first book to ground environmental literature firmly in the life sciences, particularly evolutionary biology, and to attempt to bridge the ever-widening gulf between the "Two Cultures." Glen Love—himself one of the founders of ecocriticism—argues that literary studies has been diminished by a general lack of recognition for the vital role the biological foundation of human life plays in cultural imagination. Love presents with great clarity and directness an invaluable model for how to incorporate Darwinian ideas—the basis for all modern biology and ecology—into ecocritical thinking.Beginning with an overview of the field of literature and environment and its claim to our attention, and arguing for a biologically informed theoretical base for literary studies, Love then aims the lens of this critical perspective on the pastoral genre and works by canonical writers such as Willa Cather, Ernest Hemingway, and William Dean Howells. A markedly interdisciplinary and refreshingly accessible work, Practical Ecocriticism will interest and challenge the entire ecocritical community, as well as humanists, social scientists, and others concerned with the current rediscovery of human nature.

Practical Ecocriticismis the first book to ground environmental literature firmly in the life sciences, particularly evolutionary biology, and to attempt to bridge the ever-widening gulf between the "Two Cultures." Glen Love—himself one of the founders of ecocriticism—argues that literary studies has been diminished by a general lack of recognition for the vital role the biological foundation of human life plays in cultural imagination. Love presents with great clarity and directness an invaluable model for how to incorporate Darwinian ideas—the basis for all modern biology and ecology—into ecocritical thinking.

Beginning with an overview of the field of literature and environment and its claim to our attention, and arguing for a biologically informed theoretical base for literary studies, Love then aims the lens of this critical perspective on the pastoral genre and works by canonical writers such as Willa Cather, Ernest Hemingway, and William Dean Howells. A markedly interdisciplinary and refreshingly accessible work, Practical Ecocriticism will interest and challenge the entire ecocritical community, as well as humanists, social scientists, and others concerned with the current rediscovery of human nature.

University of Virginia Press

Practical Ecocriticism is the first book to ground environmental literature firmly in the life sciences, particularly evolutionary biology, and to attempt to bridge the ever-widening gulf between the "Two Cultures." Glen Love--himself one of the founders of ecocriticism--argues that literary studies has been diminished by a general lack of recognition for the vital role the biological foundation of human life plays in cultural imagination. Love presents with great clarity and directness an invaluable model for how to incorporate Darwinian ideas--the basis for all modern biology and ecology--into ecocritical thinking. Beginning with an overview of the field of literature and environment and its claim to our attention, and arguing for a biologically informed theoretical base for literary studies, Love then aims the lens of this critical perspective on the pastoral genre and works by canonical writers such as Willa Cather, Ernest Hemingway, and William Dean Howells. A markedly interdisciplinary and refreshingly accessible work, Practical Ecocriticism will interest and challenge the entire ecocritical community, as well as humanists, social scientists, and others concerned with the current rediscovery of human nature. Front Cover......Page 1 Copyright......Page 5 Title Page......Page 4 Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgments......Page 8 Introduction......Page 10 1. Why Ecocriticism?......Page 22 2. Ecocriticism and Science......Page 46 3. Et in Arcadia Ego: Pastoral Meets Ecocriticism......Page 74 4. Place, Style, and Human Nature in Willa Cather’s The Professor’s House......Page 98 5. Hemingway among the Animals......Page 126 6. The Realist in Altruria: Evolution, Utopianism, and Ecology in William Dean Howells......Page 144 Afterword......Page 172 Introduction......Page 176 1. Why Ecocriticism?......Page 177 2. Ecocriticism and Science......Page 180 3. Et in Arcadia Ego......Page 182 4. Place, Style, and Human Nature in Willa Cather’s The Professor’s House......Page 184 5. Hemingway among the Animals......Page 187 6. The Realist in Altruria......Page 189 Works Cited......Page 192 Index......Page 214 Back Cover......Page 224 Blank Page......Page 7 Through readings of Cather, Hemingway, and W.D. Howells, Love (emeritus, English, U. of Oregon) argues for a literary criticism that ventures beyond the humanities-sciences split and postmodern view of human life as divorced from its evolutionary roots. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR Placing environmental literature in the life sciences, Love argues that literary studies has been diminshed by a lack of recognition for the role that the biological foundation of human life plays in cultural imagination. He presents a model incorporating Darwinian ideas into ecocritical thinking.