The Ecology of Wonder in Romantic and Postmodern Literature (Literatures, Cultures, and the Environment)

This book traces the aesthetic of wonder from the romantic period through contemporary philosophy and literature, arguing for its relevance to ecological consciousness. Most ecocritical scholarship tends to overshadow discussions of wonder with the sublime, failing to treat these two aesthetic categories as distinct. As a result, contemporary scholarship has conflated wonder and the sublime and ultimately lost the nuances that these two concepts conjure for readers and thinkers. Economides illuminates important differences between these aesthetics, particularly their negotiation of issues relevant to gender-based and environmental politics. In turn, readers can utilize the concept of wonder as an open-ended, non-violent framework in contrast to the ethos of domination that often surrounds the sublime. "Dedication"--"Acknowledgments"--"Contents" -- "Chapter 1: Introduction: Wonder, Ecocriticism, and Romanticismâ#x80;#x99;s Forgotten Way" -- "I. Sublimityâ#x80;#x99;s Dominance in Romantic and Ecological Studies" -- "II.  Wonder as an Alternative to Sublimity" -- "Chapter 2: Wonder and Romantic Ecology" -- "I. The Stone and the Shell: Knowledgeâ#x80;#x99;s Relationship to Wonder in Wordsworthâ#x80;#x99;s Poetics" -- "II. â#x80;#x9C;Splendor in the Grassâ#x80;#x9D;: Childhood and Elegiac Wonder" -- "III. â#x80;#x9C;Blank and Stupid Wonderâ#x80;#x9D;: Urban Marvels as Violent Stimulants" -- "IV.  Wonder and Beauty in Coleridgeâ#x80;#x99;s Poetics" -- "V. Wonderâ#x80;#x99;s â#x80;#x9C;Secret Ministryâ#x80;#x9D;: â#x80;#x9C;The Eolian Harpâ#x80;#x9D; and â#x80;#x9C;Frost at Midnightâ#x80;#x9D;" -- "VI.  Wonder, Radical Politics, and the Question of Metaphysics" -- "Chapter 3: Romanticism, Scientific Wonders, and the Technological Sublime" -- " I. Barbauldâ#x80;#x99;s Sublime Flights and the Wonders of Technology" -- " II.  Wordsworthâ#x80;#x99;s Railroads and Technological Dominion over Nature" -- " III.  Mary Shelleyâ#x80;#x99;s DÃŒmon and the Ghost in the Technological Sublime" -- "Chapter 4: The Environmental Sublime and Ecological Melancholy" -- " I. Environmental Sublimity in DeLilloâ#x80;#x99;s Fiction" -- " II.  Orpheus in the Garbage Gyre" -- "Chapter 5: Wonder and TechnÄ#x93; in an Age of Ecological Risk" -- "I. Defamiliarizing Defamiliarization" -- "II.  Heideggerian TechnÄ#x93; and PoiÄ#x93;sis" -- "III.  Wonder and TechnÄ#x93; as Enframing" -- "IV.  Wonder as Motivation for TechnÄ#x93;" -- "V. Merleau-Ponty, Embodied Wonder and Ecopoetics" -- "Works Cited." Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction: Wonder, Ecocriticism, and Romanticism’s Forgotten Way....Pages 1-34 Wonder and Romantic Ecology....Pages 35-74 Romanticism, Scientific Wonders, and the Technological Sublime....Pages 75-107 The Environmental Sublime and Ecological Melancholy....Pages 109-152 Wonder and Technē in an Age of Ecological Risk....Pages 153-192 Back Matter....Pages 193-214 Introduction: Wonder, nature and Romanticism's forgotten way Wonder and Romantic ecology Romanticism, scientific wonders, and the technological sublime The environmental sublime and ecological melancholy Wonder and tech in an age of ecological risk.