The View from Above in American Literature: Aerial Description, the Imaginary and the Form of Environment

Develops a new theory of literary imagination for the Anthropocene by analysing descriptions of the environment from aboveEngages with ecocriticism, narratology, and phenomenology to update concepts and critical inquiries for analysis that foregrounds nonanthropocentric reading strategies now relevant in humanistic study of climate change and the AnthropoceneDevelops a theory of literary reading that foregrounds descriptions through rereadings of Roman Ingarden and Wolfgang Iser in the context of New FormalismPresents major new analyses of Willa Cather, Paul Bowles, and Don DeLillo, with additional analysis of works by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allen Poe, Sarah Orne Jewett, William Gibson, Karen Tei Yamashita, Harry Mathews, Teju Cole, Ben Lerner, Tao Lin, Andrew Durbin, and Lorrie MooreCreates a critical history of the view from above across culture and aesthetic representation from early aerial photography to satellite and drone imageryDevelops new theoretical terms for use across disciplines: aerial description and the form of environmentArgues that literary fiction presents a valuable counternarrative to governmental use and production of images of the environment from above for colonialization and globalizationReaders encounter the environment through literature in ways not available to everyday perception. This is especially clear when a text integrates the grand vistas of what is known as the bird's-eye view. In this welcome contribution to the contemporary theoretical discussion about storied environments and non-human perceptions, David Rodriguez presents an original interpretation of the aesthetics of the view from above. Focusing on fiction by twentieth-century American writers including Willa Cather, Paul Bowles and Don DeLillo, Rodriguez skilfully combines ecocriticism, narrative theory and phenomenological approaches to literature to develop the term ‘form of environment'. This theory of literary fiction foregrounds the environment not as setting or historical context, but as an equal agent with the human figures and scales that are normally the focus of literary analysis. Readers encounter the environment through literature in ways not available to everyday perception. This is especially clear when a text integrates the grand vistas of what is known as the birds-eye view. In this welcome contribution to the contemporary theoretical discussion about storied environments and non-human perceptions, David Rodriquez presents an original interpretation of the aesthetics of the view from above. Focusing on fiction by twentieth-century American writers including Willa Cather, Paul Bowles and Don DeLillo, Rodriguez skilfully combines ecocriticism, narrative theory and phenomenological approaches to literature to develop the term form of environment. This theory of literary fiction foregrounds the environment not as setting or historical context, but as an equal agent with the human figures and scales that are normally the focus of literary analysis. List of Figures Acknowledgements Introduction: Flights Without Wings 1 Foundations for the View from Above in Literary Fiction: Description, Form and Indeterminacy 2 Extent, Built Form and Willa Cather’s Landscapes 3 Verticality and Empty Thematics in Paul Bowles’s Novels 4 ‘Only Scenery’: Scale, Whole-Earth Images and Don DeLillo’s ‘Human Moments in World War III’ Conclusion: On Drone and Satellite Images Bibliography Index