American Ecocriticism

elective courses

Course for second degree (MA) students

English language requirements - B2

Ecocriticism is a way of reading which foregrounds the questions of the environment and of the relations between human beings and non-human nature. One of the central objects of ecocritical analysis is the nature/culture binarism and its varied representations. Ecocriticism complicates the notion of nature demonstrating the multiple meanings and ideological colorings that concept acquires depending on the context. Some key terms and problems include: anthropocentrism/biocentrism, the pastoral imagination, apocalyptic ecology, wilderness, the frontier, dwelling, animals, the Earth, ecofeminism, the cyborg, biotechnology, pollution, biopower, ecopoetics. In addition to a selection of texts by American ecocritics required readings include literary texts representing different genres and epochs and, occasionally, philosophical or scientific writings on the subject of nature. Requirements: attendance, active participation in class discussions, presentations, term paper.

Ecocriticism, sometimes referred to as environmental criticism, is a way of reading which foregrounds the questions of the environment and of the relations between human beings and non-human nature. Like other forms of political criticism (feminist criticism, postcolonial theory), ecocriticism moves beyond the purely formal examination of texts and treats them as reflections of a certain reality. One of the central objects of ecocritical analysis is the nature/culture binarism and its varied representations in literary and other kinds of texts. Ecocriticism complicates the notion of nature demonstrating the multiple meanings and ideological colorings that concept acquires depending on the contexts in which it is used. Is nature the pristine "lost paradise" of civilization or is it a rhetorical construction? Ought we to "return" to nature or should we want to emancipate ourselves from it? Are humans inevitably divided from nature or are they continues with it? Is anthropogenically modified nature still nature? Is it possible to reconcile the interests of humans and other species? Do the ways in which we represent our environment influence our environmental attitudes? Can we rethink the notions of subjectivity and agency such that they include more-than-human beings and phenomena? Do other beings communicate, have languages, make metaphors? Can we revolutionise ethics, politics, aesthetics, in such a way that they respond more adequately to the challenges of Anthropocene (rapidly progressing climate change and the sixth great extinction)? We shall look for inspirations in science (including biosemiotics), poetry and other forms of literature and art, and indigenous knowledges.

Required readings include a variety of texts representing different genres (in addition to literary works we will sporadically look at philosophical and even scientific writings concerning the problem of nature) and epochs (from the Bible and Native American stories of emergence, through 19th century Transcendentalism to postmodernism, science fiction and cyberpunk) as well as a selection of texts by American ecocritics (Lawrence Buell, Ursula Heise, Anna Tsing, Donna Haraway and others).

Some key terms and problems include: anthropocentrism/biocentrism, the pastoral imagination, apocalyptic ecology, wilderness, the frontier, dwelling, animals, the Earth, ecofeminism, the cyborg, biotechnology, pollution, and biopower.

Requirements: attendance (no more than 2 absences allowed), active participation in class discussions, presentations, term paper. Retake possible only for students who did not exceed the limit of absences.

Detailed sylabus of the course changes depending on the edition of the course. Below some basic bibliography:

Armbruster, Karla; and Kathleen R. Wallace, eds. Beyond Nature Writing: Expanding the Boundaries of Ecocriticism. Charlottesville and London: The University Press of Virginia, 2001.

Buell, Lawrence. The Future of Environmental Criticism: Environmental Crisis and Literary Imagination. New York, Blackwell: 2005.

Buell, Lawrence. "Toxic Discourse" Critical Inquiry. Vol. 24, No. 3 (Spring 1998), pp. 639-665.

Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring (1962). London: Penguin, 2000.

Coupe, Laurence, ed. The Green Studies Reader: From Romanticism to Ecocriticism. New York: Routledge, 2000.

DeLillo, Don. White Noise. (1984) New York, London: Penguin. 1985.

Harrison, Robert Pogue. The Dominion of the Dead. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2003.

Harraway, Donna. "A Manifesto for Cyborgs: Science, Technology, and Socialist Feminism in the 1980's" (Feminisms ed. Sandra Kemp and Judith Squires. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 1997)

Heidegger, Martin. (1974) Poetry, Language, Thought. New York: HarperPerennial, 2001.

Heise, Ursula K. Sense of Place and Sense of Planet. The Environmental Imagination of the Global. Oxford University Press, 2008.

Lyotard, Jean-Francois. The Inhuman. Trans. Geoffrey Bennington and Rachel Bowlby. Stanford, Calfornia: Stanford University Press, 1991.

Marx, Leo. The Machine in the Garden: Technology and the Pastoral Ideal in America. Oxford University Press, 1964.

Merchant, Carolyn. "Women and Ecology" (Feminisms ed. Sandra Kemp and Judith Squires. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.)

Merchant, Carolyn. Reinventing Eden. The Fate of Nature on Western Culture. New York and London: Routledge, 2003.

Scott, Ridley. Bladerunner. 1982.

Tsing, Anna. "The Mushroom at the end of the World. On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins" (2018)

Willis, Roy, ed. Signifying Animals: Human meaning in the natural world. New York, Routledge, 1994.

A student will acquire advanced information about :American Ecocriticism and will develop his/her analytical skills.

The students will know and understand:

basic terminology of ecocriticism

the history of "environmental humanities"

the ties of literature with other areas of knowledge, including the natural sciences

The student is able to:

analyse and discuss literaty texts and other texts of culture from the perspective of ecocriticism

describe the basic tenets of "environmental humanities"

describe the basic challenges to the humanities posed by the Anthropocene

English:

Education at language level B2+

Active participation in class discussion, systematic prep-work, term paper, shorter writing assignments several times during the semester

In case the class is failed re-take possible in the form of a longer research paper

Absences allowed - 2