Ecocriticism Basics
Ecocriticism Basics
The Who, What, Where, When, and Why of Ecocriticism
Beginnings
Though Ecocriticism-as-such is just an itty bitty baby theory these days, it got its start back in the day, with a dude named Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau wasn't the best student. And he didn't com...
Big Players
Ecocriticism is a theory still in diapers. It didn't officially get going until 1994 or so. Which means that most of the big players in Ecocriticism aren't actually literary critics (yet)—like Th...
Key Debates
There's really just one debate in Ecocriticism today. It centers around this question: What is nature? But what does this philosophical-sounding debate have to do with the study of literature? Well...
State of the Theory
Ecocriticism can seem like it's all over the planet—er, we mean, all over the place. And it's true; the theory has got some issues with focusing its attention on a particular topic, or moving in...
Talking the Talk
What is literature? It's alive. An ecocritic believes that literature is a type of living, breathing being. Like any other animal, then, storytelling evolves—particularly as scientific knowledge...