Coming into Contact: Explorations in Ecocritical Theory and Practice

by Bruce Allen (Contributor), Ian Marshall (Editor), Daniel J. Philippon (Editor)

A snapshot of ecocriticism in action, Coming into Contact collects sixteen previously unpublished essays that explore some of the most promising new directions in the study of literature and the environment. They look to previously unexamined or underexamined aspects of literature's relationship to the environment, including swamps, internment camps, Asian American environments, the urbanized Northeast, and lynching sites. The authors relate environmental discourse to practice, including the teaching of green design in composition classes, the restoration of damaged landscapes, the persuasive strategies of environmental activists, the practice of urban architecture, and the impact of human technologies on nature.

The essays also put ecocriticism into greater contact with the natural sciences, including elements of evolutionary biology, biological taxonomy, and geology. Engaging both ecocritical theory and practice, these authors more closely align ecocriticism with the physical environment, with the wide range of texts and cultural practices that concern it, and with the growing scholarly conversation that surrounds this concern.

Genres: Literary Criticism, Environment

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coming into Contact is a quality new collection of ecocritical scholarship aimed at further pushing the boundaries of this young field. Many of the essays are excellent, including those by Anthony Lioi and Onno Oerlemans; others are just alright. My one criticism is that in pushing the boundaries of the critical discipline and in stressing the interdisciplinarity of ecocriticism, there is maybe too much time spent on things nonliterary--which is perhaps a personal preference. Certainly it was the authors' and editors' intention to do just this, and so my criticism is perhaps only partially valid.

[Manraaj Nijjar · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first chapter is worth it alone