<b>Review Essay: Re-mapping Ecocriticism: New Directions in Literary and Urban Ecology</b> // Ensayo reseña: Re-trazando el mapa de la ecocrítica: Nuevas direcciones en la ecología literaria y urbana

Autores/as

  • Christopher Martin Schliephake University of Augsburg

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37536/ECOZONA.2015.6.1.652

Palabras clave:

Urban ecocriticism, literary ecology, space, place,

Resumen

This review essay looks at two recent publications which represent a critical mass in the fields of literary and urban ecology, at once drawing on classical ecocritical notions of “space” and “place” as well as signaling new directions for future work. Their mutual emphasis on the interconnected nature of the place-world not only offers new ways of thinking about how places are connected to each other, but also how natural, cultural, social and scientific processes constantly interact to make and re-make the landscapes in which we live. Thereby, their focus on human habitats and built environments is a timely addition to a debate that is still very much focused on “natural” landscapes and helps to reflect on the way in which concepts like “nature”, “country”, or “wilderness” are not only culturally mediated, but also constructed with the contrasting image of the “city” in mind. Both books illustrate in a number of close readings how literary texts influence our spatial perceptions and mediate our experiences within an (urban) environment, showing how creative processes of the mind constantly interrelate with our (non-)human worlds.

 

Resumen

 

            Este ensayo reseña analiza dos publicaciones recientes que representan una masa crítica en los campos de la ecología literaria y urbana, recurriendo a las nociones ecocríticas clásicas de “espacio” y “lugar”, a la par que señalando nuevas direcciones para trabajos futuros. Su énfasis mutuo en la naturaleza interconectada del lugar-mundo no sólo ofrece nuevas formas de pensar en cómo los lugares están conectados unos a otros, sino también cómo los procesos naturales, culturales, sociales y científicos interactúan constantemente para hacer y re-hacer los paisajes en que vivimos. Así, su enfoque en los hábitats humanos y entornos construidos es una incorporación oportuna a un debate que aún está muy centrado en paisajes “naturales”, y ayuda a reflexionar sobre la forma en que conceptos como “naturaleza”, “país” o “lo salvaje” no sólo están mediados culturalmente, sino también construidos opuestos a la imagen de “ciudad” en mente. Ambos libros ilustran en varios análisis detallados cómo los textos literarios influyen en nuestras percepciones espaciales y median en nuestras experiencias dentro de un entorno (urbano), mostrando cómo los procesos de la mente se interrelacionan constantemente con nuestros mundos (no)humanos.

Descargas

Los datos de descargas todavía no están disponibles.

Biografía del autor/a

Christopher Martin Schliephake, University of Augsburg

University of Augsburg, Germany

cm.schliephake85@gmail.com

Christopher Schliephake is a historian and ecocritic at the University of Augsburg, who specializes in the fields of cultural ecology, cultural memory studies, and classical reception studies. His publications include Urban Ecologies. City Space, Material Agency, and Environmental Politics in Contemporary Culture, published in the Ecocritical Theory and Practice Series by Lexington Books, as well as a number of scholarly articles ranging from the interplay of memory and place over the New Materialisms to the reception of the Classical Tradition by African American and Caribbean authors.

Descargas

Publicado

2015-02-17

Número

Vol. 6 Núm. 1 (2015): European New Nature Writing

Sección

Reseñas

Licencia

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

a) Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal (CC BY-NC for articles and CC BY-NC-ND for creative work, unless author requests otherwise.

b) Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

c) Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).