Ecocriticism 101 Reading List

(NY Public Library) In recent years, the environment has moved from a marginal concern to the average American citizen to a major political, personal, and political issue that pervades everyday life. In response to rising concerns (and sea levels), a tremendous outpouring of fiction, nonfiction, movies, and music that tackle the issue both directly and indirectly have infiltrated our daily rosters of cultural consumption. Though the environment factors heavily in literature and entertainment throughout the ages (think idyllic pastoral sonnets from the Renaissance era, or Hollywood’s Spaghetti Western movies from the ‘50s and ‘60s—and everything in between), more than ever before, the environment and our relationship to it are present in contemporary cultural production, as words like “green” and “sustainable” become increasingly prevalent in our vocabularies.

So how do we make sense of it all Since the 1980s, in light of growing environmental consciousness and concern across the world, the term ecocriticism has emerged, eventually growing into a critical discipline in its own right. Ecocriticism seeks to answer questions like: What are the ethics of human interaction with the environment What do we mean when we use the word “nature” What does our cultural output say about our perception of the world we live in And, how can we re-think and re-engage with the environment to affect positive change for the future If you’re looking to explore ecocriticism, any of the following books are a good place to start:

Ecology: A Bridge between Science and Society by Eugene O. Pleasants
This text is for non-science students looking for a basic introduction to the principles of ecology, and their relevance in human affairs. Pleasants examines causes of, and long-term solutions to environmental problems, and organizes information according to several important topics in environmental discourse: energy use and production, population and community ecology, and types of ecosystems.
Source: www.nypl.org