32111

SoSe 16: American Ecologies

Alexander Starre

Comments

“To have ecology, we must give up Nature” (Timothy Morton) ----- This seminar surveys the history of ecological thinking in American culture and addresses the aesthetic and ideological functions of nature in literature and visual culture. Based on a capacious understanding of ecology as a mode of describing the interdependence and interaction of living organisms (including humans) and their environment, we will investigate influential works by writers and artists from the colonial period to the present. Readings include the work of authors such as Mary Rowlandson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Rachel Carson, and Leslie Marmon Silko along with samplings from the emerging genre of “cli-fi” (climate fiction). Several sections on visual culture will address portrayals of the environment in American art from the Hudson River School to contemporary land art, as well as cinematic representations of ecological catastrophe in recent films such as Wall-E and Beasts of the Southern Wild. ----- Beyond these readings, the course serves as an introduction to the burgeoning field of ecocriticism and to diverse figurations of ecology in other domains of cultural theory. Through such concepts as Donna Haraway’s “cyborgs,” Bruno Latour’s “nature-culture,” and Timothy Morton’s “hyperobjects,” critical theory has attempted to bridge the divide between the human and the non-human. In our current moment of ecological crisis, these complex reorientations challenge us to rethink established notions of environmentalism, preservation, and sustainability. Overall, the course seeks to identify modes of analysis and critique that American Studies can contribute to current ecological debates. close

14 Class schedule

Regular appointments

Tue, 14:00 - 16:00 14 Class schedule

Tue, 2016-04-19 14:00 - 16:00

Lecturers:
Dr. Alexander Starre