SoSe 21: PS-Introduction to Cultural Studies: Introducing Ecocriticism
Peter Löffelbein
Comments
With humanity facing the challenge of a global environmental crisis, ecocritical approaches have received more attention in recent years. Lately, the relationship between the human and the non-human and its representations have emerged as a central intersection between the humanities, science, and socio-political discourse.
The course aims at familiarizing students with the major premises and lines of inquiry of ecocritical engagement. After establishing a theoretical framework, we will discuss select literary texts from Anglo-Saxon writings to more recent works by authors like Margaret Atwood and Jeff Vandermeer. What does it mean to read these texts ecocritically and what do we gain by doing so? What challenges does ecocriticism imply for literary studies and literary theory in general? And in what ways may story telling be said to reflect, inform, or reform our relationship to the non-human world?
close13 Class schedule
Regular appointments