17401

WiSe 12/13: T - Literature and Media - Ecocritical Theory and Postmodernism

Jennifer Wawrzinek

Comments

The term "ecocrticial theory" is in itself a paradox. Since the emergence of ecocriticism in the mid-1990s, ecocritical scholars have been suspicious of postmodern and post-structural theories and their insistence on sign systems and the discursive constructions of the world around us. Where postmodernism and its avatars in poststructuralism and deconstruction emphasise the textual and linguistic systems that make up our world, early ecocrtics emphasised the very real environmental crises plaguing the material world at the end of the twentieth century a world in which native habitats are destroyed daily, entire species are becoming extinct at an alarming rate, and the industrialisation and mechanisation of the breeding and slaughtering of non-human animals for human consumption is unprecedented. Over the course of the semester students will examine a range of philosophical, theoretical and ecocritical writings on the idea of nature, dwelling, language, ecojustice and the bioregional in order to interrogate the fraught relation between theory and praxis as it pertains to twenty-first century debates over environmental justice.

NB: This subject is run in conjunction with MA-HS 17400. Students are required to enrol in both parts of the module in order to participate in the course.

Assessment: Regular attendance and active participation, including one seminar presentation.

Set Texts Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. Jarmusch, Jim, dir. Dead Man (dvd) Ghosh, Amitav. The Hungry Tide.

A course reader will be made available on Blackboard prior to the commencement of the course. close

16 Class schedule

Additional appointments

Tue, 2013-01-15 14:00 - 16:00

Location:
K 31/201 (Habelschwerdter Allee 45)

Regular appointments

Tue, 18:00 - 20:00 16 Class schedule

Tue, 2012-10-16 18:00 - 20:00

Lecturers:
Prof. Dr. Jennifer Wawrzinek