Ecocritical Forum: Literature Studies

As a comparative literature field of research, ecocriticism focuses partly on human interaction with nature and the world around us, and partly on the ideas we have about nature. Questions taken up by ecocriticism include “How does literature portray nature and the world around us?” and “How are ecocritical problems depicted in literary texts?” or “How do literary texts deal in a reality-oriented way with the contradistinction between mankind and the world around, culture and nature?”

The emergence of ecocriticism is associated with the increased awareness in the last few decades of the role of mankind in the climate changes and environmental problems that scientific research increasingly more unanimously describes as realities. It is thus not a question of depictions of nature in literature in itself but of the relationship between text and nature/outside world and of visualising questions illustrating the importance of literature for sustainable development.