Ecocriticism and Literary Theory

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, historical figures, books, and theoretical concepts from the lecture on Ecocriticism and Literary Studies.

Ecocriticism

An interdisciplinary field and critical approach to reading literature that examines the relationship between literature and the physical environment.

Ecology

The scientific study of the connections and interactions between living organisms (animals, plants) and nature.

Criticism

The technical equivalent of evaluation, perception, or attitude resulting from a scientific analysis of things in the surroundings.

Cheryll Burgess Glotfelty

A professor and pioneer ecocrite in the United States who founded the field of ecocriticism and co-edited 'The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology' (1996) with Harold Fromm.

William Rueckert

A poet who coined the term 'ecopoetics' in 1978 and founded and led the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment.

Ecopoetics

A term created by William Rueckert in 1978 focusing on applying ecological concepts to poetry and literature.

The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology

The first classic anthology of ecological literary works, published in 1996 by Cheryll Burgess Glotfelty and Harold Fromm.

Jonathan Bate

The founder of ecocriticism in the United Kingdom and author of 'Romantic Ecology: Wordsworth and the Environmental Tradition' and 'The Song of the Earth'.

Green Studies

The UK-centered approach to ecocriticism that emphasizes limiting human-made hazards and distractions to nature.

Oikos

A Greek root word in ecocriticism meaning 'nature' or the earth as the primary home.

Kritos

A Greek root word in ecocriticism meaning 'arbiter of taste' or judge of quality, honor, and integrity of a work.

Henry David Thoreau

A leading pioneer ecocrite in the United States who valued learning from nature prior to the formal establishment of ecocriticism.

John Muir

A pioneer American ecocrite known for writing 'My First Summer in the Sierra', detailing his experience in the Sierra Nevada mountains as a shepherd.

My First Summer in the Sierra

A work by John Muir recounting his trip to California and the Sierra Nevada mountains as a shepherd, expressing dismay at environmental destruction caused by humans.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

An early American pioneer writer (1803–1882) who wrote the book titled 'Nature'.

Margarete Fuller

An early American author (1810–1850) who wrote 'Summer on the Lakes, During 1843'.

Wilderness

An environmental domain classified by Barry (1996) that includes deserts, oceans, and uninhabited continents.

Scenic Landscape

An environmental domain classified by Barry (1996) consisting of natural features such as forests, lakes, mountains, cliffs, and waterfalls.

Countryside

An environmental domain classified by Barry (1996) that encompasses rural areas like hills, fields, and woods.

Local Landscape

An environmental domain classified by Barry (1996) describing man-made outdoor places such as parks, gardens, and roads.

Narratology

A literary theory that examines the structure of story narratives, discourse, and narrative methods to analyze how meaning is created.

Hamartia

An element of plot in Aristotelian drama revealing a character's error, fatal flaw, or sin.

Anagnorisis

An element of plot in Aristotelian drama referring to self-realization or discovery of one's mistake/sin.

Peripeteia

An element of plot in Aristotelian drama describing a reversal of circumstances or turn of fate for a character.

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

A hypothesis stating that a person's spoken language determines their worldview and how they perceive their surroundings.

Dulce et Utile

A principle from Horace stating that literature and poetry should aim both to delight/entertain (dulce) and to instruct/teach (utile).

Eco-Edutainment

A concept discussed in Larsson's (2012) article referring to educational and entertaining material in children's literature intended to engage youth in saving the planet.

Eco-Knowledge

Knowledge about nature and environmental protection conveyed through literature to foster ecological awareness in readers.

Bagong Luma

An oxymoronic phrase used by John Iremil E. Teodoro (2012) to describe ecocriticism as an approach that treats nature as an old theme analyzed through a fresh literary perspective.

Oxymoron

A literary device that places two contradictory words together to emphasize a specific meaning.

Paz V.M. Santos

A scholar who noted that ecocriticism should focus not only on human-nature harmony but also on addressing environmental disasters caused by human activity.