Comparative Literature 253 - LITERARY ECOLOGY

Literary ecology focuses on bio-social themes in literature--how human beings construct their relationship to their environment through literature and landscape art. We will read works by "nature writers," from the Romantic poets to early ecologists like John Muir and John Burroughs, and by contemporary writers such as John McPhee and Annie Dillard. We will also analyze issues of contemporary eco-criticism and consider an expansion of the current range of canonical texts to include a broader diversity of viewpoints.