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This collection of ecocritical essays is focused on the work of
Japan's foremost writer on environment and culture, Ishimure
Michiko. Ishimure is known for her pioneering trilogy that exposed
the Minamata Disease incident and the nature of modern industrial
pollution. She is also regarded by many critics as Japan's most
original and important literary writer. Ishimure has written over
50 volumes in a wide range of genres, including novels, Noh drama,
poetry, children's stories, essays, and mixed-genre writing. This
collection brings together the work of scholars from Japan, the
U.S., and Canada who are authorities on Ishimure's writing.
Contributors discuss Ishimure's writing in the context of the
latest issues in ecocritical theory, arguing for an expanded,
more-than-Western understanding of literature, theory, and
environmental responsibility. It will help to relate various
environmental, cultural, and ecocritical issues, ranging from the
events at Minamata to those at Fukushima, and consider how they
point to future developments.
In Transversal Ecocritical Praxis: Theoretical Arguments, Literary
Analysis, and Cultural Critique, Patrick D. Murphy, Ph.D, utilizes
ecocriticism and ecofeminism to develop his concept of transversal
practice: an interdisciplinary combination of theory and applied
criticism. He begins by explaining the necessity for cutting across
disciplinary boundaries of all kinds in order to address the
ecological dimensions of culture and literature. The dialogical
foundation of this orientation is elaborated through a
consideration of the theories of Mikhail Bkahtin, particularly in
terms of the ethical responsibilities of the reader and critic.
Murphy then takes up issues of identity and subject formation in
relation to genetics, embodiment, and selfhood. These same issues
play out in the history of the aesthetic category of the sublime,
which the author critiques from an ecofeminist perspective.
Following that, he turns attention to cultural issues of
consumption, both at home and internationally, looking particularly
at postcolonial literature and forms of resistance to
globalizations and agricultural land grabs. Resistance and
postcolonial literature is further analyzed through consideration
of two book-length Latin American poetic sequences, one by Pablo
Neruda and the other by Ernesto Cardenal. Switching from works
focused on the present, Murphy turns his attention then to how
these themes play out in the future oriented worlds of science
fiction. He concludes with two chapters that combine ecocriticial
cultural critique and economic analysis in studies of the
destructive role of megadams, particularly in Asia, and the impact
of the combined threats of peak oil and climate change on one
island's tourist economy. The conclusion contains a discussion of
further drivers of future ecocritical analysis. Traversing a wide
range of examples, literary, cultural and economic, this work
fleshes out the benefits of an ethically grounded interdisciplinary
ecocriticism.
Persuasive Aesthetic Ecocritical Praxis continues Patrick D.
Murphy's focus on transversal ecocritical praxis by considering
literature and cinema in terms of the persuasive force of aesthetic
activity and whether or not artistic production and its criticism
can be considered forms of activism. Murphy argues that literature
and other forms of aesthetic production hold out the promise of
being able to move some individuals deeply through both affective
and intellectual engagement in ways that facilitate ideological
reflection. To analyze aesthetic production ecocritically requires
a transversal orientation in order to work continuously at
accommodating a vast array of often seemingly disparate
perspectives, disciplines, and contextual information, as well as
the ever changing thematic, plot, setting, and contextual elements
of the aesthetic works under consideration and the responses of
changing audiences through time and across cultures. Murphy
demonstrates this approach through presenting theories of
transversality and applying them with attention to issues of
propaganda, agitation, and persuasion, both in terms of artistic
production and the criticism of such production. He also brings an
ecofeminist orientation to the fore with particular attention to
the gendered economic aspects of environmental issues in an age of
land grabs and plantation economies. Along the way he treats a wide
range of literary works, films and miniseries. In American
literature he discusses realist and science fiction works, from
Susan Fenimore Cooper's Rural Hours to Paolo Bacigalupi's The
Windup Girl, Barbara Kingsolver's Flight Behavior to Kim Stanley
Robinson's 2312, and Ana Castillo's So Far from God to Leslie
Marmon Silko's Gardens in the Dunes. In international literature,
he analyzes Mo Yan's The Garlic Ballads, Jiang Rong's Wolft Totem,
Michiko Ishimure's The Lake of Heaven, Miyuki Miyabe's All She Was
Worth, and other novels. The book concludes with a reading of
Ernest Callenbach's Ecotopia and Ecotopia Emerging, an Afterword
recommending further directions for transversal ecocritical
research an and interview that discusses Murphy's previous book,
Transversal Ecocritical Praxis, and provides some personal
background on the author.
In Transversal Ecocritical Praxis: Theoretical Arguments, Literary
Analysis, and Cultural Critique, Patrick D. Murphy, Ph.D, utilizes
ecocriticism and ecofeminism to develop his concept of transversal
practice: an interdisciplinary combination of theory and applied
criticism. He begins by explaining the necessity for cutting across
disciplinary boundaries of all kinds in order to address the
ecological dimensions of culture and literature. The dialogical
foundation of this orientation is elaborated through a
consideration of the theories of Mikhail Bkahtin, particularly in
terms of the ethical responsibilities of the reader and critic.
Murphy then takes up issues of identity and subject formation in
relation to genetics, embodiment, and selfhood. These same issues
play out in the history of the aesthetic category of the sublime,
which the author critiques from an ecofeminist perspective.
Following that, he turns attention to cultural issues of
consumption, both at home and internationally, looking particularly
at postcolonial literature and forms of resistance to
globalizations and agricultural land grabs. Resistance and
postcolonial literature is further analyzed through consideration
of two book-length Latin American poetic sequences, one by Pablo
Neruda and the other by Ernesto Cardenal. Switching from works
focused on the present, Murphy turns his attention then to how
these themes play out in the future oriented worlds of science
fiction. He concludes with two chapters that combine ecocriticial
cultural critique and economic analysis in studies of the
destructive role of megadams, particularly in Asia, and the impact
of the combined threats of peak oil and climate change on one
island's tourist economy. The conclusion contains a discussion of
further drivers of future ecocritical analysis. Traversing a wide
range of examples, literary, cultural and economic, this work
fleshes out the benefits of an ethically grounded interdisciplinary
ecocriticism.
In Ecocritical Explorations, Patrick D. Murphy explores
environmental literature and environmental cultural issues through
both theoretical and applied criticism. He engages with the
concepts of referentiality, simplicity, the nation state, and
virtual reality in the first section of the book, and then goes on
to interrogate these issues in contemporary environmental
literature, both American and international. He concludes his
argument with a discussion of the larger frames of family dynamics
and un-natural disasters, such as hurricanes and global warming,
ending with a chapter on the integration of scholarship and
pedagogy in the classroom, with reference to his own teaching
experiences. Murphy's study provides a wide ranging discussion of
contemporary literature and cultural phenomena through the lens of
ecological literary criticism, giving attention to both theoretical
issues and applied critiques. In particular, he looks at popular
literary genres, such as mystery and science fiction, as well as
actual disasters and disaster scenarios. Ecocritical Explorations
in Literary and Cultural Studies is a timely contribution to
ecological literary criticism and an insightful look into how we
represent our relationship with the environment.
In Ecocritical Explorations, Patrick D. Murphy explores
environmental literature and environmental cultural issues through
both theoretical and applied criticism. He engages with the
concepts of referentiality, simplicity, the nation state, and
virtual reality in the first section of the book, and then goes on
to interrogate these issues in contemporary environmental
literature, both American and international. He concludes his
argument with a discussion of the larger frames of family dynamics
and un-natural disasters, such as hurricanes and global warming,
ending with a chapter on the integration of scholarship and
pedagogy in the classroom, with reference to his own teaching
experiences. Murphy's study provides a wide ranging discussion of
contemporary literature and cultural phenomena through the lens of
ecological literary criticism, giving attention to both theoretical
issues and applied critiques. In particular, he looks at popular
literary genres, such as mystery and science fiction, as well as
actual disasters and disaster scenarios. Ecocritical Explorations
in Literary and Cultural Studies is a timely contribution to
ecological literary criticism and an insightful look into how we
represent our relationship with the environment.
Global Media Studies explores the theoretical and methodological threats that are defining global media studies as a discipline. Emphasising the connection of globalisation to local culture, this collection considers the diversity of modes of reception, reception contexts, uses of media content, and the performative and creative relationships that audiences develop with and through the media. Through ethnographic case studies from Brazil, Denmark, the UK, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey and the United States, the contributors address such questions as: what links media consumption to a lived global culture; what role cultural tradition plays globally in confronting transnational power; how global elements of mediated messages acquire class; and regional and local characteristics.
Contents: Part 1: Introduction, Chapter 1 Towards an Ethnographic Approach to Global Media Studies, Part 2: Situating Ethnography in Global Media Studies, Chapter 2 The Problem of Textuality in Ethnographic Audience Research, Chapter 3 Passing Ethnographies: Rethinking the Sites of Agency and Reflexivity in a Mediated World, Chapter 4 Where is Audience Ethnographer's Fieldwork?, Chapter 5 Audience letters and letter-writers: Constituting the Audience for Radio in Transnational Contexts, Chapter 6 Rituals in the Modern World: Applying the Concept of Ritual in Media Ethnography, Part 3: Researching the Local, Chapter 7 Negotiation and the Position: On the Need and Difficulty of 'Thicker Description', Chapter 8 'Now that you're going home, are you going to write about the natives you studied?': Telenovela Reception, Adultery and the Dilemmas of Ethnographic Practice, Chapter 9 Methodology as Lived Experience, Chapter 10 On the Border: Reflections on Ethnography and Gender, Chapter 11 Radio's Early Arrival in Rural Appalachia, Part 4: Articulating Globalization Through Ethnography, Chapter 12 Ask the West, Will Dinosaurs Come Back?, Chapter 13 Where the Global Meets the Local: South African Youth and Their Experience of Global Media, Chapter 14 Chasing Echoes: Cultural Reconversion, Self-Representation, and Mediascapes in Mexico, Chapter 15 Globalization avant la lettre? Audience Ethnography, Media Institutions and Local Identity in Lebanon, Part 5: Afterword, Chapter 16 Media Ethnography: Local, Global or Translocal?
"Literature of Nature" is a referenc ework that explores the
diversity of genres, modes, and orientations of literary
representations of nature and of human interaction with the rest of
the natural world.
Comprising 65 essays, "Literature of Nature" is organized into
five geographic sections: the United States and Canada; Europe;
Asia and the Pacific; Africa and the Arab world; and Latin America.
A sixth section is devoted to Topics, Genres, Theory, and Other
Arts. The diversity and international scope of the essays are
represented in a wide variety of chapter formats: contributors were
encouraged to adopt layouts most appropriate to their subjects,
with a stylistic diversity modeling natural diverstiy.
"Literature of Nature" is meant to appeal to a broad range of
users, including students, librarians, and the general reader
interested in knowing more about such literature. At the same time
scholars of literature will find the volume of great interest and
the bibliographies especially useful.
Today's global media sustains a potent new environmental
consciousness. Paradoxically, it also serves as a far-reaching
platform that promotes the unsustainable consumption ravaging our
planet. Patrick Murphy musters theory, fieldwork, and empirical
research to map how the media communicates today's many distinct,
competing, and even antagonistic environmental discourses. The
media draws the cultural boundaries of our environmental
imagination--and influences just who benefits. Murphy's analysis
emphasizes social context, institutional alignments, and commercial
media's ways of rendering discussion. He identifies and examines
key terms, phrases, and metaphors as well as the ways consumers are
presented with ideas like agency and the place of nature. What
emerges is the link between pervasive messaging and an
"environment" conjured by our media-saturated social imagination.
As the author shows, today's complex, integrated media networks
shape, frame, and deliver many of our underlying ideas about the
environment. Increasingly--and ominously--individuals and
communities experience these ideas not only in the developed world
but in the increasingly consumption-oriented Global South.
Ecofeminist Literary Criticism is the first collection of its kind:
a diverse anthology that explores both how ecofeminism can enrich
literary criticism and how literary criticism can contribute to
ecofeminist theory and activism. Ecofeminism is a practical
movement for social change that discerns interconnections among all
forms of oppression: the exploitation of nature, the oppression of
women, class exploitation, racism, colonialism. Against binary
divisions such as self/other, culture/nature, man/woman,
humans/animals, and white/non-white, ecofeminist theory asserts
that human identity is shaped by more fluid relationships and by an
acknowledgment of both connection and difference. Once considered
the province of philosophy and women's studies, ecofeminism in
recent years has been incorporated into a broader spectrum of
academic discourse. Ecofeminist Literary Criticism assembles some
of the most insightful advocates of this perspective to illuminate
ecofeminism as a valuable component of literary criticism.
Today's global media sustains a potent new environmental
consciousness. Paradoxically, it also serves as a far-reaching
platform that promotes the unsustainable consumption ravaging our
planet. Patrick Murphy musters theory, fieldwork, and empirical
research to map how the media communicates today's many distinct,
competing, and even antagonistic environmental discourses. The
media draws the cultural boundaries of our environmental
imagination--and influences just who benefits. Murphy's analysis
emphasizes social context, institutional alignments, and commercial
media's ways of rendering discussion. He identifies and examines
key terms, phrases, and metaphors as well as the ways consumers are
presented with ideas like agency and the place of nature. What
emerges is the link between pervasive messaging and an
"environment" conjured by our media-saturated social imagination.
As the author shows, today's complex, integrated media networks
shape, frame, and deliver many of our underlying ideas about the
environment. Increasingly--and ominously--individuals and
communities experience these ideas not only in the developed world
but in the increasingly consumption-oriented Global South.
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