From Absent to Present: The Urban Dimension of Ecocriticism

Abstract

Abstract: Though ecocriticism has been accepted within the field of literary studies since the 1990s and taken a variety of approaches, it still lacks an urban dimension. Urban ecocriticism, which should be a significant component during the several waves of ecocriticism development, has only made a brief appearance that is more oriented to sociological than literary studies and thereafter has merged into silence. For the time being, the city and nature are separated from and in opposition to each other in the interpretations as well as representations of the city, which is reflected in the fact that the city becomes a blind spot in nature writings. Therefore, it is necessary to rediscover urban nature and to redefine the concept of nature within the context of urbanization. By bringing environmental studies, cultural studies and urban studies into the framework, the urban dimension of ecocriticism also shifts from the absent to the present.

Key words: urban ecocriticism, absent, present, urban nature, literary imagination

Ma Te. From Absent to Present: The Urban Dimension of Ecocriticism[J]. Foreign Literature Studies, 2017, 39(4): 54-62.

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