Eco-critique : le lecteur indispensable

Ecocriticism: The Essential Reader. Edited and Introduced by Ken Hiltner, Routledge, 1 Juin 2014.

« Having taught a range of courses in ecocriticism in recent years, ranging from graduate seminars to large lectures, I have repeatedly found myself in need of a collection of essays for my students containing seminal, representative, and contemporary work in the field. Unfortunately, no existing book fits the bill, though a few come close. The Green Studies Reader, for example, which Routledge published in 2000, is a strong candidate, as it contains a number of classic ecocritical writings.  However, as ecocriticism has in some sense been reinvented in the last decade, it lacks chapters on such essential and timely issues as environmental justice and globalization. Conversely, recent texts, such as Environmental Criticism for the 21st Century (Routledge 2011), which I coedited, speak to newer trends, but do little to chart the history and growth of the field. In response to this problem, Ecocriticism: The Essential Reader will bring together a range of works that defined the field in its first few decades, as well as new writings that are helping to redefine it today. »

The author

Ken Hiltner is a professor in the English and Environmental Studies Departments at UC Santa Barbara.  He received his PhD from Harvard University, where he garnered a number of distinctions as a researcher and Teaching Fellow, including the Bowdoin Prize. He has written a number of books and articles, mostly on Renaissance literature, ecocriticism, and the intersection of the two. Prior to becoming a professor, he made his living as a furniture maker.

Website : www.kenhiltner.com