There are two kinds of ecocritics. Some critics only live in the textual world, and avoiding essentialism is their doctrine. Others concern about texts too, but they also look for connections with the secular world. We touched this issue in Field Methods class when we talked about the relationship between ecocriticism and environment on Tuesday.
Now I would like to recommend this book:
Slovic, Scott. Going Away to Think: Engagement, Retreat, and Ecocritical Responsibility. Reno: U of Nevada P, 2008.
This book is an “ecological” edition of Edward Said’s “Secular Criticism” in which Prof. Slovic argues that ecocritics, instead of limiting themselves in the textual boundary, they “need contact not just with literature and not just with each other, but with the physical world” (30). The author uses an understandable language to explain what ecocriticism is to the ordinary readers. I think this book gives ecocriticism a dynamic new look.
I write this blog for a reason. Since we are taking different courses, and we will be required to read various books/essays. (Or you can recommend your favorite extracurricular works.) Maybe we can select some environmental related readings, write very short introductions, and then put the publication entries and the introductions on our EH blog. Guess what? We will have our own annotated bibliography for EH students! I’m not sure if this suggestion will work or not, but we can try it.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
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5 comments:
I'm pleased to be the first to comment on your posts, Ryan, and I certainly hope I'm not the last.
If I ever find a minute when I am not reading assignment or writing papers, it might be fun to start my own blog. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to my time as the official EnvHum blogger coming up in April.
Your personality really comes through in your writing. I like that a lot.
Dear Diane
My monologue finally ends. I guess time is the primary source of worry. I always worry about not being able to finish my readings, papers, or my work since there are only 24 hours a day. With such constrained schedule, how can I have time to think? Yet I can’t afford of letting my thoughts disappear like a shooting star. Therefore I need a blog to make countless passing moments eternal. Sometimes I wish I could simply isolate my self from all the secular affairs in order to write a poem or a prose. I am not comfortable with the “electronically” constructed world, but somehow I have to reconcile with the reality—blog eventually becomes a form of my existence. Anyway you can try to create your digital fantasyland where your writing is empowered by imagination.
We read Snyder’s poem this afternoon, and discussed how Eastern tradition influences his poetics. In addition to Zen Buddhist tradition, 寒山詩 (Cold Mountain poems, a masterpiece of Chinese literature) also profoundly shapes Snyder’s writing. The following passage came across my mind when we discussed “The Real Work” (although the passage had nothing to do with the poem itself).
霜露入茅薝
月華明甕牖
此時吸兩甌
吟詩三兩首
….when cold dew soaks my thatched eaves
and moonlight lights my crockery sill
I sip a couple of cups
And hum a verse or two
How ideal life the passage describes! I would like to share these four lines with you. Maybe someday we can find our Dao as we drink and read.
I have a suggestion for our Annotated Bibliography - This might be one for those who are looking for a little sun through the clouds of environmental catastrophe. "Blessed Unrest. How the Largest Movement In The World Came Into Being, and Why Nobody Saw it Coming" Hawkin offers an approachable, concise and refreshing perspective on what he calls 'The Movement' - like it or not - we are a part of it! From his website http://www.blessedunrest.com/: "Blessed Unrest explores the diversity of the movement, its brilliant ideas, innovative strategies... Fundamentally, it is a description of humanity's collective genius, and the unstoppable movement to reimagine our relationship to the environment and one another." Read it - you won't feel like jumping off the bridge just yet!
After reading The Real Work in class the other day I was reminded of one of my favorite books, My Story as Told by Water, by David James Duncan. It's a collection of essays that are part memoir, part philosophy, part call to activism, and especially pertinent to the discussions regarding water in the West that seem to pop up consistently in our conversations. (Take warning, though, it is probably a little too along the lines of formulaic nature writing to please Dana Phillips.) I haven't read it in a while, but one essay that has always stuck with me explores how to reconcile anger and despair over the damages caused the natural world with a need for a contemplative, more spiritual satisfaction. Checking my email a few minutes ago, I was happily surprised to see that the book is a text for our spring writing course with Terry. I'm looking forward to hearing what the rest of you think about it.
PS. DJD is a great author. He has written two novels, The River Why and The Brothers K (both very funny), River Teeth (a unique combination of memoir and short stories), and a newer collection of essays on religion that is subtitled "Churchless Sermons in Response to the Preachments of the Fundamentalist Right". Sounds interesting.
Drew and Lilly. Thanks for your great sharing! I guess I can contribute another book before my shift ends this weekend.
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