Unnatural Ecopoetics

Unlikely Spaces in Contemporary Poetry

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Poetry History & Criticism, American
Cover of the book Unnatural Ecopoetics by Sarah Nolan, University of Nevada Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Sarah Nolan ISBN: 9780874174687
Publisher: University of Nevada Press Publication: April 28, 2017
Imprint: University of Nevada Press Language: English
Author: Sarah Nolan
ISBN: 9780874174687
Publisher: University of Nevada Press
Publication: April 28, 2017
Imprint: University of Nevada Press
Language: English

What constitutes an environment in American literature is an issue that has undergone much debate across environmental humanities in the last decade. In the field, some have argued that environments are markedly natural or wild sites while others contend literary spaces can be both wild and urban, or even cultural. Yet, few of the works produced to date have addressed the pronounced influence the author of a text has on a literary environment. Despite exciting work on materiality and culture in conceptions of environments, critics have not yet fully examined the contributions of poetry’s language, form, and self-awareness in rethinking what constitutes an environment.
 
By approaching environments in a new way, Nolan closes this gap and recognizes how contemporary poets employ self-reflexive commentary and formal experimentation in order to create new natural/cultural environments on the page. She proposes a radical new direction for ecopoetics and deploys it in relation to four major American poets. Working from literal to textual spaces through the contemporary poetry of A.R. Ammons’s Garbage, Lyn Hejinian’s My Life, Susan Howe’s The Midnight, and Kenneth Goldsmith’s Seven American Deaths and Disasters, the book presents applications of unnatural ecopoetics in poetic environments, ones that do not engage with traditional ideas of nature and would otherwise remain outside the scope of ecocritical and ecopoetic studies.
 
Nolan proposes a new practical approach for reading poetic language. Ecocriticism is a very fluid and evolving discipline, and Nolan’s pioneering new book pushes the boundaries of second-wave ecopoetics—the fundamental issue being what is nature/natural, and how does poetic language, particularly self-conscious contemporary poetic agency, contribute to and complicate that question.   
 

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

What constitutes an environment in American literature is an issue that has undergone much debate across environmental humanities in the last decade. In the field, some have argued that environments are markedly natural or wild sites while others contend literary spaces can be both wild and urban, or even cultural. Yet, few of the works produced to date have addressed the pronounced influence the author of a text has on a literary environment. Despite exciting work on materiality and culture in conceptions of environments, critics have not yet fully examined the contributions of poetry’s language, form, and self-awareness in rethinking what constitutes an environment.
 
By approaching environments in a new way, Nolan closes this gap and recognizes how contemporary poets employ self-reflexive commentary and formal experimentation in order to create new natural/cultural environments on the page. She proposes a radical new direction for ecopoetics and deploys it in relation to four major American poets. Working from literal to textual spaces through the contemporary poetry of A.R. Ammons’s Garbage, Lyn Hejinian’s My Life, Susan Howe’s The Midnight, and Kenneth Goldsmith’s Seven American Deaths and Disasters, the book presents applications of unnatural ecopoetics in poetic environments, ones that do not engage with traditional ideas of nature and would otherwise remain outside the scope of ecocritical and ecopoetic studies.
 
Nolan proposes a new practical approach for reading poetic language. Ecocriticism is a very fluid and evolving discipline, and Nolan’s pioneering new book pushes the boundaries of second-wave ecopoetics—the fundamental issue being what is nature/natural, and how does poetic language, particularly self-conscious contemporary poetic agency, contribute to and complicate that question.   
 

More books from University of Nevada Press

Cover of the book Juniper Blue by Sarah Nolan
Cover of the book The Blue and the Green by Sarah Nolan
Cover of the book Abracadabra by Sarah Nolan
Cover of the book Politics, Culture, and Sociability in the Basque Nationalist Party by Sarah Nolan
Cover of the book Casino Accounting and Financial Management by Sarah Nolan
Cover of the book Connecting The West by Sarah Nolan
Cover of the book The Goodbye House by Sarah Nolan
Cover of the book The Whole of the Moon by Sarah Nolan
Cover of the book Salud! by Sarah Nolan
Cover of the book Basque Violence by Sarah Nolan
Cover of the book Nevada's Changing Wildlife Habitat by Sarah Nolan
Cover of the book The Gambler's Apprentice by Sarah Nolan
Cover of the book A Tale of Two Bridges by Sarah Nolan
Cover of the book The Archaeology Of The Donner Party by Sarah Nolan
Cover of the book The Last Shepherd by Sarah Nolan
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy