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Ecological Thought in German Literature and Culture

Edited by Gabriele Duerbeck; Urte Stobbe; Hubert Zapf and Evi Zemanek - Contributions by Aaron S. Allen; Martin Bemmann; Hannes Bergthaller; Benjamin Bühler; Nils Büttner; Axel Goodbody; Jakob Christoph Heller; Richard Hölzl; Matthias Hurst; Werner Konold; Anke Kramer; Angelika Krebs; Wolfgang Lueckel; Timo Müller; Kate Rigby; Caroline Schaumann; Jens Soentgen; Heather I. Sullivan; Silvio Vietta; François Walter; Berbeli Wanning and Udo Weilacher

The volume offers a survey of the contribution of German literature and culture to the evolution of ecological thought. As the field of ecocritical theory and practice is rapidly expanding towards transnational and global dimensions, it seems nevertheless necessary to consider the distinct manifestations of ecological thought in various cultures. In this sense, the volume demonstrates in twenty-six essays from different disciplines how German literature, philosophy, art, and science have contributed in unique ways to the emergence of ecological thought on national and transnational scale. The volume maps the most important and characteristic of these developments both on a theoretical and on a textual-analytical level. It is structured in five parts ranging from proto-ecological thought since early modern times (part I) to major theoretical approaches (part II), environmental history (part III), and ecocritical case studies (part IV), to ecological visions in different media and art forms (part V).

The four editors have widely published and are actively involved in ecocritical literary and cultural studies. The group of editors consists of two scholars of German literature and cultural studies, Gabriele Duerbeck and Urte Stobbe (both University of Vechta), a scholar in German and comparative literature, Evi Zemanek (University of Freiburg), as well as a scholar of Anglo-American ecoliterature and ecocriticism, Hubert Zapf. All of them are involved in various projects and research networks on ecology and literature. The contributors of the individual chapters likewise are all experts in their respective fields, ranging from German literature, history, environmental studies, art history, music and art. The book is a unique and readily accessible collection of essays that is of relevance not only for a German and continental European but for a worldwide audience.

Lexington Books

Pages: 484 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-1-4985-1492-7 • Hardback • October 2017 • $147.00 • (£113.00)

978-1-4985-1494-1 • Paperback • September 2019 • $57.99 • (£45.00)

978-1-4985-1493-4 • eBook • October 2017 • $46.50 • (£36.00)

Series: Ecocritical Theory and Practice

Subjects: Literary Criticism / Subjects & Themes / Nature, Literary Criticism / European / German, Literary Criticism / Comparative Literature, Literary Criticism / Critical Theory / Ecocritical Theory

Ecological Thought in German Literature and Culture

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

The volume offers a survey of the contribution of German literature and culture to the evolution of ecological thought. As the field of ecocritical theory and practice is rapidly expanding towards transnational and global dimensions, it seems nevertheless necessary to consider the distinct manifestations of ecological thought in various cultures. In this sense, the volume demonstrates in twenty-six essays from different disciplines how German literature, philosophy, art, and science have contributed in unique ways to the emergence of ecological thought on national and transnational scale. The volume maps the most important and characteristic of these developments both on a theoretical and on a textual-analytical level. It is structured in five parts ranging from proto-ecological thought since early modern times (part I) to major theoretical approaches (part II), environmental history (part III), and ecocritical case studies (part IV), to ecological visions in different media and art forms (part V).

The four editors have widely published and are actively involved in ecocritical literary and cultural studies. The group of editors consists of two scholars of German literature and cultural studies, Gabriele Duerbeck and Urte Stobbe (both University of Vechta), a scholar in German and comparative literature, Evi Zemanek (University of Freiburg), as well as a scholar of Anglo-American ecoliterature and ecocriticism, Hubert Zapf. All of them are involved in various projects and research networks on ecology and literature. The contributors of the individual chapters likewise are all experts in their respective fields, ranging from German literature, history, environmental studies, art history, music and art. The book is a unique and readily accessible collection of essays that is of relevance not only for a German and continental European but for a worldwide audience.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 484 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-1-4985-1492-7 • Hardback • October 2017 • $147.00 • (£113.00)

978-1-4985-1494-1 • Paperback • September 2019 • $57.99 • (£45.00)

978-1-4985-1493-4 • eBook • October 2017 • $46.50 • (£36.00)

Series: Ecocritical Theory and Practice

Subjects: Literary Criticism / Subjects & Themes / Nature, Literary Criticism / European / German, Literary Criticism / Comparative Literature, Literary Criticism / Critical Theory / Ecocritical Theory

Author

Gabriele Dürbeck is professor of literature and cultural studies at University of Vechta.
Urte Stobbe is postdoctoral fellow and lecturer in the field of German literature and linguistic at University of Vechta.
Hubert Zapf is professor of American literature and co-director of environmental humanities research at the University of Augsburg.
Evi Zemanek is associate professor of German literature and interart studies at the University of Freiburg.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Gabriele Dürbeck, Urte Stobbe, Hubert Zapf, and Evi Zemanek

Part I: Proto-Ecological Thought
1. Cultural History of the Four Elements
Anke Kramer
1. Goethe’s Concept of Nature: Proto-Ecological Model
Heather Sullivan
1. Nature, Language, and Religion: Herder and Beyond
Kate Rigby
1. Poet and Philosopher: Novalis and Schelling on Nature and Matter
Berbeli Wanning
1. Alexander von Humboldt as Ecologist
Caroline Schaumann

Part II: Theoretical Approaches
1. Heidegger’s Ecological Criticism
Silvio Vietta
1. Ecocriticism and the Frankfurt School
Timo Müller
1. The Ethics and Aesthetics of Landscapes
Angelika Krebs
1. Niklas Luhmann’s Theory of Social Systems
Hannes Bergthaller
1. Risk Theory
Benjamin Bühler
1. Cultural Ecology
Hubert Zapf

Part III: Environmental History in Germany
1. Thinking the Disaster: A Historical Approach
Francois Walter
1. Industrial Pollution in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries
Martin Bemmann
1. Cultural Landscapes in Germany – Continuities, Ruptures, and Stewardship
Werner Konold
1. Environmentalism in Germany since 1900: An Overview
Richard Hölzl
1. History of Substances
Jens Soentgen

Part IV: Ecocritical Case Studies of German Literature
1. From Baroque Pastoral to the Idyll
Jakob Heller
1. German Ecopoetry
Axel Goodbody
1. Elemental Poetics: Material Agency in Contemporary German Poetry
Evi Zemanek
1. Grimms’ Fairy Tales and Their Impact on Christa Wolf’s Störfall
Urte Stobbe
1. German Cold War Bunker Narratives
Wolfgang Lückel
1. Climate Change Fiction and Ecothrillers
Gabriele Dürbeck

Part V: Ecological Visions in Painting, Music, Film, and Land Art
1. The Perception of German Landscapes
Nils Büttner
1. Beethoven’s Natures
Aaron S. Allen
1. Visions of Nature and Ecological Thought in German Feature Films
Matthias Hurst
1. American Land Art and Ecological Landscape Aesthetics in Europe
Udo Weilacher

Reviews

The volume Ecological Thought in German Literature, edited by some of the leading German researchers in ecologically-oriented literary studies, highlights the "potentially infinite connectivity and potentially infinite diversity" of the "ecological thought" (Dürbeck/Stobbe/Zapf/Zeminek xiv). This volume shows that German ecological thought looks back on a long and highly-differentiated tradition of theory and methodology and can, therefore, be more fruitfully summarized under the label of ecological thinking rather than under that of ecocriticism.

— Ecozon@

This broad and comprehensive survey of German ecological thought is an especially welcome addition to the growing body of scholarship on the environment in the German tradition. Many prominent critics discuss the most crucial aspects from proto-ecological models to environmental theory, history, literature, and art--a must read for everyone interested in ecology and German culture.
— Sabine Wilke, University of Washington

At a time when the tension between the local and the global requires that we reconsider our multiple roots and porous place-identities, Ecological Thought in German Literature and Culture is a canonic work that enriches not just 'nationally-oriented' academic studies, but also the entire debate on environmental culture. Skillfully encompassing theoretical approaches, philosophy, history, literature, and the arts, this elegant and challenging volume is the most complete and state-of-the-art guide to examine German culture through the lens of the environmental humanities.
— Serenella Iovino, Professor of Comparative Literature, University of Turin, Italy

Ecological Thought in German Literature and Culture

Ecological Thought in German Literature and Culture

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