What is Ecocriticism?

The Encyclopedia of Literary and Cultural Theory by Michael Ryan (2011) defines ecocriticism as: "the most popular term for the study of literature and culture from a perspective informed by environmental politics or scientific ecology, although some critics prefer the terms “environmental criticism” (Lawrence Buell), “ecocritique” (Tim Luke), or “ecopoetics” (Jonathan Bate)....all eco-critics are motivated by an acute sense of the threats to natural environments from human population levels, unconstrained technological development, the ecological consequences of both wealth and poverty, and ideologies considered hostile to environmentalism, such as consumerism, Christianity, and patriarchy".

(Source: TEDTalk. Emma Marris.)

• The Encyclopedia of Literary and Cultural Theory by Michael Ryan, Gregory Castle, Robert Eaglestone, M Keith Booker. 2011.
• Ecocriticism by Greg Garrard. 2011. 
• The Wild and the Domestic by Barney Nelson. 2000. 
• Twentieth-century American Nature Writers: Prose by Roger Thompson. 2003. 
• Environmentalism in Popular Culture by Noel Sturgeon. 2008. 

(Source: Dr. Elizabeth Dodd, Kansas State University)