International Perspectives in Feminist Ecocriticism

Exploring environmental literature from a feminist perspective, this volume presents a diversity of feminist ecocritical approaches to affirm the continuing contributions, relevance, and necessity of a feminist perspective in environmental literature, culture, and science. Feminist ecocriticism has a substantial history, with roots in second- and third-wave feminist literary criticism, women’s environmental writing and social change activisms, and eco-cultural critique, and yet both feminist and ecofeminist literary perspectives have been marginalized. The essays in this collection build on the belief that the repertoire of violence (conceptual and literal) toward nature and women comprising our daily lives must become central to our ecocritical discussions, and that basic literacy in theories about ethics are fundamental to these discussions. The book offers an international collection of scholarship that includes ecocritical theory, literary criticism, and ecocultural analyses, bringing a diversity of perspectives in terms of gender, sexuality, and race. Reconnecting with the histories of feminist and ecofeminist literary criticism, and utilizing new developments in postcolonial ecocriticism, animal studies, queer theory, feminist and gender studies, cross-cultural and international ecocriticism, this timely volume develops a continuing and international feminist ecocritical perspective on literature, language, and culture.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Feminist Ecocriticism: Making a Difference Greta Gaard, Simon C. Estok, and Serpil Oppermann Part I: Feminist Ecocritical Theory 1. Feminist Ecocriticism: A Posthumanist Direction in Ecocritical Trajectory Serpil Oppermann 2. Toxic Epiphanies: Dioxin, Power, and Gendered Bodies in Laura Conti’s Narratives on Seveso Serenella Iovino 3. Treating Objects Like Women Timothy Morton 4. The Ecophobia Hypothesis: Re-membering the Feminist Body of Ecocriticism Simon Estok Part II: Feminist / Postcolonial / Environmental Justice 5. Streams of Violence: Colonialism, Modernization, and Gender in María Cristina Mena’s "John of God, the Water-Carrier" Chiyo Crawford 6. Sun Ma(i)d: Pollution and Agricultural Labor in California’s Central Valley Jennifer Garcia Peacock 7. The Poetics of Decolonisation: Reading Alexis Wright’s Carpentaria in a Feminist Ecocritical Frame Kate Rigby 8. Re-Imagining the Human: Ecofeminism, Affect, and Postcolonial Narration Laura White Part III: Species, Sexuality, and Eco-Activisms 9. Women and Trans-species Care: Dog Mothers in Taiwan Chia-Ju Chang and Iris Ralph 10. The Queer Vegetarian: Understanding Alimentary Activism Lauren Hall 11. Frankenstein Technologies: Gender/Sexuality/Reproduction, Environmental Degradation, and Bio-Engineered Eugenics in Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood Rachel Stein 12. Down With People: Queer Tendencies and Troubling Racial Politics in Antinatalist Discourse Nicole Seymour Part IV: Apocalyptic Visions 13. Keep Moving: Place and Gender in a Post-Apocalyptic Environment Christa Grewe-Volpp 14. Queer Green Apocalypse: Tony Kushner’s Angels in America Katie Hogan 15. In(ter)dependence Day: A Feminist Ecocritical Perspective on Fireworks Greta Gaard About the Contributors Index