Letteratura inglese 1 - Appunti

LITERATURE AND ECOLOGY

Romantic poets were already in touch with nature> start of relationship

Important for this> 1962 with “silent spring” by Rachel Carson (american biologist)

It starts with “a fable for tomorrow” (about death of nature an especially birds), it was written 4

the general public.

Structure:

1 pastoral text: description of wild and unspoilt nature, harmony, no mankind

2 apocalyptic style: arrival of humanity changing like nature is hit by an evil spell

3 no more singing birds: it is not a spell, it's because of humans

4 this place is not a specific one but it can exist

This book had a great impact on American citizens, so that it inspired a law against DDT

pesticides!

For the rest of the book the author accuses pesticides with scientific evidences (mix science

and literature)

ECOCRITICISM= Study of the relationship between nature and environment with a critical and

an earth­centred approach. It uses a sociocultural, sociopolitical and literary­cultural analysis.

It expands beyond the limits of nature searching for environmental ideas in literature and is

interdisciplinary.

Ecological problems (can be analyzed by mankind) are different than problems in ecology

(analyzed by science

important text: “Literary theory, an introduction” by Terry Eagleton

Definitions of literature

1 literature= fiction writing > NOT A DISCRIMINANT > literature can also speak of reality, ordinary

life

2 literature= the way in which writer uses language, transforming and intensifying it, the language

attracts attention on itselfs

3 signifier: word as it is / signify: meaning of a word > unbalanced relationship: giving importance

to the signifier you see literature in a formal way (formalism= study of rhythm, sound, rhetorical

figures,) which means it is made of words and not ideas > estrangement > so literature= what

produces estrangement > NOT A DISCRIMINANT

4 literature= any writing that someone values highly > NOT A DISCRIMINANT > i can give a big

1

LETTERATURA INGLESE 1 (ADAMI) ­ CASARIN GIACOMO

value to a post­it for my friend on the fridge

5 literature= “fine writing” > NOT A DISCRIMINANT > what is fine for me can be not for you

..anyway time changes so what is considered literature in a time can also be not in another (ex

comics) > conclusion > is not possible to define form (use of language) and context (fact vs

fiction)

literary canon= happens when a piece is recognized important

Ecocriticism= the theory (my perspective of a text)

literature and environment= the topic (text)

*guideline Heart of Darkness: focus on the environment: relationship envir­protagonist*

literary theory

= ideas and methods used for explaining or interpreting literary texts (anyone according to his

perspective)

= the tools by which we understand literature

= literary criticism (study and interpretation of literature) is based on the literary theory

= emerged in Europe 19th century

literary theory (abstract, interpretation) is different than literary criticism (practical, read and critic

a text)

how to interpret a literary text > connecting it with the context, author’s life,.. > for this reason lit.

theory is often called “cultural theory”

*H of D:

● some critics say it is a racist novel > contrast btw civilized (EN) and wild (AFRICA)

society

● some others says it is against racism > author shows this world to criticize it

..in the context in which the novel was written > colonization of Africa was seen as a right and a

good thing

CONTEMPORARY LITERARY THEORIES: (Theory comes from the greek word “theoria”

which means: “perspective of the stage of a greek theatre” > so it’s just a partial view, a possible

way to interpret reality)

1 traditional literary criticism (19­20 century; today at schools) 2

LETTERATURA INGLESE 1 (ADAMI) ­ CASARIN GIACOMO

➢ track influences of the time

➢ historical contextualization

➢ author’s biography

➢ tendence to exclude “non standard” texts

➢ establishment of a canon (=works of literature considered important in a specific

place+time)

2 formalism and new criticism (born 1920­1940)

➢ focus on literary form (rhetorical figures, rhymes,..)

➢ more interest in poems

➢ interest in used language

➢ beauty (in the formal pov)

­broke, separation from the past­

3 marxist theory

➢ representation of class conflicts

➢ not formal aspect > important is social and political meaning

➢ mass culture > see a work of art just as a product for the mass

(economic/consumeristic pov)

➢ literature can be interpreted from different pov

4 structuralism (=relationship btw words and objects) and narratology (=how narrative creates

meaning)

➢ structuralism: ­distinction btw signifier and signified

­btw plot (intreccio)= way in which events are ordered, with presence of flashbacks and

flashforwards and story (fabula)= chronological sequence of the events

*H of D: is a “story of someone telling us a story” > technique of the “framed narrative”*

5 post­structuralism (or deconstruction)

➢ it deconstructs the possibility of coherence > “language is so complex we can never

understand the true meaning of a text because there are too many meanings

➢ psychoanalytic approach

*H of D: the Heart of Darkness is both physical (Africa) and psychological (inside the

protagonist/antagonist)*

6 new historicism

➢ focus on the historical/social context

➢ literary text is influenced and influences the historical context in which it is read 3

LETTERATURA INGLESE 1 (ADAMI) ­ CASARIN GIACOMO

*H of D:

­power= opposition black­white

­the other= blacks are different*

7 postcolonialism

➢ critic on colonialism (cause of: racism, imperialism,..)

➢ power struggles (lotte)

➢ against binary opposition (black/white, bad/good,..) because reality is much more

complex

*H of D: is conrad pro or against colonialism?*

8 gender studies

➢ started from the feminist movement but it’s about difference btw genders in general

➢ against masculinity and femininity

➢ queer theory > according to it > the difference btw male and female comes from society

(certain behave, certain clothes,..); it promotes the abolition of stereotypes

9 cultural studies (born 1960; pick in 1990)

➢ movement that encloses different disciplines (philosophy, politics, science, law,..) in

order to have different tools to analyze a work as a product of a certain culture

➢ refuses high/low culture

➢ for example it analyzes tv series and advertisement

what is ecocriticism? (vedi diapositive)

● an interdisciplinary literary theory (anthropology, economics)

● relationship btw humans and environment (=binary opposition > criticized) “environ”

means “to surround” > environment means “what surrounds us” > humans are the

centre > anthropocentric perspective

● is more similar to the context (social/political/cultural) rather than formal (?)

● it focusses on 1 place, 2 setting, 3 nature

● it gives reply to answers like: “how would an ecological approach change the situation?”

or “in which way does the narrator interpret environment?”

● “eco” comes from “oikos”, the greek word for “house” > ecology= the study of house

(environment)

● it was born in 1978 “Literature and Ecology: an experiment in ecocriticism” by Rueckert >

start of the presence of ecology in literature

Relationship btw literature and environment > ancient > but its expansion started in the 90s

Environmentalism in general was born in 1962 in the USA with Silent Spring (R. Charson)

“A fable for tomorrow”:

★ starts as a poetic fairy tale..

★ ..then it proposes pastoral imagines.. 4

LETTERATURA INGLESE 1 (ADAMI) ­ CASARIN GIACOMO

★ ..to end with an apocalyptic scenario

★ presence of natural and supernatural world (“evil spell”)

★ It has a moral and political orientation > criticises the world we live in BUT using a fable=

not directly (“we must do that”, “we should not do that”,..)

“Silent Spring”

★ link btw science of ecology and literature (the rest of S. Spring gives scientific evidences

and is concrete)

★ negotiations btw nature and culture (another binary opposition) > humanity is no longer in

contact with nature

★ ! the book turned a “problem in ecology” (pesticides, in the scientifical pov) into an

“ecological problem” (how would pesticides damage env?, in the cultural and political

pov) !

p. 6 dispensa­> text about pollution

why had “silent spring” such a great impact?

➔ R. C. makes people feel a silent alarm

➔ R. C. creates the idea of distance btw common people and government (which does

nothing about the situation)

➔ R. C. uses an indirectly reference to the atomic bomb (Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still

fresh in the memory of citizens)

➔ R.C creates fear: pollution could expand

➔ R.C creates fear: pollution could poison humans and environment over years

...this strategy produces shock and terror in the readers > apocalyptic rhetoric

ENVIRONMENTAL RHETORIC

❖ rhetoric= “art of discourse” > is a persuasive speech (to persuade about something)

❖ production, reproduction and transformation of large­scale metaphors (=metaphors

creating a whole world in the mind of reader) > technical term: literary trope

❖ literary trope= (tropo letterario) rhetorical devices repeated over and over (it’s the most

used form in ecocriticism)

­it uses figurative language + rhetorical devices (metaphor, hyperbole,..)

­the most used tropes are: pollution, pastoral, wilderness (of nature),

apocalypse

ECOCRITICAL APPROACHES

1 CORNUCOPIA APPROACH > cornucopia= “the horn of plenty”. symbol of abundance

➢ “cornucopian” position= anti­environmentalism, environmental threats are exaggerated,

world is seen as an endless cornucopia of wealth and production

➢ for economic growth and endless progress 5

LETTERATURA INGLESE 1 (ADAMI) ­ CASARIN GIACOMO

➢ evaluates nature only for its usefulness for humans > don’t care about resources, nature

and human progress will always give humanity the necessary (binary position: culture

and civilization)

2 ENVIRONMENTALISM > “environmentalist”

➢ moderate “mainstream” position= recycling, buying biological food, green consumerism

➢ considers the participation of humans through technological solutions > use of

technology to improve (4 exp solar energy)

➢ vs the “nature knows best” approach (life back in nature)

radical form of environmentalism: DEEP ECOLOGY

➢ nature must be protected because it has a value in itself, not looking for human

advantage

➢ a smaller population is necessary to live better

➢ concept of mother earth

ENVIRONMENTALISM (human­centred or anthropocentric, preservation of nature 4 humans) VS

DEEP ECOLOGY (nature­centred or ecocentric, value of nature in itself)

3 ECOFEMINISM

➢ against the androcentric dualism: women=irrationality, nature / men=reason, culture

(literature can challenge or reinforce this binary opposition, see what happens in H of D)

➢ vs the logic of domination

➢ acceptance of otherness and its role in the community (=is the ecosystem including

humans too)

radical form of ecofeminism reverses the terms:

➢ exalts nature and emotions against culture and reason > reverse the order to put “nature”

first

➢ reinforces the opposition culture­nature

➢ women is superior to men > back to the logic of domination

➢ criticises the concept of otherness and community

4 SOCIAL ECOLOGY > linked to the eco­marxist view

➢ env problems are caused by systems of domination and exploitation > capitalistic system

is the responsible

➢ anthropocentric perspective but different than the previous because this is against

individual actions (like recycling, buying green,..) > it proposes a “community solution” >

change in socio­political structure of society

➢ theme of “environmental justice” > social idea: difference btw rich and poor countries

should be eliminated (third world is affected by envir. problems caused by industrialized

countries 6

LETTERATURA INGLESE 1 (ADAMI) ­ CASARIN GIACOMO

RECURRING TROPES IN ENVIRONMENTAL LITERATURE:

A) PASTORAL > typical romantic, after the ind. revolution

● not a literary genre (not a play or novel or..) but a “mode of writing”= any text or artistic

work that portrays or evokes rural life, usually idealizing it > country against industrialized

cities *see in H of D the contrast btw the lights of London and the atmosphere around the

ship*

● agricultural life

● usually nostalgic > simple time and life

● harmony with nature, no contrasts

● 4 exp: pubblicità del mulino bianco

B) WILDERNESS > typical of the “new world”

● uncontaminated/unspoilt/unexplored nature (no civilization, no agriculture)

● return to nature

● *most important trope in H of D describing Africa*

● contraposition btw beautiful (pastoral, delicate, balance ­ex human and nature­) and

sublime (great, infinite, obscure, transmit pleasure but also terror)

C) APOCALYPSE > end of the world and/or humanity

● violent, grotesque, struggle good vs evil

● respond to and produces crisis

● a “strange blight” that falls upon a pastoral scene:

­1 warning against something we are doing wrong

­2 evil material threat

­3 catastrophic scenario (because humans had not react to the warning)

● *H of D: imminent end of western civilization > getting lost in the H of D of Africa*

HEART OF DARKNESS HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL CONTEXT

1. 1899 first published as a 3 parts story

2. 1902 published as a proper book

3. Is a bridge btw victorianism and modernism:

❖ Victorianism: focus on conventions, strict christian values (family, role of women in the

house,..). Realistic representation of reality. Chronological order. Omniscient narrator.

❖ Modernism: 20th century (time of discoveries and innovations). Tries to break these

conventions both in society and in literature > new forms (4 example non chronological

order) and themes

H of D:

⊙ takes some elements from modernism (4 example non chronological order) but is not too 7

LETTERATURA INGLESE 1 (ADAMI) ­ CASARIN GIACOMO

experimental (like Joyce 4 example)

⊙ is part of the "colonial literature" > Conrad is an European writing about colonialism and the

novel is set in Africa

VICTORIAN AGE (1832­1901)

➢ Key words:

★ Progress (technical, industrial, political)

★ Expansion (of the British empire all over the world)

★ Mobility (railway in Britain+steam engine to travel by sea= start of travels)

➢ Queen Victoria (1837­1901) > long reign of relative peace (no economical issues, no

succession problems)

➢ Imperialism: expansion of the British empire had started before Queen Victoria but during

her reign there was the greatest expansion >

­idea of British technological and political domination

­idea of travels (now accessible to the common people)

➢ free and quicker circulation of books (because of mobility)

➢ st

1863= opening of the London Tube (1 underground system)

➢ improvements on roads

➢ communication> telegraph and telephone (possibility to communicate through Atlantic)

➢ industrialism

during this period to civilize “inferior” population was seen as a duty and a way to show the

superiority of white people > the idea was common between European powers but Britain

was the most important empire (New Zealand, Australia, Caribbeans,..)

*H of D: we can see how civilization works but also notice its madness and brutality (this is

another example of ambiguousness of literature

post­colonial critic had accused H of D and other novels to use a western perspective of the

colonization > so no voice to the natives

VICTORIAN LITERATURE

1) proliferation of print > it was called “print culture age”: books are cheaper and so accessible to

a larger public > common people could also buy a magazine (in which are some serialized

stories) or borrow a book

2) serialized fiction: starts the idea of stories divided into different numbers of the magazines

3) pickwick papers (monthly):

@ cheaper books in series = innovation which has made “democratic” literature and

referred to a larger public 8

LETTERATURA INGLESE 1 (ADAMI) ­ CASARIN GIACOMO

@ they were rich in illustrations (it helps to attract people)

@ from a month to another critic and public talk about the story and what they think it

will happened

4) themes: social problems+industrialism+urban landscapes (think on Dickens) > but at the

beginning they were focussed on a moral representation ofsociety

5) introduction of new tropes = colonialism and imperialism: before if these arguments were

touched, it just was to tell “adventurous stories”

*with H of D* is not just adventure but also psychological (Marlow's perspective) and rich in

experimentations (framed narration given by the two narrators: the omniscient one and Marlow)

> it was a great change so the novel was not so appreciated at the beginning

*H of D* also represents the moral degradation of people (white colonists), their corruption and

their egoism (only interested in personal profit)

THE EARLY 20th CENTURY: from 1901 (death of Queen Victoria, important event) to 1913

continuities and discontinuities with the Victorian Age:

@ industrial growth and economical progress > Britain is an urban nation

@ change of industries > now based on electricity

@ fertility for new ideas

@ great scientific and philosophical innovation (think on Darwin)

REAC