Ecocriticism Summary and Analysis

Ecocriticism studies the relationship between literature and physical environment that may also be called "green studies." Cheryll Glotfelty is a co-founder with Harold Fromm in the USA that develops in the early-1990s. The movement is not yet widely developed with its own assumptions, doctrines and procedures. The term is applied to the work previously known as nature writing. Major proponents include Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller and Henry David Thoreau. Four areas are identified as "outdoor environment" including wilderness, scenic sublime, countryside and domestic picturesque. One example of each area identified in the same order includes deserts, forests, hills and parks.

Ecocritics read major works from an ecocritic point of view and extend the application of concepts to areas other than the natural world. They emphasize writers who highlight nature as their subject matter. Ecocritics expand literary practice to emphasize...