Showing papers in "Green Letters in 2018"
TL;DR: For example, anyone familiar with feminist scholar Sara Ahmed's work will know that an interest in gender studies is often associated with the dour face of the "killjoy".
Abstract: Anyone familiar with feminist scholar Sara Ahmed’s work will know that an interest in gender studies is often associated with the dour face of the ‘killjoy’. As the less scholarly (but equally femi...
98 citations
TL;DR: In this article, Morrissey looks at both spatial and locational evidence when connecting the marine economy, which has traditionally been seen as part of the peripheral economy, to urban areas.
Abstract: economy. There is also a spatial element to all of the proposed social and economic indicators recommended in the book. It is argued that the focus cannot be solely at the national level as the development of ‘national economic indicators’ are not adequate to represent a comprehensive picture and there is a need to take regional and local level into account (44). In the remaining chapters, these concerns are negotiated and suggestions given on how improvements can be made. Morrissey looks at both spatial and locational evidence when connecting the marine economy, which has ‘traditionally been seen as part of the peripheral economy’, to urban areas (70). The work of Porter (1990) is used to re-examine the idea of ‘marine clusters’ and the context within which we use them, and Morrissey looks at understanding competitiveness from a ‘collective result’ of sectors rather than ‘individual processes’ (109). The Irish Maritime and Energy Resource Cluster is used as an example to explain how appropriate methods can be used to ‘evaluate the relative strengths of the cluster’, which highlights holistic ways of dealing with the multifaceted sector (111). In the chapter ‘From National to Regional to Local: A Spatial Microsimulation Model for the Marine’ a definitive way of incorporating scale and spatial referencing into the scenario is discussed and how this might inform policy is examined. Indicators aim at bringing the focus from the national to regional to ‘local level analysis’ and supporting the importance of understanding the impact of policies not only at the macro level but also at the local level is highlighted (140). A positive of the book, is that it recognises the weaknesses within certain models and applications and that one indicator may not be enough to answer these. Each chapter builds on the next, and by the end, tools with which to deal with ‘Blue Growth’ and the ‘Blue Economy’ effectively have been gained (43). In this evolving field of research, certain approaches are not perfect but identifying these voids and determining how to rectify them can help to improve future projections about the marine sector. As there is no definition of what ‘constitutes a national marine sector’ Morrissey does a capable job of helping to define it and taking it to different levels of analysis (7). Informing policy and managing marine resources in a sustainable way are what underpin the book. Each chapter highlights how policy makers and practitioners might be able to apply the information for future application. This interdisciplinary book is of use to those who are interested in developing and supporting the marine economy in a sustainable manner.
62 citations
TL;DR: For recent ecocritics, such as Timothy Morton, "hyperobjects" such as global warming and mass extinctions can be statistically proven to exist, but are "withdrawn" from our immediate perception.
Abstract: For recent ecocritics, such as Timothy Morton, ‘hyperobjects’, such as global warming and mass extinctions can be statistically proven to exist, but are ‘withdrawn’ from our immediate perce...
10 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, Serenella Iovino sets out to read the "landscapes and more-than-human collectives" of Italy as "texts bearing material stories", stories of resistance and creativity.
Abstract: In this impressive new book, Serenella Iovino sets out to read the ‘landscapes and more-than-human collectives’ of Italy as ‘texts bearing material stories – stories of resistance and creativity’ t...
9 citations
TL;DR: This paper reviewed the mainstream literature in popular science writing, fiction and poetry from the point of view of a political frame analysis of climate change, to demonstrate how a certain understanding of Climate change maps onto conventions of literary genre.
Abstract: This article makes the case for more climate change, where climate change refers to the prevailing ideologies and frameworks that inform our understanding of environmental change in the first place. It reviews the mainstream literature in popular science writing, fiction and poetry from the point of view of a political frame analysis of climate change, to demonstrate how a certain understanding of climate change maps onto conventions of literary genre. This understanding, and associated literature, are critiqued on the basis of their continued attachment to dualistic and teleological narratives of human mastery and progress, such as to make the case for a literature which offers something radically other. The current political context, not least Donald Trump’s victory and Brexit, are cited as evidence of the contemporary importance of alternatives to the establishment approach to climate mitigation than either denial or scepticism – in both literature, and more broadly.
8 citations
TL;DR: In this article, two close readings of prominent American detective novels: Tony Hillerman's The Blessing Way and Craig Johnson's The Cold Dish, are compared to the one presented in this article.
Abstract: This article offers two close readings of prominent American detective novels: Tony Hillerman’s The Blessing Way and Craig Johnson’s The Cold Dish. Both texts display aspects of the Western...
8 citations
TL;DR: J. G. Ballard as mentioned in this paper was a science fiction writer, catastrophist, literary provocateur, war writer, and diagnostician of late-twentieth and early-twenty-first century consumer society.
Abstract: J. G. Ballard – sometime science fiction (sf) writer, catastrophist, literary provocateur, war writer, and diagnostician of late-twentieth and early-twenty-first century consumer society – launched...
7 citations
TL;DR: The inscrutability of plant life has made it an intriguing player in detective fiction, particularly in that which rubs against the speculative as mentioned in this paper, and botanicals began figuring as de facto killer.
Abstract: The inscrutability of plant life has made it an intriguing player in detective fiction, particularly in that which rubs against the speculative. Botanicals began figuring as de facto killer...
6 citations
TL;DR: Forster's engagement with nature as one more directly inte... as mentioned in this paper offers a reading of E. M. Forster's two Cambridge Novels, The Longest Journey (1907) and Maurice (1971).
Abstract: This essay offers a reading of E. M. Forster’s two ‘Cambridge Novels’, The Longest Journey (1907) and Maurice (1971), that recasts Forster’s engagement with nature as one more directly inte...
6 citations
TL;DR: Can killer cockroaches scare viewers into environmental action? Is it possible for movies like Godzilla or The Bay to foster ecological awareness? The authors of Monstrous Nature wrestle with these questions.
Abstract: Can killer cockroaches scare viewers into environmental action? Is it possible for movies like Godzilla or The Bay to foster ecological awareness? The authors of Monstrous Nature wrestle with these...
6 citations
TL;DR: The notion of the sublime, which is how humans react to the machine as a surrogate for nature and as a sexual stimulus in Crash (1973), is therefore of central interest in this article.
Abstract: At a time when technology progressively pushes back nature, the sexual act runs the risk of being denaturalised. The notion of the sublime, which I argue is how humans react to the machine as a surrogate for nature and as a sexual stimulus in Crash (1973), is therefore of central interest in this article. Ballard himself has described Crash as ‘the first pornographic novel based on technology’ (1973, 6). This engagement with a technologised sexuality is explored as a subjective narrative stance, which grants authenticity to the fictive alter ego, who can probe alternatives to an extra-textual reality. This narrative mode is notably potent in relation to the narrator’s estimation of the merge between sexuality and technology in the form of car crashes uniting Eros and Thanatos. I therefore suggest that Crash can be read as an attempt to localise the natural and human in a world dictated by artificiality and technology.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the challenges facing an Irish traditional coastal community during the Claddagh fishery in the early 1950s, using the Rain on the Wind (1950) novel.
Abstract: This article focuses on Walter Macken’s novel of the Claddagh fishery, Rain on the Wind (1950), a narrative that describes the challenges facing an Irish traditional coastal community during the in...
TL;DR: The authors examines the environmental imperatives of Macdonald's work and argues that the damage and destruction inflicted upon the environment in these two texts becomes symbiotically connected to the broader, morally fraught social milieu of the city.
Abstract: Although Ross Macdonald’s position in the annals of great American hardboiled crime writers is unquestioned, what often been overlooked in the study of his works are the underlying environmental preoccupations that frequently serve as the background to, or context for, crime. This context of ecological violence is forcefully manifested in two of Macdonald’s later Archer novels The Underground Man (1971) and Sleeping Beauty (1973). This essay scrutinizes the environmental imperatives of Macdonald’s work, arguing that the damage and destruction inflicted upon the environment in these two texts becomes symbiotically connected to the broader, morally fraught social milieu of the city.
TL;DR: Hedgehogs are a difficult animal to love in contemporary urban worlds as mentioned in this paper, and they struggle to thrive in cities splintered by traffic and impermeable fencing, and frequently find even apparently innocuous...
Abstract: Hedgehogs are a difficult animal to love in contemporary urban worlds. Hogs struggle to thrive in cities splintered by traffic and impermeable fencing, and frequently find even apparently innocuous...
TL;DR: Ti Oluwa N'Ilẹ, a Yoruba movie directed by Tunde Kelani, is one of the most referenced in contemporary Yoruba lore.
Abstract: Ti Oluwa N’Ilẹ, a Yoruba movie directed by Tunde Kelani, is one of the most referenced in contemporary Yoruba lore. Apart from the work’s consistence with Kelani’s strategic commitment to giving Y...
TL;DR: Through the lens of J.M.G. Le Clezio's early novel Terra Amata (1967) and Michel Serres's concept of the ‘Grand Recit’ "great story" as discussed by the authors, the purpose of this essay is to launch a call for the inception...
Abstract: Through the lens of J.M.G. Le Clezio’s early novel Terra Amata (1967) and Michel Serres’s concept of the ‘Grand Recit’ ‘great story’, the purpose of this essay is to launch a call for the inception...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe how marine environments are important both ecologically and socio-economically and have been utilised by people throughout history, supporting a variety of marine activities.
Abstract: Marine environments are important both ecologically and socio-economically and have been utilised by people throughout history, supporting a variety of marine activities. As a result, many people d...
TL;DR: In this paper, Harrison reconceptualises urban margins through a wide range of contemporary texts that she situates within the post-colonial literary and theoretical tradition, and her primary...
Abstract: In Waste Matters, Sarah Harrison reconceptualises urban margins through a wide range of contemporary texts that she situates within the postcolonial literary and theoretical tradition. Her primary ...
TL;DR: Agatha Christie's inter-war mysteries participate in a contemporary gendered struggle over herbs and herbalism during the period of the herbal revival as discussed by the authors, which is a common theme in many of her works.
Abstract: Agatha Christie’s inter-war mysteries participate in a contemporary gendered struggle over herbs and herbalism during the period of the herbal revival. Herbs in Christie’s fiction leave tra...
TL;DR: In this article, the epistemological starting points of a Swedish crime series, Jordskott, are examined and a new ecologically grounded understanding of the formation of subjectivities through hybridity not only on the level of the representation of individual characters, but also the crime genre.
Abstract: Environmental themes have invaded Nordic TV crime series over the past few years. In this paper, the epistemological starting points of a Swedish series, Jordskott, are examined. The paper argues that the series criticizes the traditional humanist paradigm on which realistic crime narratives are based. It does so through the introduction of fantastic non-human beings with the help of which the boundaries of ‘nature’ and ‘human being’ are set mobile. In the series, subjectivities are rendered volatile and the humanist epistemological paradigm is questioned as a sustainable ground for defining what counts as a subject. Theoretically, the paper draws on posthumanist theory and ecocriticism. The paper argues that Jordskott promotes a new ecologically grounded understanding of the formation of subjectivities through hybridity not only on the level of the representation of individual characters, but also the crime genre.
TL;DR: This article used the paradigm of environmental justice to analyse Sunil Gangopadhyay's The King of the Verdant Island and The Hotel Inside the Jungle, which feature the Jarawa and Maasai trib...
Abstract: The article uses the paradigm of environmental justice to analyse Sunil Gangopadhyay’s The King of the Verdant Island and The Hotel Inside the Jungle. These works feature the Jarawa and Maasai trib...
TL;DR: In this paper, a wide-ranging account of the concepts of haunting, affect and landscape is presented, with a focus on the effects of the elements of the landscape on the characters.
Abstract: Haunted Landscapes offers an innovative and wide-ranging account of the concepts of haunting, affect and landscape. Its publication is timely: recent works such as Martyn Hudson’s Ghosts, Landscape...
TL;DR: Hall's essay collection as discussed by the authors is a welcome addition to the fertile and ever-expanding critical terrain shared by Romanticists and ecocritics, and it collects twelve new essays seeking to show how ‘Romantic...
Abstract: Hall’s essay collection is a welcome addition to the fertile and ever-expanding critical terrain shared by Romanticists and Ecocritics. Hall collects twelve new essays seeking to show how ‘Romantic...
TL;DR: The crystal has occupied key positions in the interrelated histories of philosophy, art, and science as discussed by the authors, and a non-green reading of The Crystal World (1966) explores Ballard's links with artist Robert Smithson, for whom the motif of the crystal was a key inspiration, and the biophilosophical ideas of Gilbert Simondon and Gilles Deleuze, who argue that crystals provide a nonorganic model for understanding life.
Abstract: This article pursues a non-green reading of The Crystal World (1966) that explores Ballard’s links with artist Robert Smithson, for whom the motif of the crystal was a key inspiration, and the biophilosophical ideas of Gilbert Simondon and Gilles Deleuze, who argue that crystals provide a non-organic model for understanding life. The crystal has occupied key positions in the interrelated histories of philosophy, art, and science. To show the significance of this for ecocritical theory and practice, I draw on Simondon’s work, which understands material processes of crystallisation in terms of an ontology of becoming that collapses distinctions between organic and inorganic. Deleuze applies these insights to his analysis of cinema through the notions of the ‘crystal image’ and ‘crystalline narration’, which I apply in turn to Ballard’s text. In this way, I propose an ecocritical reading of Ballard that resists antinomial oppositions of nature and culture.
TL;DR: Rod Giblett as mentioned in this paper consolidates and develops themes and arguments set out in earlier works, and those who follow his thinking will not be disappointed. Cities and Wetlands is the third title in...
Abstract: Rod Giblett’s new book consolidates and develops themes and arguments set out in earlier works, and those who follow his thinking will not be disappointed. Cities and Wetlands is the third title in...
TL;DR: Green Letters as mentioned in this paper offers ecocritical readings of crime narratives, and also reflections on ecology and environmental philosophy informed by detective fiction, which is a form of specialist knowledge in its own right, with its own distinct contributions to make to cultural understandings of human-nature relations and environmental crisis.
Abstract: Since its rise in the mid-nineteenth century, crime fiction has been highly responsive to developments in science and technology, including forensics, photography, telecommunications and computing. The quintessential detective figure has, to paraphrase Stephen Knight, been invested with authority to wield new technologies and new ways of knowing the social order, in order to contain deviancy and assuage social anxiety. In the long history of crime fiction, threats to the social order have necessarily changed, and so too have the powers and responsibilities of detectives. Sensitive to the shifting nature of capitalism and the state system, writers of detective fiction have also responded to new forms of political and social organisation, and to demands for representation emerging in postcolonial and post-industrial contexts. Now, in an era of widescale environmental crisis, the detective’s reassuring and restorative functions must, once again, be reconsidered. This special edition of Green Letters offers ecocritical readings of crime narratives, and also reflections on ecocritical theory and environmental philosophy informed by detective fiction. The authors take up Patrick Murphy’s suggestion that ecocritics should study ‘nature-oriented mystery novels . . . in order to understand the degree to which environmental consciousness and nature awareness has permeated popular and commercial fiction’ (Murphy 2009, p. 119). However, they also demonstrate that crime fiction is not only a benchmark of how effectively a specialist knowledge has been popularised. Crime fiction is a form of specialist knowledge in its own right, with its own distinct contributions to make to cultural understandings of human-nature relations and environmental crisis. Within ecocriticism, the figure of the detective is richly suggestive. Whether as a singular or collective agency, the detective has been constructed as a figure capable of perceiving systematicity and apprehending totality. Emerging from the crowded conditions of the nineteenth century metropolis, canonical figures like Auguste Dupin and Sherlock Holmes perform an epistemological function: transforming the chaotic multiplicity of the city into a series of links in a chain, leading back to a verifiable ‘truth’. But in the face of their overwhelming responsibilities, the detective figure has often become distributed, collective, cyborg, even liquid. In postmodern crime narratives, such as the Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) franchise, the detective function is fragmented into a team of specialist investigators equipped with military grade, nascent and often fictional technologies, capable of penetrating the mysteries of the most obtuse crime scenes. The ‘detective’, now a composite figure, has access to and is implicated in a globalised network of surveillance, data gathering and analysis. Literary detectives, of course, have not only guarded against social deviance, but have held multiple positions and narrative functions. We have the detective as villain; as accomplice; as disruptive or only grudgingly restorative force. Some detectives execute GREEN LETTERS 2018, VOL. 22, NO. 1, 2–6 https://doi.org/10.1080/14688417.2018.1484628
TL;DR: In Cities and Wetlands, Giblett aims to foster and promote sibling harmony between cities and wetlands, and break the repetitious cycle of history as discussed by the authors. But it is difficult to see how to achieve sibling harmony in practice.
Abstract: human life on earth, including human and non-human life’ (3). Our current age is a culture of ‘postmodernity and sacrality which harks back to the first nature of culture’, and ‘commemorates the life of the dead wetland, and celebrates the living earth more generally’ (7–8). In Cities and Wetlands, Giblett aims to ‘nurture and promote sibling harmony between cities and wetlands, and break the repetitious cycle of history’ (16–17). What would this look like in practice? Giblett does quote sources which describe the deleterious effects of the proximity of marshland – mosquitos, cholera, typhoid, not to mention subsidence, poor drainage. Can this ‘sibling harmony’ only happen where we have the technology to keep these at bay? This book poses many more questions than it answers, but it is certainly challenging and often startling: Giblett remains a provocative thinker, and in Cities and Wetlands he challenges us to form the answers for ourselves.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors re-evaluate J. G. Ballard's first novel, The Wind from Nowhere, from the perspective of Timothy Morton's theory of the hyperobject.
Abstract: The aim of this article is to re-evaluate J. G. Ballard’s first novel, The Wind from Nowhere, from the perspective of Timothy Morton’s theory of the hyperobject. According to Morton, hyperobjects a...
TL;DR: The authors examined the marketing of the recent British Library Crime Classics series of republished novels and short stories, focusing on works by John Bude, and analyzed the recycling of these books.
Abstract: This article examines the marketing of the recent British Library Crime Classics series of republished novels and short stories. Focusing on works by John Bude, the article analyses the recycling o...