Sustainability is arguably a defining keyword of our time. Yet concerns about ecological balance long predate recent waves of environmental activism and public awareness of global warming. Such concerns run throughout the American literary tradition, from Thoreau to the present, and are central to Indigenous literatures, utopian movements, and even works that are not overtly focused on the environment. This seminar explores the many valences and expressions of sustainability across a wide range of American literary texts, providing students with critical tools for analyzing how literature has engaged with questions of ecological stewardship and survival.
- Enseignant·e: Michael Boyden