Environmental and ecological readings

The global risks posed by our industrial and post-industrial societies have
brought environmental issues to the forefront of reflections and
preoccupations in the postmodern world. One critical – and crucial – outcome
of this state of affairs is the realization that artistic and literary
representations of Nature and the environment need to be studied ever more
closely if we are to adequately understand our relationship with our habitat
and the impact we have had, and continue to have, on our planet. This volume
features seventeen articles from French and international scholars covering a
wide range of genres, from eighteenth-century travel writers to contemporary
poets, playwrights and novelists. The essays consider Nature and the
environment in their relationship to men and women and question how mankind is
set to evolve in a contemporary world that is increasingly perceived as
posthuman. They show how these concepts have affected Scottish authors and
literature produced in Scotland. Presented chronologically, the essays
highlight how each of the authors featured may have influenced the ensuing
literary tradition. While the first section focuses on eighteenth and
nineteenth century Scottish poets, novelists, artists or travel-writers, the
second turns its attention to twentieth and twenty-first century authors, with
an emphasis on modern and postmodern considerations, including the future of
the human species from a posthuman perspective. The collection is particularly
noteworthy for its showcasing of previously unpublished material and stands as
a significant contribution to arts research in ecocriticism and in the
Scottish artistic and literary fields.