The Ecology of Wonder in Romantic and Postmodern Literature

The Ecology of Wonder in Romantic and Postmodern Literature
ISBN-10
1137477504
ISBN-13
9781137477507
Category
Literary Criticism
Pages
214
Language
English
Published
2016-05-06
Publisher
Springer
Author
Louise Economides

Description

This book traces the aesthetic of wonder from the romantic period through contemporary philosophy and literature, arguing for its relevance to ecological consciousness. Most ecocritical scholarship tends to overshadow discussions of wonder with the sublime, failing to treat these two aesthetic categories as distinct. As a result, contemporary scholarship has conflated wonder and the sublime and ultimately lost the nuances that these two concepts conjure for readers and thinkers. Economides illuminates important differences between these aesthetics, particularly their negotiation of issues relevant to gender-based and environmental politics. In turn, readers can utilize the concept of wonder as an open-ended, non-violent framework in contrast to the ethos of domination that often surrounds the sublime.

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