Introduction: Special Issue Ecocriticism Part 2

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The introduction to Part 1 of this double volume traced the institutional history of ecocriticism by referring predominantly to the initiatives of Anglo-American ecocritics as frontrunners in the field. A common denominator shared by the collection of essays in the first volume was the focus on human behaviour and attitudes towards the environment with specific reference to the human/animal relationship in a South African context. In the second volume the focus shifts slightly to consider the nature of ecocritical writing/reading, the representation of landscape(s) and the potential of literary texts to promote an ecological culture.

Marshall (1994) states that, despite the relative novelty of ecocriticism as a critical approach, there has always been a strong ecocritical heritage in most national literatures. Texts such as Walden (Henry David Thoreau), A Sand County Almanac (Aldo Leopold), Silent Spring (Rachel Carson), Desert Solitaire (Edward Abbey) and works by the Romantic poets have all acquired classic status as part of a green canon. In his taxonomy of green literature, Murphy (2000: 11) maintains the distinction between writing (non-fiction) and literature (fiction) when he identifies four modes and genres, each with its …