Islands have long been the subject of cultural fascination, but in recent decades, they have exerted an increasingly powerful centrifugal force, sending writers to the outer edges of the British-Irish archipelago in search of inspiration and insight.

Drawing on contemporary ecocritical approaches, island studies, and emergent archipelagic perspectives, Ecocriticism and the Island explores a wide selection of island-themed creative non-fiction. Through a combination of textual analysis, and, where possible, original interviews and archival research, Pippa Marland offers new insights into the work of Tim Robinson, Brenda Chamberlain, Christine Evans, W.G. Sebald, Stephen Watts, Amy Liptrot, Kathleen Jamie, Adam Nicolson, Robert Macfarlane, and David Gange. In assessing the ways in which these authors negotiate existing cultural tropes of the island while offering their own distinctive articulations of "islandness," this book represents an important intervention into island literary studies. At the same time, it contributes to the development of an archipelagic strand of ecocriticism-one that offers a valuable perspective on human-environmental relationships in an Anthropocene context.

About the Author

Pippa Marland is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow based in the Department of English and Centre for Environmental Humanities at the University of Bristol, UK.

Reviews

Ecocriticism and the Island is a fascinating study of the diversity and importance of literature and life across the north Atlantic archipelago. Written with clarity and insight, it is a guide to the histories of communities around Ireland and Britain and an augur of our collective future through engagement with art, language, and climate science, all brought together in a compelling critical and creative narrative. It is an important addition to the archipelagic and blue humanities and marks a good step forward in island thinking.

-- Nicholas Allen, director, Wilson Center for Humanities and Arts, University of Georgia



Book Information
ISBN 9781786607089
Author Pippa Marland
Format Hardback
Page Count 276
Imprint Rowman & Littlefield International
Publisher Rowman & Littlefield International
Weight(grams) 553g
Dimensions(mm) 237mm * 158mm * 21mm