Ecocriticism Creating Self and Place in Environmental and American Indian Literatures

Ecocriticism: Creating Self and Place in Environmental and American Indian Literatures studies twentieth-century poets and prose writers of diverse ethnicity who have attempted to recover a sense of home, identity, community, and place in response to various forms of displacement caused by such forces as colonization, racial and sexual oppression, and environmental alienation. Working from an ecocritical perspective that investigates « place as inherent in configurations of the self and in the establishment of community and holistic well being, this book examines the centrality of landscape in writers who, either through mythic, psychic, or environmental channels, have identified a landscape or place as intrinsic to their own conceptualizations of self. It also clarifies the territory where postcolonial and American studies intersect by investigating the literary decolonization efforts made by American Indian authors who are writing to reclaim their historical territories. « Gracefully written and solidly researched, 'Ecocriticism' surveys the emerging field of ecocriticism and places Donelle N. Dreese among the growing number of critics who question dualistic discourses that separate humans from the natural world. Writing with keen insights boned from ecofeminist and postcolonial theories, Dreese focuses on American Indian literatures to illuminate the struggle writers face as they attempt to integrate the past with the present and reconcile their mythic/historical sense of place with their contemporary sense of place. The value of Dreese's fine book lies in its call for each of us to seriously reconsider those cultural values that are destructive to the earth. In short,this is required reading for all those interested in reimagining human relation to other species and to our communal and natural environments. (Joni Adamson, Associate Professor and Head of the Department of English and Folklore, University of Arizona; Author of 'American Indian Literature, Environmental Justice, and Ecocriticism: The Middle Place' 2001) « In 'Ecocriticism, ' Donelle N. Dreese cogently explains the value of employing the concept of 'reterritorialization' in reading a variety of contemporary writers: Anzaldua, Berry, Chrystos, Griffin, Harjo, Hogan, Momaday, Ortiz, Rose, and Vizenor. She shows that white and native, male and female, poet and prose writer, share a concern for recovery, psychically and physically, through relocating and placing themselves and their characters. Dreese presents her theoretical concepts clearly and shows their efficacy through invigorating and stimulating readings across literary genres that demonstrate how all these writers are united by a sense of urgency about the need to reconfigure and defend their home territories. (Patrick D. Murphy, Chair, English Department, University of Central Florida, Orlando; Founding Editor, 'ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment')