Nature, Technology and Cultural Change in Twentieth-Century German Literature

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

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2. Theoretical Perspectives

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Nature in German Culture: The Role of Writers in Environmental Debate

      • Axel Goodbody

      Pages 3-41

3. Critiques of Science and Technology

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 43-43

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   2. Goethe as Ecophilosophical Inspiration and Literary Model

      • Axel Goodbody

      Pages 45-86

   3. From Modernist Catastrophe to Postmodern Survival

      • Axel Goodbody

      Pages 87-126

4. Negotiations between Nature and Culture

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 127-127

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   2. Heideggerian Ecopoetics and the Nature Poetry Tradition

      • Axel Goodbody

      Pages 129-167

   3. The Call of the Wild

      • Axel Goodbody

      Pages 168-208

   4. Greening the City

      • Axel Goodbody

      Pages 209-252

5. Conclusion

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 253-253

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   2. Nature as a Cultural Project

      • Axel Goodbody

      Pages 255-279

6. Back Matter

   Pages 280-329

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This book traces shifting attitudes towards science and technology, nature and the environment in Twentieth-century Germany. It approaches them through discussion of a range of literary texts and explores the philosophical influences on them and their political contexts, and asks what part novels and plays have played in environmental debate.

• critique
• culture
• Ecocriticism
• environment
• novel
• poetry
• technology
• Tradition

'Axel Goodbody restores to Anglophone awareness the hugely influential past of German cultural responses to the rise of science and technology and their effects on attitudes toward the natural world. Everyone interested in modern science and environmentalism needs to be acquainted with this central part of our common history, too much of which has been forgotten since World War II.' - Louise Westling, Professor of English and Environmental Studies, University of Oregon, USA

'Axel Goodbody has produced an invigorating study not only deepening appreciation for well known prose, poetry, and drama, but also drawing attention to lesser known works. He advances transnational ecocritical theory through foregrounding German-language contributions within his highly nuanced orientation. This volume contributes significantly to German literary study and the practice of ecocriticism.' - Patrick D. Murphy, Professor, Department of English, University of Central Florida, USA

' ...a valuable contribution to an emerging topic in contemporary literary studies.' Oxford University Press

• University of Bath, UK

  Axel Goodbody

AXEL GOODBODY graduated in German and French from Trinity College Dublin, Republic of Ireland, and spent ten years teaching and pursuing postgraduate study at the University of Kiel in Germany. Since 1983 he has lectured at the University of Bath, and published widely on modern German literature and film, with a special focus on nature poetry and environmental literature.

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