Southeast Asian Ecocriticism: Theories, Practices, Prospects

Description

Southeast Asian Ecocriticism presents a timely exploration of the rapidly expanding field of ecocriticism through its devotion to the writers, creators, theorists, traditions, concerns, and landscapes of Southeast Asian countries. While ecocritics have begun to turn their attention to East and South Asian contexts and, particularly, to Chinese and Indian cultural productions, less emphasis has been placed on the diverse environmental traditions of Southeast Asia. Building on recent scholarship in Asian ecocriticism, the book gives prominence to the range of theoretical models and practical approaches employed by scholars based within, and located outside of, the Southeast region. Consisting of twelve chapters, Southeast Asian Ecocriticism includes contributions on the ecological prose, poetry, cinema, and music of Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. The authors emphasize the transnational exchanges of materials, technologies, texts, motifs, and ideas between Southeast Asian countries and Australia, England, Taiwan (Formosa), and the United States. From environmental hermeneutics, postcolonial studies, indigenous studies, and ecofeminism to critical plant studies, ecopoetics, and ecopedagogy, the edited collection embodies the dynamic breadth of interdisciplinary environmental scholarship today. Southeast Asian Ecocriticism foregrounds the theories, practices, and prospects of ecocriticism in the region. The volume opens up new directions and reveals fresh possibilities not only for ecocritical scholarship in Southeast Asia but for a comparative environmental criticism that transcends political boundaries and national canons. The volume highlights the important role of literature in heightening awareness of ecological issues at local, regional, and global scales. Contents Acknowledgments Chapter One. An Introduction to Southeast Asian Ecocriticism Chapter Two. Ecocriticism, Hermeneutics, and the Vanishing Elephants of Thailand Chapter Three. Filipino Ecological Imagination: Typhoon Yolanda, Climate Change, and Imperialism in Philippine Poetry and Prose Chapter Four. Imaging Indigenous Relationships with Nature: The Case of Igorot Music Videos Chapter Five. Terror, Narrative, and Ecology in Merlinda Bobis’s: Novel Fish-Hair Woman Chapter Six. Environmental Consciousness in the Ecopoetry of Angkarn Chanthatip: A Reading of “Sieng Sontana Jaak Panang Tham” from Hua Jai Hong Tee Ha (The Fifth Chamber of the Heart) Chapter Seven. Sense of Place and Nostalgia for Homeland in Rewat Phanphiphat’s Poetry Chapter Eight. From Padauk to Hyacinth: Literary Botany, the Agency of Plants, and the Contemporary Poetry of Myanmar Chapter Nine. Listening to Nature, Rethinking the Past: A Reading of the Representationsof Forests and Rivers in Postwar Vietnamese Narratives Chapter Ten. Sowing Seeds: Phytocriticism and the Botanical Dimensions of Indonesian Literature for Children and Young Adults Chapter Eleven. Transnational Paradigm: Teaching Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony in Thailand Chapter Twelve. Economics, Ecology, and Desire: Delineations of Formosa and Neighboring Southeast Asian Countries in Three Nineteenth-Century Travelers’ Natural Histories Epilogue. Ziggy Stardust and the Irrawaddy Dolphin: Prospects for a Transboundary Ecocriticism in Southeast Asia Index About the Contributors