Ecocriticism and Critical Animal Studies

Ecocriticism is a field within literary studies that asks how cultural artifacts illuminate, contribute to, or mitigate environmental crisis. Critical Animal Studies (CAS) is a cluster of humanities disciplines that explore the meaning and significance of the notions of “human” and “animal” and the material and symbolic consequences of these foundational representations. Understanding the potential contribution, as well as the limits, of such humanities perspectives is vital for successful cross-disciplinary collaboration. Much ecocriticism analyses environmental literature, including nature writing, and is of limited scientific significance. In the case of invasion biology, though, science writers, humanistic scholars, and novelists have questioned the cultural and empirical basis of such key concepts as “native” and “alien” and urged attention to the inherently political nature of historical baselines, biogeographical boundaries, and definitions of human agency. Conservation laws and policies in general are shaped by specific cultural contexts, as well as transnational scientific interests, and milestones in the development of scientific ecology, including the recognition of “pollution” and “chaos,” retain traces of their cultural history. Contemporary environmental non-fiction incorporates empirical findings and decenter the writing self in ways that complement dispassionate scientific writing. CAS explains the role of language in defining “the human” and excluding “animals,” both by assigning language use exclusively to humans and by attaching negative values to animality. CAS questions Western culture’s preoccupation with asserting human uniqueness and superiority (also known as “anthropocentrism”), which is expressed in science through the taboo on “anthropomorphism.” CAS scholars also discuss cultural artifacts, including movies and literary texts, in terms of their representation of animals and celebrate examples that undermine anthropocentric assumptions. Ecocriticism and CAS reframe the questions asked by environmental scientists in ways that acknowledge cultural difference and complexity and advance understanding of the vital science–policy nexus.