Bestial Oblivion - War, Humanism, and Ecology in Early Modern England

Focusing on war and ecology, a neglected topic in early modern ecocriticism, Bestial Oblivion: War, Humanism, and Ecology in Early Modern England shows how early modern warfare unsettled ideas of the human yet ultimately contributed to, and was then perpetuated by, anthropocentrism.

List of contents

List of Figures; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Chapter 1 Erasmus and the Dung Beetle; or, Human Exceptionalism and Its Discontents; Chapter 2 Machiavelli, Virtù, and the Ecology of War; Chapter 3 Iron Men: Thomas Digges, A Larum for London, and the Elizabethan Cyborg; Chapter 4 War and Resilience: Tamburlaine the Great and the Anglo-Spanish War; Chapter 5 Bestial Oblivion in Shakespeare’s Hamlet; Chapter 6 Thomas Coryate, the Lousy Humanist; Chapter 7 Humanity Under Siege: Francis Bacon’s Human Empire and the Capitalocene; Author Index; Subject Index

About the author

Benjamin Bertram is Professor of English at the University of Southern Maine, USA. His publications include articles in the Routledge Handbook on Shakespeare and Animals (forthcoming), Modern Philology, English Literature, Exemplaria, and Boundary 2. His first book, The Time is Out of Joint: Skepticism in Shakespeare’s England, was published in 2004.

Summary

Focusing on war and ecology, a neglected topic in early modern ecocriticism, Bestial Oblivion: War, Humanism, and Ecology in Early Modern England shows how early modern warfare unsettled ideas of the human yet ultimately contributed to, and was then perpetuated by, anthropocentrism.

Product details

• Authors: Benjamin Bertram, Bertram Benjamin
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.09.2020
• EAN: 9780367666514
• ISBN: 978-0-367-66651-4
• No. of pages: 282
• Series: Perspectives on the Non-Human in Literature and Culture
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; NATURE / Ecology, English, LITERARY CRITICISM / General, LITERARY CRITICISM / Renaissance, LITERARY COLLECTIONS / General, LITERARY CRITICISM / Subjects & Themes / Nature, LITERARY CRITICISM / Comparative Literature, The environment, Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700, Literary studies: c 1500 to c 1800, Literary studies: c 1600 to c 1800