Apocalyptic Ecologies - From Creation to Doom in Middle English Literature

"In Apocalyptic Ecologies, Shannon Gayk traces the catastrophic edges of thought and writing from medieval England. As Gayk reminds us, the century leading up to the English Reformation saw a series of devastating ecological catastrophes, from floods to fires, from droughts to storms, from plagues to famine. Gayk shows how premodern writers represented eco-catastrophes in a variety of texts-in biblical drama and sermons, in apocryphal writings, lyrics, and in more familiar poems like Cleanness and Piers Plowman. By analyzing how these medieval writers coped with and depicted disasters, we can better reflect on how these kinds of texts can help us to confront our own uncertain present-and future. It will be the first book to excavate the premodern English roots of how apocalyptic discourse shapes the environmental imagination, provoking ecological awareness and care. It will be read by a wide range of scholars, including those in literary ecocriticism, religious studies, and the environmental humanities more broadly"--

About the author

Shannon Gayk is professor of English at Indiana University, Bloomington. She is the author of Image, Text, and Religious Reform in Fifteenth Century England.

Product details

• Authors: Professor Shannon Gayk, Shannon Gayk
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.12.2024
• EAN: 9780226837611
• ISBN: 978-0-226-83761-1
• No. of pages: 304
• Subjects: Guides > Self-help, everyday life > Family; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; LITERARY CRITICISM / Ancient & Classical, Literary studies: classical, early & medieval, Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval