Citation for published version: Goodbody, A 2014, German ecocriticism: an overview. in G Garrard (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ecocriticism. Oxford Handbooks of Literature, Oxford University Press, Oxford, U. K., pp. 547-559. Publication date: 2014 Document Version Early version, also known as pre-print Link to publication University of Bath Alternative formats If you require this document in an alternative format, please contact:
[email protected] General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 27. Sep. 2021 ‘German Ecocriticism: An Overview’1 Axel Goodbody (for Oxford Handbook of Ecocriticism, ed. Greg Garrard) The contrast between the largely enthusiastic response to ecocriticism in the Anglophone academy and its relative invisibility in the German-speaking world is a puzzle. Why has it yet to gain wider recognition as a field of literary study in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, countries in whose philosophy and cultural tradition nature features so prominently, whose people are shown by international surveys of public opinion to show a high degree of environmental concern, and where environmental issues rank consistently high on the political agenda? One reason may be that German scientists, political thinkers and philosophers have been pioneers in ecology since Humboldt and Haeckel, and non-fiction books have served as the primary medium of public debate on environmental issues in Germany.