We’re happy to share the news that the Empirical Ecocriticism volume now under contract with the University of Minnesota Press. Edited by Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, Alexa Weik von Mossner, W.P. Malecki and Frank Hakemulder, it will be a foundational volume for the field of empirical ecocriticism.
Empirical Ecocriticism is an introduction to the field, which combines the perspectives of the environmental humanities and social sciences to study the actual impact of environmental stories on the public, including our emotions, perceptions, attitudes, and actions. It contains a reader-friendly introduction to the field’s main methods and demonstrates their potential through a series of case studies on topics ranging from the impact of climate fiction on readers’ willingness to engage in activism to the political empowerment resulting from participating in environmental theater. Radical in its methods and message, bold in its thematic and disciplinary scope, rigorous yet readable, Empirical Ecocriticism should change the way we approach environmental storytelling.
The book is expected to come out in 2023.
Photo credit: Tim Swaan