Part I Cultural Ecology and Literary Studies // 1 Introductory Remarks 3 // 2 The Ecocultural Potential of Literature 11 // 3 Sustainability and Literature 15 // 4 Literature as an Ecological Force within Culture 27 // Part II Ecocriticism and Cultural Ecology // 5 Ecocriticism in the Twentieth Century: The Return of // Nature to Writing about Culture 39 // 6 Ecocriticism in the Twenty-First Century: The Return of // Culture to Writing about Nature 45 // 7 Politicized Ecocriticism: From Nature Worship to // Civilizational Critique 51 // 8 Ecological Thought and Critical Theory: From // Antagonism to Alliance 61 // Part III Literature as Cultural Ecology // 9 From Natural Ecology to Cultural Ecology 77 // 10 Cultural Ecology and Material Ecocriticism 81 // 11 Literature as Cultural Ecology 89 // 12 Triadic Functional Model of Literature as Cultural Ecology // 95 // Part IV Transdisciplinary Contexts of a Cultural Ecology of Literature // 13 Text and Life 125 // 14 Order and Chaos 139 // 15 Connecting Patterns and Creative Energies 159 // 16 Matter and Mind 177 // 17 Solid and Fluid 189 // 18 Wound and Voice 207 // 19 Absence and Presence 229 // 20 Local and Global 241 // Bibliography 269 // Index 295