ABSTRACT

This chapter identifies and explains new directions in current Victorianist ecocriticism, including attention to the relationship of humans with nonhuman nature; the study of how ecological concerns are reflected in literary form; and a focus on how literary study speaks to our present-day ecological problems. The essay explores these issues in recent critical work using a framework that features Victorian gardens. Ultimately, it argues that nineteenth-century literature is a significant archive not only for exploring the roots of our present crisis but also for cultivating new ways to address it. According to the scholars explored in this essay, Victorianist ecocriticism does indeed matter, and it matters at precisely this moment, when the stakes are so astronomically high.