ABSTRACT

In Literary Darwinism, Carroll presents a comprehensive survey of this new movement with a collection of his most important previously published work, along with three new essays. The essays and reviews give commentary on all the major contributors to the field, situate the field as a whole in relation to historical trends and contemporary schools, provide Darwinist readings of major literary texts such as Pride and Prejudice and Tess of the d'Urbervilles, and analyze literary Darwinism in relation to the affiliated fields of evolutionary metaphysics, cognitive rhetoric, and ecocriticism. Collecting the essays in a single volume will provide a central point of reference for scholars interested in consulting what the foremost practitioner ( New York Times ) of Darwinian literary criticism has to say about his field.

part |100 pages

Mapping the Disciplinary Landscape

chapter |4 pages

Out of Eden and to the Left

A Review of John Ellis's Literature Lost: Social Agendas and the Corruption of the Humanities

chapter |17 pages

Literary Study and Evolutionary Theory

A Review of Books by Alexander Argyros, Walter Koch, Karl Kroeber, Robert Storey, Frederick Turner, and Mark Turner

part |116 pages

Adaptationist Literary Studies

chapter |17 pages

Human Universals and Literary Meaning

A Sociobiological Critique of Pride and Prejudice, Villette, O Pioneers!, Anna of the Five Towns, and Tess of the d'Urbervilles

chapter |23 pages

Adaptationist Criteria of Literary Value

Assessing Kurtén's Dance of the Tiger, Auel's The Clan of the Cave Bear, and Golding's The Inheritors

chapter |30 pages

Human Nature and Literary Meaning

A Theoretical Model Illustrated with a Critique of Pride and Prejudice

part |29 pages

Darwin and Darwinism

chapter |8 pages

The Origin of Charles Darwin

A Review of Three Darwin Biographies