E

There are two main impulses or strands to ecocriticism. The first addresses itself to the growing canon of ‘ecoliterature’ that has emerged in response to the global environmental crisis – imaginative writing which selfconsciously engages with ‘green’ issues. In this respect, it is worth noting the ‘literary’ air which permeates much ecocritical writing itself; infused with the proselytizing nature of their subject, and naturally indisposed towards received critical discourses (which they perceive to be infected with the scientific spirit), ecocritics have a tendency towards ‘purple’ prose – writing that is intended to sway the emotions as well as engage the intellect.