Ecology, Natural History, and Ecospatiality in American Literature.

This article examines recent scholarly works by Juliana Chow, Alexander Menrisky, and Lowell Wyse that explore ecology, natural history, and ecospatiality in American literature, highlighting how these concepts intersect with culture, identity, and place. Chow's study focuses on nineteenth-century literary representations of natural history through feminist, scientific, and critical race theory lenses, emphasizing themes of diminishment, diaspora, and biogeography. Menrisky analyzes the identity politics of ecology in twentieth-century American literature, investigating how ecological authenticity interacts with social and political movements, including Indigenous perspectives and environmentalism. Wyse develops the concept of "ecospatiality" to interpret modern and contemporary American prose by examining the intertwined ecological, spatial, and historical dimensions of place, arguing for the ethical importance of understanding place in literature amid environmental challenges. Together, these works contribute to ecocriticism by exploring the human relationship to the environment and the role of literature in representing ecological knowledge and experience.