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Issue Details: First known date: 2019... 2019 Climate and Crises : Magical Realism as Environmental Discourse
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Contents

* Contents derived from the London,
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England,
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United Kingdom (UK),
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Western Europe, Europe,
:
Routledge , 2019 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Expanded Reality : Alexis Wright's Revitalisation of Dreamtime Narratives, Ben Holgate , single work criticism
'Indigenous Australian Alexis Wright's fiction demonstrates how Lawrence Buell's concept of the "environmental unconscious" is a relative term) The collective ideologies and social experiences that shape an individual's perception of the environment vary between people of different societies and cultures. The environmental unconscious, therefore, is a heterogeneous phenomenon rather than a singular, homogeneous one. And, of course, the environment itself — with the definite article — is a relative term, dependent upon the actual geographical locality. Wright's fiction is largely set in Northern Australia, where populations are sparse, and where arid or semi-arid landscapes meet tropical seas. In particular, the backdrop within much of her three novels to date is the Gulf of Carpentaria, from where her family originates, and which is the home of the Waanyi nation. Moreover, Wright imbues her fiction with the Indigenous Australian Dreamtime, a philosophy and spiritual framework that is inextricably connected to the Australian landscape, but which is substantially different from Western philosophies, even ecological ones. In other words, Wright's books are notable for being unlike European or North American fiction in both the geographical environment of their settings and the world view that underpins the narratives.' (Introduction) 
 
(p. 42-72)
Sublime Wilderness : Embracing the Non-Human in Richard Flanagan’s Tasmania, Ben Holgate , single work criticism
'Narrator Sid Hammet's opening remark in Gould's Book of Fish (2001) encapsulates a recurring theme of Richard Flanagan's fiction: the perception of human existence as something bigger than Western materialism and urban existence, of anthropic life as one element within a profound, mysterious cosmos. Flanagan conveys this transcendental awareness through a style of writing that frequently involves magical realist elements and which is inextricably tied to a philosophy based on ecology and a connection to the Tasmanian landscape, a philosophy influenced by Indigenous Tasmanians and their precolonial culture. In particular, Flanagan blends the magical and the environmental through his persistent leitmotif of wilderness, specifically Tasmania's unique and remote South-West Wilderness.' (Introduction) 
 
(p. 73-94)
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