Journal of American Studies of Turkey (JAST)
Ecocriticism Issue

Guest Editors: Ufuk Özdağ, Hacettepe University, Ankara, and Scott Slovic, University of Nevada, Reno, USA

Activists, artists, and scholars around the world have been inspired by Vietnam-born Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh’s eloquent statement, “What we most need to do is to hear within ourselves the sounds of the earth crying.” These words reach to the very core of the academic discipline known as “ecocriticism” (ecological literary criticism) and such related fields as environmental literature and art, environmental history, environmental philosophy, green cultural studies, environmental religious studies, and others. Several themes emerge with particular force in Nhat Hanh’s sentence: the devastation of species, habitat, water, air, and other phenomena in the natural world (“earth crying”); the challenge of perceiving what is happening in the world (“to hear … the sounds”); the question of human connectedness to and disconnection from nature (“within ourselves”); and the issue of how human beings develop a sense of commitment that leads to personal and political action (“what we most need to do”). For this issue of JAST, we are seeking submissions that explore the textual, historical, and/or theoretical aspects of these themes and problems. Textual studies need not be restricted to literary analysis, but might also consider film, music, theater, activist performance, or other forms of expression. In addition to focusing on issues exclusively pertinent to American culture, we encourage contributions that consider American culture in comparison to other cultures.

We also welcome reviews of books, films, or other works relevant to the ecocritical focus on the relationship between nature and culture.

Deadline for submission of articles and reviews: April 30, 2010

All manuscripts should follow the MLA Style and be printed double-spaced (including notes and works cited). The articles should be approximately 3,000 to 5,000 words in length. They should be sent by attachment of these files to the e-mail addresses below. No material will be considered for publication if it is currently under consideration by another journal or press or if it has been published or is soon to be published elsewhere. The JAST is a peer-reviewed journal and the articles submitted will be peer reviewed by scholars in the field.

The copyright of all material published will be vested in the Journal of American Studies of Turkey unless otherwise specifically agreed. This copyright covers exclusive rights of publication on printed or electronic media, including the World Wide Web.

Contributors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce any material in which they do not own copyright. All correspondence for the Ecocriticism Issue of JAST should be addressed to:

Ufuk Özdağ
Associate Professor of American Culture and Literature
Hacettepe University
Faculty of Letters
06800 Beytepe Campus
Ankara, Turkey
E-mail: ozdag@hacettepe.edu.tr
Tel: 0090 312 297 85 00 (office)

Scott Slovic
Professor of Literature and Environment
Editor, ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment
Department of English/098
University of Nevada, Reno
Reno, NV 89557 USA
E-mail: slovic@unr.edu
Tel: 001 775 784 7536 (office)


General questions about the journal should be addressed to:

Nur Gökalp Akkerman and Barış Gümüşbaş
Department of American Culture and Literature
Faculty of Letters, Hacettepe University
Beytepe-Ankara/TURKEY
e-mail: nurgok@hacettepe.edu.tr
gumusbas@hacettepe.edu.tr