A comprehensive survey of ecocritical studies in Turkish academia

Abstract

Ecocritical theory began to be studied in Turkish academia during the late 1990s by pioneer scholars, Ufuk Özdağ and Serpil Oppermann. However, it was after 2000 that ecocritical studies started to gain popularity among Turkish scholars of the humanities. Although nature-oriented research dates back to earlier times in Turkish academia, research on a wide variety of genres and issues within the scope of ecocriticism created change by a re-evaluation of nature and human relationships. This research aims to provide a comprehensive survey of ecocritical studies of the last two decades, and explore Turkish ecocritical scholarship under two major headings: published books/articles, and unpublished dissertations. The ultimate purpose of this research is to introduce Turkish ecocritical studies to international scholars, to determine the least and most scrutinised ecocritical subfields, and to establish a framework for Turkish researchers of ecocritical theory. This article also strives to become a guide for future Turkish scholars of the humanities who are just stepping into ecocritical theory.