{"product_id":"literature-for-a-changing-planet-9780691213750","title":"Literature for a Changing Planet","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhy we must learn to tell new stories about our relationship with the earth if we are to avoid climate catastrophe\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eReading literature in a time of climate emergency can sometimes feel a bit like fiddling while Rome burns. Yet, at this turning point for the planet, scientists, policymakers, and activists have woken up to the power of stories in the fight against global warming. In \u003ci\u003eLiterature for a Changing Planet\u003c\/i\u003e, Martin Puchner ranges across four thousand years of world literature to draw vital lessons about how we put ourselves on the path of climate change--and how we might change paths before it's too late. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom the \u003ci\u003eEpic of Gilgamesh\u003c\/i\u003e and the West African \u003ci\u003eEpic of Sunjata \u003c\/i\u003eto the \u003ci\u003eCommunist Manifesto\u003c\/i\u003e, Puchner reveals world literature in a new light--as an archive of environmental exploitation and a product of a way of life responsible for climate change. Literature depends on millennia of intensive agriculture, urbanization, and resource extraction, from the clay of ancient tablets to the silicon of e-readers. Yet literature also offers powerful ways to change attitudes toward the environment. Puchner uncovers the ecological thinking behind the idea of world literature since the early nineteenth century, proposes a new way of reading in a warming world, shows how literature can help us recognize our shared humanity, and discusses the possible futures of storytelling. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIf we are to avoid environmental disaster, we must learn to tell the story of humans as a species responsible for global warming. Filled with important insights about the fundamental relationship between storytelling and the environment, \u003ci\u003eLiterature for a Changing Planet \u003c\/i\u003eis a clarion call for readers and writers who care about the fate of life on the planet.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMartin Puchner \u003c\/b\u003eis the Byron and Anita Wien Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Harvard University. He is a prize-winning and bestselling author whose books include \u003ci\u003eThe Language of Thieves: My Family's Obsession with a Secret Code the Nazis Tried to Eliminate \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, Civilization\u003c\/i\u003e. He is the general editor of \u003ci\u003eThe Norton Anthology of World Literature\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Twitter @martin_puchner\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50678954623250,"sku":"9780691213750","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_623b8866-0133-444e-ae36-720ea604dd17.jpg?v=1733897533","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/literature-for-a-changing-planet-9780691213750","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}