Cross, the Plow and the Skyline: Contemporary Science Fiction and the Ecological Imagination

Michael E. Zimmerman, Professor and Chair, Philosophy, Michael E. Zimmerman, Professor and Chair, Philosophy, Tulane University
This is a refreshing, imaginative, and insightful book.

Tim Luke, Virginia Tech
What is most enjoyable in this book is Yanarella's artful combination of critical theory with American science fiction.

Book Description
The apocalyptic, pastoral, and urban traditions have fundamentally shaped Western history and influenced American religion, culture, and politics. This book argues that these traditions have not only been decisive in giving form and substance to classic and modern American literature, but have been appropriated by contemporary science fiction. As a loosely connected set of cultural narratives, the Cross, the Plow, and the Skyline have through the medium of science fiction provided a bold vista on the future grounded in an emergent ecological imagination. This challenging vision, the author claims, may yet settle into the New Millennium's cultural consciousness and inform an ecological politics dedicated to confronting the nation's and the world's social and environmental problems.

About the Author
Ernest J. Yanarella is Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of the Center for Sustainable Cities at the University of Kentucky. The Cross, the Plow and the Skyline is his eighth book.


Buy from Amazon     Compare Prices

The apocalyptic, pastoral, and urban traditions have fundamentally shaped Western history and influenced American religion, culture, and politics. This book argues that these traditions have not only been decisive in giving form and substance to classic and modern American literature, but have been appropriated by contemporary science fiction. As a loosely connected set of cultural narratives, the Cross, the Plow, and the Skyline have through the medium of science fiction provided a bold vista on the future grounded in an emergent ecological imagination. This challenging vision may yet settle into the New Millennium's cultural consciousness and inform an ecological politics dedicated to confronting the nation's and the world's social and environmental problems. But it will only do so if the ecological visions from Ray Bradbury to Kim Stanley Robinson and from Leigh Brackett to Marge Piercy inspire a critical mass of citizens to seek that better world between the contradictory present and the unattainable utopia of our dreams.


Buy from Barnes & Noble     Compare Prices