Ecocriticism and Jim Crace’s early novels

Abstract

Bracke traces the depiction of nature in Crace’s novels through the lens of ecocriticism (The Gift of Stones, 1988; Signals of Distress, 1994; and Being Dead, 1999), exploring two developments in ecocriticism: a concern with the global and the development of econarratology. Early ecocriticism emphasized (non-fictional) realism and was indebted to the pastoral and skeptical of the contemporary (British) novel. Gradually, via engagement with science fiction and depictions of terra forming and awareness beyond the local, more recent ecocriticism has explored a wider variety, including contemporary British novels. These developments are paralleled in Crace’s novels, from the emphasis on pastoral, to engagements with the global (Signals of Distress and The Gift of Stones) and a concern with new materialism and non-human narration in Being Dead.