Exploring the evolution of ecocriticism: A bibliometric study and literature review

Chesta Yadav; Jyotsna Sinha

doi:10.31893/multirev.2024304

Keywords:

ecocriticism

Climate Change

bibliometric analysis

anthropocene

material ecocriticism

environmental justice

Abstract

The study conducts a comprehensive bibliometric analysis to delve into the evolution of ecocriticism, a critical approach that examines the intricate relationship between literature and the environment. Utilizing the extensive databases of Scopus and Web of Science, the research identifies key themes, influential authors, and the developmental trajectory of ecocriticism over a significant 29-year period, spanning from 1994 to 2023. This in-depth analysis reveals the field's inherently interdisciplinary nature, its progressive expansion into various cultural expressions, and its increasingly pivotal role in understanding the multifaceted impact of human activity on the environment. By highlighting the substantial potential of ecocriticism, the study not only enhances our understanding of complex environmental issues but also advocates for and promotes ecological responsibility. The bibliometric synthesis encompassed a substantial corpus of 1,615 documents. These documents were meticulously analyzed using R Studio software, which enabled the researcher to employ a range of analytical techniques, including descriptive statistics, thematic analysis, and sophisticated visualization methods. These techniques were instrumental in uncovering the underlying trends and patterns in ecocriticism research, providing valuable insights into the field's development and its current state.This study's findings serve as a roadmap for future research in this dynamic and ever-evolving field. They highlight potential avenues for exploration and emphasize the critical questions that remain to be addressed. The insights provided by this comprehensive analysis underscore the importance of ecocriticism in fostering a deeper understanding of environmental issues through literature and promoting a more ecologically responsible world. As ecocriticism continues to evolve, this study sets the stage for ongoing scholarly exploration and interdisciplinary engagement with environmental themes in literature.
References
1. Abdi, H., & Valentin, D. (2007). Multiple correspondence analysis. Encyclopedia of measurement and statistics, 2(4), 651-657.
2. Aria, M., & Cuccurullo, C. (2017). bibliometrix: An R-tool for comprehensive science mapping analysis. Journal of informetrics, 11(4), 959-975.
3. Bennett, J. (2020). Vibrant matter: A political ecology of things. Duke University Press.
4. Bornmann, L., & Daniel, H. D. (2007). What do we know about the h index?. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and technology, 58(9), 1381-1385.
5. Buell, L. (1995). The environmental imagination: Thoreau, nature writing, and the formation of American culture. Harvard University Press.
6. Buell, L. (2009). The future of environmental criticism: Environmental crisis and literary imagination. John Wiley & Sons.
7. Clark, T. (2011). The Cambridge introduction to literature and the environment. Cambridge University Press
8. Cretu, D. M., & Morandau, F. (2022). Bullying and cyberbullying: a bibliometric analysis of three decades of research in education. Educational Review, 1-34.
9. Desai, N., Veras, L., & Gosain, A. (2018). Using Bradford's law of scattering to identify the core journals of pediatric surgery. Journal of Surgical Research, 229, 90-95.
10. Donthu, N., Kumar, S., Mukherjee, D., Pandey, N., & Lim, W. M. (2021). How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 133, 285-29
11. Estok, S. C. (2005). Shakespeare and ecocriticism: An analysis of ‘home’and ‘power’in king lear. AUMLA, 103(5), 15-41.
12. Fan, J., Gao, Y., Zhao, N., Dai, R., Zhang, H., Feng, X., ... & Bao, S. (2020). Bibliometric analysis on COVID-19: a comparison of research between English and Chinese studies. Frontiers in public health, 8, 477.
13. Garrard, G., & James, E. (2012). Teaching the Postcolonial/Ecocritical Dialogue. Teaching Ecocriticism and Green Cultural Studies, 60-71.
14. Glotfelty, C., & Fromm, H. (Eds.). (1996). The ecocriticism reader: Landmarks in literary ecology. University of Georgia Press.
15. Gülmez, D., Özteke, İ., & Gümüş, S. (2021). Overview of Educational Research from Turkey Published in International Journals: A Bibliometric Analysis. Education & Science/Egitim ve Bilim, 46(206).
16. Hoyle, R. H. (Ed.). (2012). Handbook of structural equation modeling. Guilford press.
17. Huang, C., Yang, C., Wang, S., Wu, W., Su, J., & Liang, C. (2020). Evolution of topics in education research: A systematic review using bibliometric analysis. Educational Review, 72(3), 281-297.
18. Huang, C., Yang, C., Wang, S., Wu, W., Su, J., & Liang, C. (2020). Evolution of topics in education research: A systematic review using bibliometric analysis. Educational Review, 72(3), 281-297.
19. Huggan, G., & Tiffin, H. (2015). Postcolonial ecocriticism: Literature, animals, environment. Routledge.
20. Iovino, S., & Oppermann, S. (2012). Theorizing material ecocriticism: A diptych. Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, 19(3), 448-475.
21. Ivanović, L., & Ho, Y. S. (2019). Highly cited articles in the education and educational research category in the social science citation Index: A bibliometric analysis. Educational Review, 71(3), 277-
22. Liu, W.; Tang, L.; Gu, M.; Hu, G. Feature report on China: A bibliometric analysis of China-related articles. Scientometrics 2015, 102, 503–517.
23. Lotka, A. J. (1926). The frequency distribution of scientific productivity. Journal of the Washington academy of sciences, 16(12), 317-323.
24. Marx, W., Bornmann, L., Barth, A., & Leydesdorff, L. (2014). Detecting the historical roots of research fields by reference publication year spectroscopy (RPYS). Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 65(4), 751-764.
25. Nixon, R. (2011). Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor. Harvard University Press.
26. Oppermann, S. (2008). Seeking environmental awareness in postmodern fictions. Critique: Studies in contemporary fiction, 49(3), 243-253.
27. Palermiti, A. L., Servidio, R., Bartolo, M. G., & Costabile, A. (2017). Cyberbullying and self-esteem: An Italian study. Computers in Human Behavior, 69, 136-141.
28. Peabody, S. (2018, May). Goethe and (Um) Weltliteratur: Environment and Power in Goethe’s Literary Worlds. In Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies (Vol. 54, No. 2, pp. 215-230). University of Toronto Press.
29. Peters, H., & Van Raan, A. (1991). Structuring scientific activities by co-author analysis: An expercise on a university faculty level. Scientometrics, 20(1), 235-255.
30. Schmidt, M. (2008). The Sankey diagram in energy and material flow management: part II: methodology and current applications. Journal of industrial ecology, 12(2), 173-185.
31. Stehmann, J. (2020). Identifying research streams in online gambling and gaming literature: A bibliometric analysis. Computers in Human Behavior, 107, 106219.
32. Taylor, D. (2014). Toxic communities: Environmental racism, industrial pollution, and residential mobility. In Toxic communities. New York University Press.
33. Terán-Yépez, E.; Marín-Carrillo, G.M.; del Pilar Casado-Belmonte, M.; de las Mercedes Capobianco-Uriarte, M. Sustainable entrepreneurship: Review of its evolution and new trends. J. Clean. Prod. 2020, 252, 119742
34. Thananusak, T. Science Mapping of the knowledge base on sustainable entrepreneurship, 1996–2019. Sustainability 2019, 11, 3565.
35. Uzzi, B., Mukherjee, S., Stringer, M., & Jones, B. (2013). Atypical combinations and scientific impact. Science, 342(6157), 468-472.
36. Zapf, H. (Ed.). (2016). Handbook of ecocriticism and cultural ecology (Vol. 2). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.
37. Zhang, S., Zhao, D., Jia, W., Wang, Y., Liang, H., Liu, L., ... & Guo, F. (2020). A bibliometric analysis and review of recent researches on TRPM7. Channels, 14(1), 203-215.
38. Zych, I., Ortega-Ruiz, R., & Marín-López, I. (2016). Cyberbullying: a systematic review of research, its prevalence and assessment issues in Spanish studies. Psicología Educativa, 22(1), 5-18.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How to cite

Yadav, C., & Sinha , J. (2024). Exploring the evolution of ecocriticism: A bibliometric study and literature review . Multidisciplinary Reviews, 7(12), 2024304. https://doi.org/10.31893/multirev.2024304

[1] Abdi, H., & Valentin, D. (2007). Multiple correspondence analysis. Encyclopedia of measurement and statistics, 2(4), 651-657.

[2] Aria, M., & Cuccurullo, C. (2017). bibliometrix: An R-tool for comprehensive science mapping analysis. Journal of informetrics, 11(4), 959-975.

[3] Bennett, J. (2020). Vibrant matter: A political ecology of things. Duke University Press.

[4] Bornmann, L., & Daniel, H. D. (2007). What do we know about the h index?. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and technology, 58(9), 1381-1385.

[5] Buell, L. (1995). The environmental imagination: Thoreau, nature writing, and the formation of American culture. Harvard University Press.

[6] Buell, L. (2009). The future of environmental criticism: Environmental crisis and literary imagination. John Wiley & Sons.

[7] Clark, T. (2011). The Cambridge introduction to literature and the environment. Cambridge University Press

[8] Cretu, D. M., & Morandau, F. (2022). Bullying and cyberbullying: a bibliometric analysis of three decades of research in education. Educational Review, 1-34.

[9] Desai, N., Veras, L., & Gosain, A. (2018). Using Bradford's law of scattering to identify the core journals of pediatric surgery. Journal of Surgical Research, 229, 90-95.

[10] Donthu, N., Kumar, S., Mukherjee, D., Pandey, N., & Lim, W. M. (2021). How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research, 133, 285-29

[11] Estok, S. C. (2005). Shakespeare and ecocriticism: An analysis of ‘home’and ‘power’in king lear. AUMLA, 103(5), 15-41.

[12] Fan, J., Gao, Y., Zhao, N., Dai, R., Zhang, H., Feng, X., ... & Bao, S. (2020). Bibliometric analysis on COVID-19: a comparison of research between English and Chinese studies. Frontiers in public health, 8, 477.

[13] Garrard, G., & James, E. (2012). Teaching the Postcolonial/Ecocritical Dialogue. Teaching Ecocriticism and Green Cultural Studies, 60-71.

[14] Glotfelty, C., & Fromm, H. (Eds.). (1996). The ecocriticism reader: Landmarks in literary ecology. University of Georgia Press.

[15] Gülmez, D., Özteke, İ., & Gümüş, S. (2021). Overview of Educational Research from Turkey Published in International Journals: A Bibliometric Analysis. Education & Science/Egitim ve Bilim, 46(206).

[16] Hoyle, R. H. (Ed.). (2012). Handbook of structural equation modeling. Guilford press.

[17] Huang, C., Yang, C., Wang, S., Wu, W., Su, J., & Liang, C. (2020). Evolution of topics in education research: A systematic review using bibliometric analysis. Educational Review, 72(3), 281-297.

[18] Huang, C., Yang, C., Wang, S., Wu, W., Su, J., & Liang, C. (2020). Evolution of topics in education research: A systematic review using bibliometric analysis. Educational Review, 72(3), 281-297.

[19] Huggan, G., & Tiffin, H. (2015). Postcolonial ecocriticism: Literature, animals, environment. Routledge.

[20] Iovino, S., & Oppermann, S. (2012). Theorizing material ecocriticism: A diptych. Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, 19(3), 448-475.

[21] Ivanović, L., & Ho, Y. S. (2019). Highly cited articles in the education and educational research category in the social science citation Index: A bibliometric analysis. Educational Review, 71(3), 277-

[22] Liu, W.; Tang, L.; Gu, M.; Hu, G. Feature report on China: A bibliometric analysis of China-related articles. Scientometrics 2015, 102, 503–517.

[23] Lotka, A. J. (1926). The frequency distribution of scientific productivity. Journal of the Washington academy of sciences, 16(12), 317-323.

[24] Marx, W., Bornmann, L., Barth, A., & Leydesdorff, L. (2014). Detecting the historical roots of research fields by reference publication year spectroscopy (RPYS). Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 65(4), 751-764.

[25] Nixon, R. (2011). Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor. Harvard University Press.

[26] Oppermann, S. (2008). Seeking environmental awareness in postmodern fictions. Critique: Studies in contemporary fiction, 49(3), 243-253.

[27] Palermiti, A. L., Servidio, R., Bartolo, M. G., & Costabile, A. (2017). Cyberbullying and self-esteem: An Italian study. Computers in Human Behavior, 69, 136-141.

[28] Peabody, S. (2018, May). Goethe and (Um) Weltliteratur: Environment and Power in Goethe’s Literary Worlds. In Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies (Vol. 54, No. 2, pp. 215-230). University of Toronto Press.

[29] Peters, H., & Van Raan, A. (1991). Structuring scientific activities by co-author analysis: An expercise on a university faculty level. Scientometrics, 20(1), 235-255.

[30] Schmidt, M. (2008). The Sankey diagram in energy and material flow management: part II: methodology and current applications. Journal of industrial ecology, 12(2), 173-185.

[31] Stehmann, J. (2020). Identifying research streams in online gambling and gaming literature: A bibliometric analysis. Computers in Human Behavior, 107, 106219.

[32] Taylor, D. (2014). Toxic communities: Environmental racism, industrial pollution, and residential mobility. In Toxic communities. New York University Press.

[33] Terán-Yépez, E.; Marín-Carrillo, G.M.; del Pilar Casado-Belmonte, M.; de las Mercedes Capobianco-Uriarte, M. Sustainable entrepreneurship: Review of its evolution and new trends. J. Clean. Prod. 2020, 252, 119742

[34] Thananusak, T. Science Mapping of the knowledge base on sustainable entrepreneurship, 1996–2019. Sustainability 2019, 11, 3565.

[35] Uzzi, B., Mukherjee, S., Stringer, M., & Jones, B. (2013). Atypical combinations and scientific impact. Science, 342(6157), 468-472.

[36] Zapf, H. (Ed.). (2016). Handbook of ecocriticism and cultural ecology (Vol. 2). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.

[37] Zhang, S., Zhao, D., Jia, W., Wang, Y., Liang, H., Liu, L., ... & Guo, F. (2020). A bibliometric analysis and review of recent researches on TRPM7. Channels, 14(1), 203-215.

[38] Zych, I., Ortega-Ruiz, R., & Marín-López, I. (2016). Cyberbullying: a systematic review of research, its prevalence and assessment issues in Spanish studies. Psicología Educativa, 22(1), 5-18.

Abstract

References

How to cite