Native Tourist in Florida Roadkill: An Ecocritical ApproachBy Megan Getter
First in Serge series
Road trip across Florida
Serge and others hunting down money
Ecocriticism
Analyzes the implications of the interactions between human and nature
Uses Interdisciplinary study of ecology and literature
The Big Questions
“In what ways do highly evolved and self-aware beings relate to nature?”
“What roles do language, literature, and art play in this relation?”
“How have modernization and globalization processes transformed it?”
“Is it possible to return to more ecologically attuned ways of inhabiting nature, and what would be the cultural prerequisites for such a change?”
(Heise 504)
Serge Storms
“curiously likable” because “Serge, after all, only kills those who deserve it” 1
“an avenging angel of sorts, out to rid the state of corruption even if he has to kill three-fourths of the population in the process” 2
1 Contemporary Authors Online n.p. 2 Hooper 1603
Native Tourist• Florida landscape - natural
and man-made
• Examples
• Coral incident
• Key Deer
• Selfish reasons for protecting
Environmental Orientations• Nature as “a dominating
force, one that cannot be harnessed”
• Nature as “a balancing act between the environment and their needs”
• Nature as “a slave and try to control and rule it”
(Neuliep 145)
http://thehappypill.files.wordpress.com/
Development• Florida overrun by tourists
• Vista Isles
• Creates false environment
• Hoodwinks old people
• Greed major problem in Florida
Image Credit: bentsengroveresort.com
Pollution• Malathion pesticide
• Used on citrus
• Promoted as safe
• Kills people
• Pollution – major issue for Dorsey
Dorsey as an Ecocritic
Shows readers potential and existing problems
Examples of how not to interact with the environment
Offers unrealistic solution to problems
Compels readers to act more responsibly
Works Cited
Bracke, Astrid, and Marguerite Corporaal. "Ecocriticism And English Studies: An Introduction." English Studies 91.7 (2010): 709-712. Academic Search Complete. Web. 31 Oct. 2011.
Dorsey, Tim. Florida Roadkill. New York: Harper, 1999. Print.
"Florida Roadkill." Publishers Weekly 5 July 1999: 58. Literature Resource Center. Web. 31 Oct. 2011
Garrard, Greg. "Beginnings: Pollution." Introduction. Ecocriticism. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2012. 1-17. Print.
Gifford, Terry. "Recent Critiques in Ecocriticism." New Formations 64 (2008): 15-24. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 31 Oct.
2011.
Harmon, William. ”Ecocriticism” A Handbook to Literature. 12th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2012. Print.
Hooper, Brad, and Bill Ott. "Florida Roadkill." Booklist 1 May 2001: 1603. Literature Resource Center. Web. 31 Oct. 2011.
McKee, Richard. “Tim Dorsey, Satirical Crime Writer Extraordinaire.” Florida Crime Writers: 24 Interviews. Ed. Steve Glassman. Jefferson: McFarland, 2008. 40-49. Print.
"Tim Dorsey." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Literature Resource
Center. Web. 31 Oct. 2011.