Literature and Trees

A Round Table around and towards Trees in German and English Language Literatures

Abstract

The present contribution serves as an introduction to the Journal section entitled InContri (“encounters”), which is meant as a forum and as an open debate. In the specific case, a return to an ethics of “plant consciousness” is encouraged through the contribution that Literature and the Environmental Humanities do provide. As Richard Power’s novel The Overstory shows, writing about trees and electing them as protagonists is a rewarding experience also to the readers. Consequently, four academics present their scholarly research achievements and results in order to debate on the role of trees in German and Swiss Literatures, as well as in Palestinian Literature written in English and in English Renaissance Literature.