ECOCRITICISM AS A MEANS OF INTRODUCING THE TEACHING OF THE HISTORY OF FOREIGN LITERATURE IN THE CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to actualize the Ecocritical approach in teaching the subject "History of Foreign Literature" at philological faculties of higher educational institutions.

Methodology. The methodological basis of this study is cultural hermeneutics, which allows us to analyze the meanings embedded in a specific literary text during its creation, as well as the meanings that this work acquires later when historical contexts change. Ecocriticism serves as both an object of analysis and a research methodology aimed at outlining the history of literature as a holistic systemic process.

Scientific novelty. This article examines Ecocriticism for the first time not only as a theoretical interpretative model, but also as a tool for achieving sustainable development goals. It shows that it can be used in practice not only in a scientific but also in a pedagogical context.

Conclusions. Ecocriticism arises as a reaction to the deterioration of the world's ecological state and the growing awareness of this fact and its negative consequences. In a sense, it can be listed among other non-classical and post-classical approaches to the interpretation of literary texts (Postmodernism, Postcolonialism, Feminism, etc.). On the other hand, it fundamentally differs from them in that it focuses on the objective material world and its state, rather than on psychological or sociocultural reality constructed through language. If the same Postcolonialism and Feminism see nature as a metaphor for the «Other» (colonized or feminine, as opposed to imperial and masculine), then in Ecocriticism nature is a self-evident fact and reality that needs to be studied, artistically depicted, and protected. The application of Ecocriticism to the analysis of specific literary works, as well as directions and trends in cultural development, deserves further study.