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Nature and Ecology in German Literature and Thought considers the understanding and representation of the natural world in literary works and aesthetic theory from the 18th to the 20th centuries. We will consider such topics as poetic reverence for nature, anthropocentric representations of nature in literature, the thematization of landscape, the representation of animal life, the distinction between the human and animal as explored by literary writers, and ecologically-oriented critique of human consciousness. Readings may include works by such writers and thinkers as Goethe, Kant, Hölderlin, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Rilke, and Kafka, and more recent works of literary ecocriticism.