Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This article examines the representation of ecological justice and the legal responsibilities for nonhuman species in the novel The Overstory (2018) by Richard Powers. Focusing on the preservation of the forest, I argue that the novel illustrates how the capitalist and anthropocentric foundations of the legal system hinder any human attempts, whether it is through breaking or fixing the law, to achieve ecological justice for trees. Without reducing the need for immediate environmental interventions, The Overstory portrays the complex ambiguity of acting on the behalf of nature in the Anthropocene.
Author: Herforth, Karlijn
Institution: Utrecht University
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7215433372