Abstract
Scott Slovic, University Distinguished Professor of Environmental Humanities at the University of Idaho in the United States, was the founding president of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) from 1992 to 1995, and he edited ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, the major journal in the field of ecocriticism, from 1995-2020. He is currently the co-editor of two book series: Routledge Series in World Literatures and the Environment (2017-present) and Routledge Environmental Humanities (2018-present). Professor Slovic has written, edited, or co-edited thirty books in the field of ecocriticism. This interview focuses on the latest ecocritical developments, as well as key issues in the environmental humanities, in the Age of COVID and more broadly, the context of the Anthropocene. It stresses mainly three aspects: new ideas and directions in ecocriticism, the clarification of some key concepts in the environmental humanities, and studies of ecocriticism relevant with China. Professor Slovic expounds the "fourth wave" and "fifth wave" of ecocriticism, scrutinizes various terms, such as Anthropocene ecocriticism, climate fiction criticism, material ecocriticism, affective ecocriticism, empirical ecocriticism, critical animal studies, critical plant studies, etc., and crystallizes the connections and differences between ecocriticism, the environmental humanities and the medical-environmental humanities. He also explores the impacts of COVID-19 on ecocriticism studies, reveals the concerns of establishing "TCM ecocriticism," sheds light on the new possibilities for ecocriticism in the future, and offers constructive suggestions for Chinese scholars.