Symbiotic Poetics: Ecological Community in The Overstory

Abstract

This study examines Richard Powers Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Overstory to investigate how the author constructs an interspecies ecological community through innovative narrative structure and ecological representation. The analysis develops along three dimensions: First, it explores how the novel subverts anthropocentrism by endowing trees with vitality and agency, thereby reconfiguring humannature relations. Second, it examines the intertextuality between the multi-strand narrative framework and ecological networks, revealing their
metaphorical representation of interdependence. Finally, it analyzes the ecological aesthetics forged through lyrical prose and complex narrative layers. The findings demonstrate that The Overstory not only portrays the intricate connectivity of ecosystems, but also mobilizes literary
form to provoke profound environmental reflection, offering significant contributions to ecocritical studies.