Staff profile

Biography
Profile

Timothy Clark is a specialist in the environmental humanities and deconstruction.
Professor Clark's current work is engaged in the ways in which many environmental issues could be said to deconstruct some of the bases of modern Western thought. Crucial questions are: whether it makes sense to extend notions of "rights" beyond humanity; the challenge of representing environmental issues that elude the normal scales of human thought and perception; the status of personification, metaphor, emotive language and the literal in environmentalist writing; the possibility or impossibility of thinking or writing non-anthropocentrically; the limits of modes of oppositional politics for addressing environmental issues; the evasion of climate change in ecocriticism itself; the question of whether the predominantly liberal and seemingly "progressive" modes of current literary criticism are still tied to an essentially destructive understanding of the human species....?.
Clark has been a leading figure in the development of new modes of literary criticism engaged with the intellectual revolution inseparable from thinking of climate change. His recent The Value of Ecocriticism (Cambridge University Press, 2019) was "Book of the Week" in the "Times Higher Educational Supplement" for June 20th 2019.
Professor Clark has published many articles in literary and philosophical journals and eight monographs. These are Embodying Revolution: The Figure of the Poet in Shelley (Oxford UP, 1989); Derrida, Heidegger, Blanchot: Sources of Derrida's Notion and Practice of Literature (Cambridge UP, 1992, 2008); The Theory of Inspiration: Composition as a Crisis of Subjectivity in Romantic and Post-Romantic Writing (Manchester UP, 1997, 2000); Charles Tomlinson (Northcote House, 1999); Martin Heidegger, Routledge Critical Thinkers Series (Routledge, 2001, second ed. 2012); The Poetics of Singularity: The Counter-Culturalist Turn in Heidegger, Derrida, Blanchot and the Later Gadamer (Edinburgh UP, 2005); The Cambridge Introduction to Literature and the Environment (Cambridge, 2011); Ecocriticism on the Edge: The Anthropocene as a Threshold Concept (London Bloomsbury, 2015). He has recently edited a special of The Oxford Literary Review (38.1; July 2016) on the controversial issue of overpopulation.
Professor Clark's work has been translated into Turkish, Swedish, Hebrew, Japanese, Chinese, French, and Arabic.
Research interests
- Deconstruction
- Romanticism and Theories of Inspiration
- Ecocriticism
Research groups
- Critical Theory
- Romantic and Pre-Romantic Studies
Esteem Indicators
- 2022: : Timothy Clark's ;work has been translated into 7 other languages.
- 0000: Book of the Week (THES 20/6/19): The Value of Ecocriticism(Cambridge UP, 2019) (200pp).Reviewed as “Book of the Week" in the Times Higher Educational Supplement , June 20th 2019.
Publications
Authored book
- Clark, Timothy (2019). The Value of Ecocriticism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Clark, Timothy (2015). Ecocriticism on the Edge: The Anthropocene as a Threshold Concept. London: Bloomsbury.
- Clark, Timothy (2011). The Cambridge Introduction to Literature and the Environment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Clark, Timothy. (2005). The Poetics of Singularity: The Counter-Culturalist Turn in Heidegger, Derrida, Blanchot and the Later Gadamer. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
- Clark, Timothy. (2002). Martin Heidegger. London: Routledge.
- Clark, Timothy. (1999). Charles Tomlinson. Writers and their Work Series. Liverpool University Press.
- Clark, Timothy. (1997). The Theory of Inspiration: Composition as a Crisis of Subjectivity in Romantic and Post-Romantic Writing. Manchester University Press.
- Clark, Timothy. (1992). Derrida, Heidegger, Blanchot: Sources of Derrida's Notion and Practice of Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Clark, Timothy. (1989). Embodying Revolution: The Figure of the Poet in Shelley. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Chapter in book
- Clark, Timothy (2022). Overpopulation: the Human as Inhuman. In Dark Scenes from Damaged Earth: The Gothic Anthropocene. Edwards, Justin D., Graulund, Rune & Höglund, Johan Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
- Clark, Timothy (2021). John Masefield’s “The Passing Strange” Derangements of Scale. In Close Reading in the Anthropocene. Helena Feder Routledge. 159-174.
- Clark, Timothy (2018). Scale as a force of deconstruction. In Eco-Deconstruction: Derrida and Environmental Philosophy. Fritsch, Matthias, Lynes, Philippe & Wood, David New York, NY: Fordham University Press.
- Clark, Timothy (2013). “Phenomenology,”. In Oxford Guide to Ecocriticism. Garrard, Greg Oxford University Press.
- Clark, Timothy (2012). Scale: Derangements of Scale. In Telemorphosis: Theory in the Era of Climate Change, Vol. 1. Cohen, Tom Open Humanities Press/University of Michigan Library. 1: 148-166.
- Clark, Timothy (2011). “Climate and Catastrophe: A Lost Opening? In Reading Derrida’s Of Grammatology,. Gaston, Sean, & Maclachlan, Ian Continuum. 161-167.
- Clark, Timothy. (2006). Hermeneutics. In Modern Literary Theory and Criticism. An Oxford Guide. Waugh, P. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Clark, Timothy (2004). 'Time after Time: Temporality Temporalization'. In Jacques Derrida: Critical Thought. Ian Maclachlan Aldershot: Ashgate. pp. 110-125.
- Clark, Timothy. & Royle, Nicholas. (2004). The Blind Short Story. In Oxford Literary Review 26.
- Clark, Timothy., Dutoit, T., Romanski, P. & Royle, N. (2003). Angles on Derrida. In Oxford Literary Review 25.
- Clark, Timothy., McQuillan, M. & Royle, N. (2002). Reading Cixous Writing. In Oxford Literary Review 24.
- Clark, Timothy. (2002). 'Literary Force, Institutional Values'. In The Question of Literature: the Place of the Literary in Contemporary Theory. Elizabeth Beaumont Bissell Manchester: Manchester University Press. 91-104.
- Clark, Timothy, Royle, N., Bennington, G., Kamuf, P., Bennett, A. & Rooney, C. (2001). Monstrism (issue of experimental criticism). In Oxford Literary Review 23.
- Timothy Clark., Leslie Hill. & Nicholas Royle. (2001). Disastrous Blanchot. In Oxford Literary Review 22.
- Clark, Timothy. (2000). Deconstruction and Technology. In Deconstructions: A User's Guide ed. Royle, Nicholas. London: Red Globe Press. 238 - 257.
- Clark, Timothy & Royle, N. (1999). Technologies of the Sign. In Oxford Literary Review 21.
- Clark, Timothy (1999). Literature and the Crisis in the Concept of the University. In The Arts and Sciences of Criticism. Fuller, D. & Waugh, P.
- Clark, Timothy & Royle, N. (1998). Beyond Redemption: The Work of Leo Bersani. In Oxford Literary Review 20.
- Clark, Timothy, Rooney, C. & Royle, N. (1997). Knowledge, Learning and Migration. In Oxford Literary Review 19.
- Clark, Timothy (1996). Shelley after Deconstruction: The Poet of Anachronism. In Evaluating Shelley. 91-107.
- Clark, Timothy. & Hogle, J. (1996). Introduction. In Evaluating Shelley. 1-8.
- Clark, Timothy & Royle, N. (1996). Derridas. In Oxford Literary Review 18.
- Clark, Timothy. (1996). Dickens through Blanchot: The Nightmare Fascination of a World without Interiority. In Dickens Refigured: Bodies, Desires and Other Histories, ed. Schad, John. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
- Clark, Timothy. (1995). George Bataille. In Dictionary of Philosophy. Thomas Mautner. Blackwell. (500 words).
- Clark, Timothy. & Royle, N. (1995). The University in Ruins. In Oxford Literary Review 17.
- Clark, Timothy., Loomba, A., Kaul, S. & Royle, N. (1994). On India. In Oxford Literary Review 16.
- Clark, T.J.A. (1993). Extract from Ch.4. In Embodying Revolution. Michael O'Neill 27-42.
- Clark, Timothy. & Royle, N. (1993). Experiencing the Impossible. In Oxford Literary Review 15.
- Clark, Timothy. (1993). Reading in Blanchot. In Reading Reading. Andrew Bennett Tampere University English Studies 3: 183-199.
- Clark, Timothy. (1992). 'Claire Clairmont', 'Thomas Jefferson Hogg', 'The Doctrine of Necessity', and 'The Romantic Sublime'. In Encyclopaedia of Romanticism: Culture in Britain for the 1780's to the 1830's. New York: Garland Press.
- Clark, Timothy. (1992). Inventions of Intellectual History: Herman Rapaport's Heidegger and Derrida. In Deconstruction in Finland and Afterwords. University of Tampere: 125-133.
Edited book
- Clark, Timothy. & Hogle, J.E. (1996). Evaluating Shelley. Edinburgh University Press.
Edited Journal
- Clark, Timothy (2016). Overpopulation. Oxford Literary Review, 38.1 Edinburgh Unviersity Press.
- Clark, Timothy (editor) (2012). Deconstruction in the Anthropocene. Oxford Literary Review, (34.2): Edinburgh University Press.
Journal Article
- Clark, Timothy (2022). Reading against the Forces of Boredom:Environmental Literary Culture in 'the Age of Amazon'. Oxford Literary Review 44(2): 211-233.
- Clark, Timothy (2020). Ecological Grief and Anthropocene Horror. American Imago 77(1): 61-80.
- Clark, Timothy (2016). ‘But the real problem is….’ The Chameleonic Insidiousness of ‘Overpopulation’ in the Environmental Humanities. Oxford Literary Review 38(1): 7-26.
- Clark, Timothy (2013). What on World is the Earth? The Anthropocene and Fictions of the World. Oxford Literary Review 35(1): 5-24.
- Timothy Clark (editor) (2010). Deconstruction, Environmentalism, and Climate Change (The Oxford Literary Review). Oxford Literary Review 32(1): 131-149.
- Timothy Clark (2010). Blanchot and the End of Nature. Parallax 16(2): 20-30.
- Clark, Timothy. (2008). The Challenge of the Meta-Contextual: Henry Lawson’s “Telling Mrs. Baker “ (1901) and some Animal Questions for Australia. Oxford Literary Review 29(1): 17-36.
- Clark, Timothy. (2008). Towards a Deconstructive Environmental Criticism. Oxford Literary Review 30(1): 44-68.
- Clark, Timothy. (2008). "'Can a Place Think?" On Adam Sharr's Heidegger's Hut. Cultural Politics: an International Journal 4(1): 100-121.
- Clark, Timothy. (2007). 'A Green Blanchot? Impossible.'. Paragraph. 30(3): 121-140.
- Clark, Timothy. (2004). Not Seeing the Short Story: A Blind Phenomenology of Reading. The Oxford Literary Review: The Blind Short Story 26(1): 5-30.
- Clark, Timothy (1999). Technology Inside?: Enlightenment and Romantic Assumptions of the Orality/Literacy Debate,' in 'Technologies of the Sign'. Oxford Literary Review (21): 57-72.
- Clark, Timothy (1998). 'Babel, Babble and Beginning Place': Renga, as Experiment in Multi-Lingual Poetry. English Studies in Africa (41): 77-88.
- Clark, Timothy (1996). Contradictory Passion: 'Inspiration' in Blanchot's 'The Space of Literature' (1955). Sub-Stance (79): 46-61.
- Clark, Timothy. (1995). The Impossible Lightness of Reading: Blanchot and the Communicational Model of Subjectivity. Southern Review (28): 83-95.
- Clark, Timothy. & Royle, N. (1995). 'Editorial Audit', The University in Ruins. Oxford Literary Review (17): 3-13.
- Clark, Timothy (1995). Between Flippancy and Terror:Shelley's 'Marianne's Dream'. Romanticism (1): 90-105.
- Clark, Timothy. (1994). Orientations towards a Theory of Inspiration. Critical Review (34): 83-112.
- Clark, Timothy. (1993). Shelley's 'The Coliseum' and the Sublime. Durham University Journal 225-235.
- Clark, Timothy., Gautheron, S. & Lacoue-Labarthe, P. (1993). Catastrophe; A reading of Celan's 'The Meridian'. Oxford Literary Review (15): 3-41.
- Clark, Timothy. (1993). By Heart: A Reading of Derrida's 'Che cos'è la poesia?' through Keats and Celan. Oxford Literary Review (15): 43-78.
- Clark, Timothy (1992). Renga: Multi-lingual Poetry and Questions of Place [On Octavio Paz, Charles Tomlinson et al.]. Sub-Stance (68): 32-45.
- Clark, Timothy. (1992). The Turing Test as a Novel Form of Hermeneutics. International Studies in Philosophy (24): 17-31.
- Clark, Timothy. (1992). Modern Transformations of German Romanticism: Blanchot and Derrida on the Fragment, the Aphorism and the Architectural. Paragraph (15): 232-247.
- Clark, Timothy. (1991). Variants of the Dialogue Form in Heidegger, Blanchot and Derrida. Southern Review (24): 278-295.
- Clark, Timothy (1991). 'Differends' of Romantic Criticism, Review article on Symposium of Romanticism. Southern Review (24): 191-194.
- Clark, Timothy. (1990). Non-Being and the Literary: An Introduction to Maurice Blanchot's Notion of 'Literary Space'. Southern Review (23): 273-289.
- Clark, Timothy. (1987). Heidegger and Derrida on the Greek Nature of Philosophy. PHilosophy and Literature (11): 76-91.
- Clark, Timothy. (1987). Time after Time: Temporality Temporalization. Oxford Literary Review (9): 119-326.
- Clark, Timothy. (1987). Not Motion but a Mime of it: 'Rhythm' in the Textuality of Heidegger's Work. Paragraph (9): 69-82.
- Clark, Timothy. (1987). French Heidegger and an English Poet: Charles Tomlinson's 'Poem' and the Status of Heideggerian Dichtung. Man and World: An International Philosophical Review (20): 305-326.
- Clark, Timothy. (1986). Heidegger and Derrida on the Ontology of Literary Language. Modern Language Notes (101): 1003-1021.
- Clark, Timothy. (1985). Computers as Universal Mimics: Derrida's Question of Mimesis and the Status of Artificial Inteligence. Philosophy Today (29): 302-318.
- Clark, Timothy. (1985). Hegel in Suspense: Derrida, Hegel and the Question of Prefaces. Philosophy Today (29): 122-134.
- Clark, Timothy. (1983). Roland Barthes: Dead and Alive. Oxford Literary Review (6): 97-107.
Newspaper/Magazine Article
- Timothy Clark, Michael Tavel Clarke & Faye Halpern (2015). Climate Change, Scale, and Literary Criticism: A Conversation. Ariel (43.6): 1-22.
- Timothy Clark (2013). The Deconstructive Turn in Eco-Criticism. Symploke (21 ): 11-26.
- Timothy Clark (2010). Some Climate Change Ironies: Deconstruction: Environmental Politics and the Closure of Ecocriticism. Oxford Literary Review (31.1): 131-49
Other (Print)
- Clark, Timothy. (1999). Literary Force: Institutional Values. Culture Machine