This book presents a vivid portrayal of an apocalyptic and catastrophic future, focussing on the consequences of humanity’s misuse of natural resources through the lens of ecocriticism. Compromising ten chapters, the book explores the concept of the ecological crisis as depicted in contemporary literature, particularly in novels and theatrical plays. The chapters feature works from British, American, and Canadian literature by scholars offering fresh perspectives on ecocriticism. Each part examines humanity’s survival stories set in contemporary contexts, often within the genres of science fiction and apocalyptic fiction, serving as warnings about a potentially devastating future. The book underscores the catastrophic outcomes and potential of chaos that could arise from humanity’s exploitation of natural resources. As the chapters unfold, these diverse scholarly contributions raise awareness of a global issue while illuminating the interconnected fates of nature, society, and humanity underscoring the urgent need for change before this impending crisis becomes a harsh reality.

At the beginning of the 20^th century, a significant mystery for researchers in fields such as archaeology, history, linguistics, and theology began to unravel with the discovery of Manichean written records in Central Asia and Upper Egypt. While Manichean texts were composed in various languages, the largest body of religious writings was primarily in Middle Iranian languages. Following Bögü Kagan’s conversion, many of these texts in Central Asia were translated into Old Uyghur, predominantly from Middle Iranian sources. This study explores the origins of the Manichean script and provides a comparative analysis of its development and paleographic characteristics across Parthian, Middle Persian, Sogdian, and Old Uyghur. Additionally, evaluations of certain paleographic features in the Manichean script have been incorporated into the study.

The purpose of this book is to present women’s works from different female perspectives bringing new insights into women’s literary worlds. This book composes of several articles that present different analyses and discussions on literary works written by British and American women writers offering a great range of opportunities for conducting academic research by portraying female protagonists’ lives and experiences from a female and feminist lens. The chapters of this book focus on women’s issues regarding their suppression, gender roles, motherhood, sisterhood, feminine identities, re-writing myths, and alternative lifestyles in male-dominated worlds. The women scholars in each part are analyzing different literary texts written in different genres that are written on and about female characters, their worlds, and experiences from a scholarly female standpoint.