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Ecocriticism

The study of literary texts with reference to the interaction between


human activity and the vast range of natural or non-human phenomena
which bears upon human experience encompassing (amongst many
things) issues concerning fauna, flora, landscape ,environment and
weather.
Ecocriticism is an intentionally broad approach that is known by a
number of other designations, including green (cultural) studies,
ecopoetics, and environmental literary criticism.
Cheryll Glotfelty's working definition in The Ecocriticism Reader is that
"ecocriticism is the study of the relationship between literature and the
physical environment".
Lawrence Buell defines "'ecocriticism' ... as [a] study of the relationship
between literature and the environment conducted in a spirit of
commitment to environmentalist praxis".
Ecocriticism is a broad way for literary and cultural scholars to
investigate the global ecological crisis through the intersection of
literature, culture, and the physical environment.
Ecocriticism originated as an idea of Joseph Meeker called literary
ecology. The term ecocriticism was later coined by William
Rueckert.
Ecocriticism expanded as a widely used literary and cultural theory by the
early 1990s with the formation of the Association for the Study of
Literature and Environment (ASLE) at the Western Literary Association
(1992), followed by the launch of the flagship journal ISLE:
Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment in 1993, and then
later the publication of The Ecocriticism Reader.
Western thought has often held a more or less utilitarian attitude to nature
nature is for serving human needs. However, after the eighteenth
century, there emerged many voices that demanded a revaluation of the
relationship between man and environment, and mans view of nature.
Arne Naess, a Norwegian philosopher, developed the notion of Deep
Ecology which emphasizes the basic interconnectedness of all life forms
and natural features, and presents a symbiotic and holistic world-view
rather than an anthropocentric one.
Waves of Ecocriticism

The first wave of ecocriticism tended to take a dehistoricized approach


to nature, often overlooking more political and theoretical dimensions
and tending toward a celebratory approach of wilderness and nature
writing. Ecocriticism expanded into a second wave, offering new ways
of approaching literary analysis by, for example, theorizing and
deconstructing human-centered scholarship in ecostudies; imperialism
and ecological degradation; agency for animals and plants; gender and
race as ecological concepts; and problems of scale. The third wave
advocates for a global understanding of ecocritical practice through issues
like global warming; it combines elements from the first and second
waves but aims to move beyond Anglo-American prominence.

Important texts
o The Ecocriticism Reader (1978), edited by Cheryll Glotfelty and Harold
Fromm
o William Rueckert coined the term ecocriticism in his essay from the
collection Literature and Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism.
o The Environmental Imagination: Thoreau, Nature Writing, and the
Formation of American Culture (1995), by Lawrence Buell.
Looks back at the history of American nature writing through literary
analysiswith Thoreaus Walden as a reference pointto establish a
history of environmental perception and imagination. It examines how
humanistic thought, particularly through literary nonfiction, can imagine a
more ecocentric or green way of living.
o Ecocriticism (2004) by Greg Garrard
Examines a wide range of literary and cultural works. Two notable
strengths: (1) it acknowledges the political dimension of ecocriticism; and (2)
it explores a range of issues, from animal studies and definitions of
wilderness and nature, to post apocalyptic narratives.
o Silent Spring (1962) by Rachel Carson
Considered by many to have initiated the contemporary environmental
and ecological movements. It addresses the systemic problem of
environmental degradation brought on by corporate industry and advocates
for protection through public awareness and resistance.
Ecofeminism
Ecological feminism or ecofeminism is a term which acknowledges that
there is a connection between the domination of women and the
denigration of nature.
Ecofeminism is not only a womens movement but it is also a movement
for ecological restoration.
In 1974 French feminist, Francoise dEaubonne in her book Le
Fminisme ou la Mort (Feminism or Death) coined the term
ecofminisme (ecofeminism) and stated that patriarchy is the cause of
the present ecological crisis.
Ecofeminism claims that patriarchal structures justify their dominance
through categorical or dualistic hierarchies: heaven/earth, mind/body,
male/female, human/animal, spirit/matter, culture/nature, white/non-
white.
It has evolved into a movement that connects all the -isms of
domination, e.g., racism, sexism, and classism, with the exploitation,
degradation, and destruction of natural entities, habitats, and ecosystems.
Key Texts
Ecofeminism and the Sacred(1993) edited by Carol Adams
Diamond, Irene and Gloria Feman Orenstine, eds. Reweaving the World: The
Emergence of
Ecofeminism. 1990.
Gaard, Greta, ed. Ecofeminism: Women, Animals, Nature. 1993.
Griffin, Susan. Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her. 1978.
Merchant, Carolyn. The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology and the Scientific
Revolution.
Plumwood, Val. Feminism and the Mastery of Nature. 1993.
Sturgeon, Noel. Ecofeminist Natures: Race, Gender, Feminist Theory and
Political Action.
Ecofeminism: Women, Culture, Nature(1997) by Karen Warren
Eco-socialism/Marxist Environmentalism

Marxist ecologists argue that nature has become a commodity with


capitalist production. With globalization, sites of production move to
poorer or Third World Countries. Both nature and and labour are over-
exploited.
Social inequalities and its relation with nature are also addressed by the
Eco-socialists. Eco-socialists argue that class inequalities influence the
experience of the environment. Eco-socialism suggests that the difference
in the distribution of wealth is at the base of such an experience of
environments.
Major Theoreticians
Peter Dickinson, Ted Benton, Paul Burkett, David Pepper
Key Texts
Paul Burkett. Marx and Nature: A Red and Green Perspective
John Bellamy Foster. Marxs Ecology: Materialism and Nature
Other Important Texts
Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe by Alfred
Crosby
The Country and the City by Raymond Williams
Nature an essay by J.S.Mill

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