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Ecocriticism
● Ecocriticism is the study of literature and environment from an interdisciplinary point of
view where all sciences come together to analyze the environment and brainstorm
possible solutions for the correction of the contemporary environmental situation.
Ecocriticism was officially heralded by the publication of two seminal works, both
published in the mid-1990s: The Ecocriticism Reader, edited by Cheryll Glotfelty and
Harold Fromm, and The Environmental Imagination, by Lawrence Buell.

● Ecocriticism investigates the relation between humans and the natural world in literature.
It deals with how environmental issues, cultural issues concerning the environment and
attitudes towards nature are presented and analyzed. One of the main goals in
ecocriticism is to study how individuals in society behave and react in relation to nature
and ecological aspects. This form of criticism has gained a lot of attention during recent
years due to higher social emphasis on environmental destruction and increased
technology. It is hence a fresh way of analyzing and interpreting literary texts, which
brings new dimensions to the field of literary and theoretical studies. Ecocriticism is an
intentionally broad approach that is known by a number of other designations, including
“green (cultural) studies”, “ecopoetics”, and “environmental literary criticism

● 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
man’s 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

● Earlier theories in literary and cultural studies focussed on the issue of class, race, gender,
region are criteria and “subjects”of critical analysis. The late twentieth century has woken
up to a new threat: ecological disaster. The most important environmental problems that
humankind faces as a whole are: nuclear war, depletion of valuable natural resources,
population explosion, proliferation of exploitative technologies, conquest of space
preliminary to using it as a garbage dump, pollution, extinction of species (though not a
human problem) among others. In such a context, literary and cultural theory has begun
to address the issue as a part of academic discourse. Numerous green movements have
sprung up all over the world, and some have even gained representations in the
governments

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● Large scale debates over “dumping,” North versus South environmentalism (the
necessary differences between the en-vironmentalism of the developed and
technologically advanced richer nations—the North, and the poorer, subsistence
environmentalism of the developing or “Third World''—the South). Donald Worster‘s
Nature’s Economy (1977) became a textbook for the study of ecological thought down
the ages. The historian Arnold Toynbee recorded the effect of human civilisation upon
the land and nature in his monumental, Mankind and Mother Earth (1976).
Environmental issues and landscape use were also the concern of the Annales School of
historians, especially Braudel and Febvre. The work of environmental historians has been
pathbreaking too. Rich-ard Grove et al s massive Nature and the Orient (1998), David
Arnold and Ramachandra Guha’s Nature, Culture, Imperialism (1995) have been
significant work in the environmental history of India and Southeast Asia. Ramachandra
Guha is of course the most important environmental historian writing from India today.

● Various versions of environmentalism developed.Deep ecology and ecofeminism were

two important developments. These new ideas questioned the notion of “development”
and “modernity,” and argued that all Western notions in science, philosophy, politics
were “anthropocentric” (human-centred) and “androcentric”(Man/male-centred).
Technology, medical science with its animal testing, the cosmetic and fashion industry all
came in for scrutiny from environmentalists. Deep ecology, for instance, stressed on a
“biocentric” view (as seen in the name of the environmentalist group, “Earth First!

● Ecocriticism is the result of this new consciousness: that very soon, there will be nothing
beautiful (or safe) in nature to discourse about, unless we are very careful

● Ecocritics ask questions such as:

(1) How is nature represented in the novel/poem/play ?
(2) What role does the physical-geographical setting play in the structure of the novel?
(3) How do our metaphors of the land influence the way we treat it? That is, what is the
link between pedagogic or creative practice and actual political, sociocultural and
ethical behaviour towards the land and other non-human life forms?
(4) How is science —in the form of genetic engineering, technologies of reproduction,
sexualities—open to critical scrutiny terms of the effects of science upon the land?

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● The essential assumptions, ideas and methods of ecocritics may be summed up as

follows.
(1) Ecocritics believe that human culture is related to the physical world.
(2) Ecocriticism assumes that all life forms are interlinked. Ecocriticism expands the
notion of “the world” to include the entire ecosphere.
(3) Moreover, there is a definite link between nature and culture, where the literary
treatment, representation and “thematisation” of land and nature influence actions on
the land.
(4) Joseph Meeker in an early work, The Comedy of Survival: Studies in Literary
Ecology (1972) used the term “literary ecology” to refer to “the study of biological
themes and relationships which appear in literary works. It is simultaneously an attempt
to discover what roles have been played by literature in the ecology of the human
species.”
(5) William Rueckert is believed to have coined the term “ecocriticism” in 1978, which
he defines as “the application of ecology and ecological concepts to the study of
literature

● Ecocriticism is a term used for the observation and study of the relationship between the
literature and the earth’s environment. It takes an interdisciplinary point of view by
analysing the works of authors, researchers, and poets in the context of environmental
issues and nature. Since the purpose, scope, and methodology of this theory are a bit
confusing, it is difficult to have all ecocritics agreed to this. However, some of them also
propose the solutions to the current environmental issues

● In the context of scope, the critics call this term as a broad approach that is also by
several other names, i.e. Environmental literary criticism, green studies, and ecopoetics.
It is also referred to by some other fields such as ecology, social ecology, biopolitics,
sustainable design, environmental history, environmentalism, and others

● Ecocriticism was first defined by Cheryll Glotfelty in simple words making it clear for
the other critics and writers. Considering the definition, it can be called an “increasingly
heterogeneous movement” that takes an entirely earth-centered approach. It is mainly
about the literature on the environment. So, it is mostly seen in association with the
“Association for the Study of Literature and Environment” this is also referred to as
ASLE and it holds biennial meetings for the scholars writing about the environmental
issues in their literature

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Brief Definition:

● This form of criticism has been relatively successful keeping itself away from the moral
and philosophical disputes compared to the other forms of criticism. The work and efforts
of Glotfelty played a significant role in convincing other scholars for using this term to
refer to the line of studies known as green studies previously. Due to her efforts, this field
of criticism gained recognition and popularity as a theory. Therefore, scholars
acknowledge her as a major contributor to the emergence of this name as a theory with a
broad scope

● It is especially notable that the scope of this theory is not limited to the books and essays
on nature, romantic poetry or canonical literature and have a great impact on the other
areas of the physical world. It has spread in the other mediums like film, television, and
theatre, stories, and narratives of animal life, science, and architecture in addition to the
range of other literary forms. It has also made itself rich by adopting the proven
methodologies approaches the fields of studies like literary, scientific and sociology

AS A LITERARY THEORY :

● Generally, the traditional theory considers the linguistics or the cultural background or
the social background as an important factor, eco-critics take nature as a dominant factor
as they believe that our evolution as a society is largely dependent on the forces of nature.
Because, according to them, the world in which we live is not made only with the
language and social elements

● It is only one of the many factors responsible for the existence and development of
humans. Life including the human life is heavily affected by the role nature and
environment plays and thus nature is the most important consideration of this theory

● After converting into the field of theory, the green criticism was split into parts and one
part developed itself as a branch dedicated to rereading and analyzing the role of nature,
representation and the natural elements in the literary works produced by the scholars
from the worldwide. Green studies are merely the regional literature as it takes into
consideration the differences of nature in different places. But the central source of
thoughts, research, and findings in this field will always be the authors and poets well-
known and established in the world of literature

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APPROACHES:

● There are several approaches and literary tropes proposed by the scholars to understand
the theory and works of ecocriticism and the relationship between nature and literature
created by many famous writers and thinkers

ECOFEMINISM:

● This approach combines the ecology and feminism and explains the feminist nature to
help understand the ecology. Feminists have given the concept of gender theory to
analyze the relationship between humans and nature. So, it can be considered a branch of
ecocriticism and is the field of studying the interconnection between the oppression of
women and nature

● The land is often considered as a feminine in nature because of its fertility that nurtures
life and is owned by the man as a property. So, the feminists draw the lines of
comparison to understand the similarity of dominant nature of man over women and the
domination of land in the context of gender relationships

● The term was originally coined in the book Le Féminisme ou la Mort (1974) written by
the French author Françoise d’Eaubonne. But the term is being used in different ways and
meanings in the modern time, they are ecofeminist theory, ecofeminist art, social and
political philosophy, social justice, religion, poetry and contemporary feminism. Because
of different types and beliefs of feminism among the feminists, different versions of
ecofeminism is available in the current literature

● There are two sections of this approach where first is referred to as a radical camp which
is largely focused on reversing the domination of man over woman and uncontrolled use
of nature. This is because nature and women are close to each other biologically,
emotionally and spiritually. The second section of the field follows the first which refuses
to accept the concept of feminine essence that is considered responsible for the
assumption that women and nature are connected to a great extent

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● Modern science is evaluated in the book by Vandana Shiva and Maria Mies in their book
Ecofeminism. According to them, the modern science is largely dominated by men and
this has, to a great extent, affected the natural childbirth process by the use of birth
control medicines

● It has made the birth process and ultimately the health and life of women dependent on
the specialized medical technologies that are controlled by men. This can be seen as one
of many ecofeminism examples in the literature that are created as an effort to
contributing towards improving the situations of women in a natural context

PASTORAL:

● This is basically a lifestyle of shepherds and strongly states the duality of urban and rural
life and is deep-rooted in the western culture. This trope has presented itself in the genres
of literature, art, and music which shows the rural life in such an idealized manner that
can attract the attention of urban audiences. The author displays the complex life or
pastoralism of the rural areas in a simple way in the literature by using various techniques

● Since pastoral literature maintains a firm view towards nature, authors like Paul Alpers
describe it as a mode instead of a genre. It is apparent in different types of literature like
poetry, drama as a mode and pastoral elegy as a genre

● Well-known literary theorist Terry Gifford in his book Pastoral has defined the pastoral
in three ways. The first way is the historical literary perspective which recognizes the
lifestyle of shepherds and discusses their hardship. The second way is about the literature
that explains the country life in an opposite context to the urban life explicitly or
implicitly. The third way is about the way of classification of the country life that can be
said as that of derogatory manner

● Greg Gerrard, a best seller author of ecocriticism, has divided the pastoral theory into
three branches. The first branch is Classic Pastoral which takes into consideration nature
as a place where humans get peace of mind and identifies the self. The second branch is
Romantic Pastoral that describes the post-industrial revolution period that signifies the
importance of rural independence which is more desirable instead of the urbanization

● And the third is American Pastoral which explains the farmland as a boundary between
the wilderness and urban area. This considers the land as a resource which can be used

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for farming. Many authors including Greg has worked to define pastoral in literature that
is very helpful for the aspiring students of ecology and nature

WILDERNESS:

● Wilderness is the environment naturally existing around us on the Earth that is not
affected by the human activities yet. In a more comprehensive meaning, they are the
areas which humans do not control and where they have not created any disturbance by
making roads and installing pipelines or developing infrastructures for the industries and
are still intact as they were. In recent times, the marine wilderness has also gained
attention as its area is continuously being affected by human activities

● However, efforts are also being made to maintain them and protect from the intervention,
and some governments have already started paying attention to them. Governments and
global organizations are actively working to restrict the motorized activities of human on
the lands that are not yet modified for the use of cultivation or transportation or industrial
production

● Literature has paid enough attention to develop and define trope to understand the
wilderness. How the wilderness is developed and plays a valuable role in nature and life
on the Earth is the subject of examination in this approach. This has also successfully
attracted the attention of ecocritics

● However, it is also seen with two different beliefs in the American and the British
cultures. According to the first belief, wilderness is considered as a threat. This is evident
in the early British culture and Biblical tales of creation. According to the early American
pieces of literature, wild-land is mentioned as the place for demonic activities

● But in modern literature, it is seen as a sanctuary where animals can be kept safe and in
their natural way of life. People of the modern world have documented the encounters
with the wilderness to help understand it from a more positive perspective. Many novels
have described the life in the wild which has changed the way the world used to see the
wild-land and its environment

Sources/ Bibliography:

1. Oxford Companion to Critical Theory

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