Vol. II. Issue. III September 2011 - The Criterion: An International ...

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www.the-criterion.com The Criterion: An International Journal in English ISSN 0976-8165 The Village by the Sea: An Ecocritical Reading Raj Kumar Mishra Ecocriticism is a conscious-raising phenomenon about environment. To the students or scholars of literature, ‘ecocriticism is a critical development to spread consciousness about ecological concerns. It is a multidisciplinary approach. Numberless development programmes are being executed not being with ecology instead at the cost of ecology. Ecocriticism as a literary ecological philosophy provides a reliable framework or mechanism to analyze cultural and literary texts which are directly/ indirectly preoccupied with ecological concerns and contexts. Moreover it looks at the depictions of natural sights and landscapes along with people’s attitudes and attention towards nature; may be favorable or unfavorable. In fact this sort of attempt negotiates between literature and ecology. Keywords: Ecocriticism, Ecology, Deep Ecology, Environment Justice Movement etc. We look But at the surfaces of things; we hear Of towns in flames, fields ravaged, young and old Driven out in troops to want and nakedness: Then grasp our swords and rush upon a cure That flatters us because it asks not though: The deeper malady is better his, The world is poisoned at the heart. (The Borderers) Today we live in a world of tropical warmth, chronic drought, desertification, deforestation, acidifying of oceans, frequent coastal inundation, tsunami, cyclones, increasing food and shelter shortage, accidents at nuclear power stations, oxytocin applied vegetables, industrial pollution, and many more lethal activities. It is most pressing need to keep our environment safe so that we can live and let other beings live and survive too. Environment affects and even largely determines all things ranging from food, fashion, technology to race, class, gender, sexuality, mentality, nationality, law, religion, economics etc. Eco-imbalance is not specific (one nation, one place, or one city) problem. It is a global phenomenon. Hence whole world unanimously whether partially or fully affected, should come forward and launch a global campaign with honesty for the service of environment and the restoration of healthy environment. In wake of global ecological crises and resultant life-threatening effects prompted literary thinkers to formulate an eco-oriented approach called ‘ecocriticism’. It came off as a new feather to the field of literary criticism. Today the world peace is threatened especially by our blind exploitation of nature. If racism was 20 th century disease, ecological problem is 21st century trouble. We have several eco-philosophies and organizations for the sake of environment. Some of them are Deep Ecology, The Environment Justice Movement, Earth First!, Ecocriticism etc. These are solely intended “to find ways of keeping the human community from destroying the natural community, and with it the human community. This is what ecologists like to call the self-destructive or suicidal motive that is inherent in our prevailing and paradoxical attitude toward nature. The conceptual and Vol. II. Issue. III 170 September 2011
www.the-criterion.com The Criterion: An International Journal in English ISSN 0976-8165 practical problem is to find the grounds upon which the two communities- the human, the natural- can coexist, cooperate, and flourish in the biosphere (Rueckert1996:107)”. Ecocriticism as a literary ecological philosophy provides a reliable framework or mechanism to analyze cultural and literary texts which are directly/ indirectly preoccupied with ecological concerns and contexts. Moreover it looks at the depictions of natural sights and landscapes along with people’s attitudes and attention towards nature; may be favorable or unfavorable. In fact this sort of attempt negotiates between literature and ecology. Ecocriticism as a literary and cultural theory is burgeoning since 1990’s in Europe and America chiefly. However seeds were laid around four decades ago in Raymond Williams’ The Country and the City (1973) and Annette Kolodny’s The Lay of the Land (1975). Cheryll Glotfelty simply defines ‘ecocriticism’ as “the study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment…takes an earth centered approach to literary studies (Glotfelty, 1996: xviii). However some critics attribute the birth of the term ‘ecocriticism’ to US critic William Rueckert’s essay “Literature and Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism”(1978). By ‘ecocriticism’ he means application of ecology and ecological concepts to the study of literature. Bate, the first British ecocritic sees ‘ecocrticism’ double stranded approach. The first explores human attitudes towards nature; and the second, the relationship between man and nature depicted in various literary texts. Since 1970s a need was continually being experienced to give due representation to ecology into literary studies. The result is ‘ecocriticism’. A number of equivalents to ‘ecocriticism’ can be suggested such as ‘ecopoetics’, ecological literature’, ecoliterature, ‘environmental literature’, ‘environmental literary criticism’, ‘green studies’, ‘green cultural studies’, ‘green literature’, ‘nature writing’ so on and so forth. As a literary field of study, it seeks to relate humans to non-human environment. Moreover it evaluates prevalent ideologies towards nature spread over literary and cultural texts. Ecocritics are so enthusiastic that they blur the line between human and non-human world. Like Wordsworth they see nature as living personality. Ecocritics flamboyantly disapprove of the notion that non-human world is subordinate to human. Ecocritics view all literature in terms of place, setting or environment. Ecocriticism as a critical perspective looks at the relationship between human and extra-human world. Ecocritics not only worry about wild life and wilderness but also human health, food and shelter. Almost all human activities today are engaged in the blind exploitation of nature. Consequently he/she is enjoying the deadly dance of destruction without any complaint. Industrial pollution is the main threat along with destructive ways of consuming natural resources, such as excessive fishing and the ‘clear cut logging of forests’. (Kerridge 2006: 533). Ecocritics argue for sympathy towards both pet and non-pet animals. Deep Ecology is the radical form of environmentalism conceived by Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess in early 70’s of 20 th century, seeks to shift ‘anthropocentrism’ (human centered) into ‘ecocentrism’(environment centered). ‘The Environmental Justice Movement’ refers to ‘the efforts of poor communities to defend themselves against the dumping of toxic waste, the harmful contamination of their air, food, and water, the loss of their lands and livelihoods, and the indifference of governments and corporations’.(Kerridge 2006:533). Vol. II. Issue. III 171 September 2011
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