Ecocritical Responsiveness and Diasporic Imagination: An Eco-Colonial Representation in Diasporic Writings

Abstract

Within the literary realm, the relationship between environmental sensitivity and postcolonial woundedness is an interestingly intersecting perspective. Ecocriticism highlights Nature as a space of sociocultural values where the writer uses his imaginative bend to explore issues related to the environment, such as the maltreatment of the environment by humans and anthropocentric utilization of nature. Taking Aamer Hussein’s collection of short stories, i.e., The Swan’s Wife, as a sample, the current study, in this context, sheds light on how nature/environment and postcolonial understanding can serve as a metaphoric signifier for healing colonial wounds. Through a detailed qualitative content analysis, the paper explains how nature is an engaging mechanism in Aamer Hussein’s selected work that assimilates diasporic imagination with eco-consciousness. The study, thus, initiates a much-needed debate between the role of ecocritical thought and postcolonial consciousness in the Pakistani context.