Ecofeminism and Pakistani Anglophone Literature

Abstract

Ecofeminist discourse is primarily developed by western scholars. It does not always take into account the discrepancies that the non-western examples of human–nature and women–nature relationships provide. This essay studies certain Pakistani Anglophone texts that abound in such examples that help develop an alternative ecofeminist analysis to explains these discrepancies. I term this alternative analysis “postcolonial ecofeminism” which does not completely depart from mainstream ecofeminism. Postcolonial ecofeminism still rests in the basic ecofeminist assumption that there is a connection in how one treats women and the environment and all feminized and naturalized entities. However, it contends that to explain the women–nature relationship, especially in the South Asian, post/neocolonial Pakistani context, it is important to consider the material realities of women (and men) that are directly related to their status as members of post/neocolonial societies.