Indigenous Ecologies in Mahasweta Devi’s Chotti Munda and His Arrow

Abstract

Designating the connection between literature and environment this paper highlights Mahasweta Devi’s Chotti Munda and His Arrow from the standpoint of postcolonial ecocriticism where it highlights how the survival of the tribal is ecologically related and how much they are concerned about their own ecology. As a mother of a sustainable society, Mahasweta Devi shows her anxiety for the tribals. She binds their history and their closeness and bonding with nature in such a way that it may explore their involvement in constructing a sustainable environment as she believes that an author must have a social responsibility. Postcolonial ecocriticism not only just echoes history rather it has also brought changes in the physical environment they belong to. Here Mahasweta Devi focuses on how on one hand, the exploitation of the tribals at the hands of the landowners brings ecological degradation physically, socially, and psychologically and on the other hand she explores how that degradation is alleviated through the tribals’ sense of responsibility and their ecological wisdom and the empowerment they achieve through the culture of archery.