Spinning toxic yarns of matter: material environments and marginalized toxic bodies in Latife Tekin's Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills and John Burnside's Glister

Abstract

ABSTRACT Within a material ecocritical framework, this article investigates the fatal consequences of toxicity on human beings, nonhuman entities, and the physical environment as reflected in Latife Tekin's Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills (1984) and John Burnside's Glister (2008). By emphasizing the agentic and narrative quality of matter, and by unearthing the trans-corporeal interactions between human/nonhuman bodies and the material world, it throws light on the materiality of the human body, explores the narrative agencies of storied matter, and unveils the disturbing stories the densely toxified lands and toxic bodies tell. The article examines how these two novels, albeit set in distinct geographies and cultures, interact with each other to delineate the complex human-nonhuman interactions in the production of toxic environments and marginalized toxic bodies. Such venture in works of eco-fiction coincides with the main objective of material ecocriticism, which draws attention to the stories inherent in the material world to prevent further human devastation.