Ecocriticism Theory Research Articles

The Early Reception of Tash Aw’s Narrative in Malaysia: An Ecocritical Interpretation of Harmony within Dissonance in The Harmony Silk Factory

This article is part of the current ecocritical research that is being conducted on Tash Aw’s works. It attempts to analyse Tash Aw’s first novel The Harmony Silk Factory and investigate how he customizes the concept of harmony and dissonance in relation to human beings from the perspective of the recent and growing theory of ecocriticism. Through examining Aw’s novel, the manipulation of nature in the hope of illustrating the plot of a novel is studied thoroughly. In this article, the ecocritical theory is used to approach the phenomenon of harmony and dissonance in nature in the context of human-nature relationship in the chosen novel. The ecocritical theory assists in revealing with what perspectives the nature is portrayed by Aw in his first novel. The analysis of the novel reveals that there is a coherent harmony in dissonance in the bridge between human beings and their natural setting with the idea that human beings and nature are constantly influencing each other and causing different outcomes from even the slightest change. The implication of the research reveals that the human-nature relationship is indeed something that carries much weight and needs to be given much consideration to. It gives rise to the issue that human beings and nature are inextricably interconnected. By incorporating the Malaysian viewpoint and voice of Tash Aw in the current article, we have exposed how ecocriticism is instrumental in meeting its targeted scope in Malaysian literary context as a multinational area of scholarship.

A Comparative Study of Silent Spring and A Sand County Almanac under Ecocriticism Theory

Silent Spring is important in the field of natural literature. However, studies on it are only few, and most of them are based on traditional literary study methods. Corpus stylistics emerged in the 1980s, providing a new paradigm for literary research which transcends traditional literary research methods in many aspects. Based on ecocriticism, this study conducts a comparative study on the themes, language features and narrative perspectives of Silent Spring and A Sand County Almanac by using corpus tools. The results show that, as for the themes, Silent Spring pays attention to the intervention of human activities on nature, while A Sand County Almanac focuses on the charm of nature itself. In terms of language features, Silent Spring is more objective and convincing, while the language of A Sand County Almanac is more vivid. As for the narrative perspective, Silent Spring often uses an objective third-person perspective, while A Sand County Almanac uses a subjective first-person perspective. Although Silent Spring and A Sand County Almanac are different in themes, language features and narrative perspective, they both reveal a love for nature and strong awareness of environmental protection.

The Interpretation of Lawrence’s Poetry from the Perspective of Ecocriticism Theory

The Interpretation of Lawrence’s Poetry from the Perspective of Ecocriticism Theory

Theoretical Representation of Ecocriticism in Dhruv P Bhatt’s Oceanside Blues

Dhruv P Bhatt, who is excellent in Gujarati language and literature, is one of the foremost pioneers of impudent ecocritical issues in narratives in Gujarati literature. Contemporary accomplishments of Gujarati literature are depicted in Bhatt’s Samudrantike, written in the Gujarati language in the foundation stage. Subsequently, the text was translated into English as Oceanside Blues by Vinod Meghani in 2013. The focus of the novel offered is set against the background of his own experience. The present paper titled, “Theoretical Representation of Dhruv P Bhatt’s Oceanside Blues seems to explore the theory of ecocriticism, environmental problems, importance of coastal area of Gujarat, sea, festivities related to Gujarati Khaarava’ as well as culture and taboos of Guajarati maritime community with the variegated characteristics.

American Economic Hardship in Go Down Moses by William Faulkner

This research investigates the representation of rural life in America in Go Down Moses by William Faulkner, especially in their economic mindset because most of the people in the village have a unique mindset that they have to move to the big city to get more successful. This analysis would like to give a new perspective on this mindset that people in the village can utilize the land in their village to get more money to get more successful they do not need to move to the bigger city for they can use their land by husbandry, agriculture, and fishery. The research used American Pastoral theory and the theory of ecocriticism. Go Down Moses is a novel with seven different stories, and each story with a different conflict in each story and the investigation will focus on the background and setting of the Environment in the story. And it will give the reader a new insight into utilizing land, especially in the village. This research is important to invite people awareness of utilizing the land for their living and throw away the wrong mindset that we have to move to the big city to get a better life.

Analysis of several poetic texts according to the theory of environmental criticism

Abstract Ecocriticism is a new critical look which cares about researches of environment, nature and place in literature invention. The literary researchers have analyzed those texts which illustrate environmental concerns. This research is entitled “‌ analyzing some poetic texts according to ecocriticism theory”which is an attempt to introduce Ecocriticism theory in Kurdish literature. The research consists of two chapters; the first chapter concludes term, concept and the importance of Ecocriticism theory. In the second chapter, we have analyzed some poetic texts of Karim Dashti, Kazhal Ahmed and Dlawar Qaradagi according to the principles of this theory. In the end, list of resources and the research abstract have been illustrated in Arabic and English languages. Keywords: Environment, Ecology, Ecocriticism, Protecting the environment and Humans and the environment.

Sustainable Environmental Management and Ojhung: The Raincall Ritual of Madurese Community

Indonesia’s climate change is frequently caused by vulnerable environmental management problems. Madura and its people have a lot of knowledge and innovation that they used to sustain themselves in the face of environmental issues. They lived with indigenous knowledge as a critical strategy to survive the Environmental issues. This study deals with how the Madurese survive and manage an environment that often lacks water due to extended droughts. Sustainable environmental management in the Madurese community is related to rituals to interact with nature. They have performed the Ojhung ritual regularly as an effort to balance the environment. They believe that nature and humans are closely related and inseparable. Therefore, in this study, the theory of Ecocriticism is used in understanding environmental management by the Madurese community through their indigenous knowledge. This study used a qualitative approach as the research method. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with related expert sources and literature review. The results of this study indicate the community believes that the environment will get its balance if humans wisely manage the environment by maintaining their indigenous knowledge.

TIN EXPLOITATION: AN ECOCRITICISM APPROACH IN ANDREA HIRATA’S RAINBOW TROOPS

This research was aimed at reflecting how Hirata reveals the tin exploitation in Belitung Island through his debut novel, Laskar Pelangi. It is significant and worthy research as it is an effort to raise awareness and understanding of human beings about the importance of nature and the environment, especially awareness for people who have the power to determine nature protection policies and the importance of nature conservation for the preservation of ecosystems for future generations. This research applied the theory of ecocriticism proposed by Gerrard supported by the theory offered by Gutti, Aji and Magaji. This research uses descriptive qualitative in which the data obtained from the novel are analyzed to reveal the process of tin exploitation in Belitung Island. The research results show that tin exploitation in Belitung Island is carried out both in traditional and modern ways. Traditional tools used to mine tin are phok, aichang, khaknai and kiaw to make water embankments and shovels to dig soil, while modern tools used to mine tin are machines in the forms of heavy equipment, such as dredgers and excavators. Traditional tin mining activities in Belitung which are carried out without a Mining Business Permit or Unlicensed Mining is also revealed in the novel.

An Evaluation of Environmental Symbolism used in Children Literature: Case Study of Kijiji Cha Ukame and Mazingira Maridadi

This work has delved into an evaluation of environmental symbolism used in children’s literature in Kijiji Cha Ukame by Hamisi Babusa and Mazingira Maridadi by Rebecca Zawadi. These two books are part of children’s literature. The language used in the two books is Kiswahili and hence is part of Kiswahili literature. The authors used environmental symbolism to communicate to the young children in a language that they would understand, appreciate, and identify with it in relation to their day-to-day activities. Symbols used are more accessible for the pupils to understand and interpret. The authors have used; various colours, animals, birds, insects, and human being symbolical to communicate to the learner on the ways, significance and benefits of environmental conservation using simple language. Thus, the work examined environmental symbolism employed with the view of grasping how the various symbols were interpreted and ultimately viewed by not only children but the community at large, using a child’s lens. It is scrutiny anchored on an ecocritic lens. Some of the pillars of ecocriticism theory that steered this work are; environmental rights, environmental ethics, poor leadership and governance, death, and tradition. The importance of inculcating an environmental eco-conscious in a child at an early age during the learning process cannot be emphasised enough. This is the more reason why ecocriticism theory guided the study from a child’s perspective.

Symbols of the Sentient House of Usher: An Ecocritic Approach

This analysis is an attempt to examine usage of symbols in the ‘sentient’ house of Usher, a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. The short narrative is commonly renowned to as The Fall of the House of Usher. The paper has been premised on an ecocritic approach. Ecocriticism is a study that uses an interdisciplinary lens in its view on literature and environment. Mainly it concentrates on the relationship betwixt literary work and the surrounding, emphasizing on a habit of scrutiny that is vigilant to environmental issues. The main objective of such a reading is to highlight more ways of curbing environmental exploitation, minimizing or eliminating environmental violence, as well as end ecocide. This work evaluated Poes’ work and explored how symbolism has depicted nature and environmental concerns in his work. The analysis was guided by some of the major tenets of ecocriticism theory and hence, has been anchored on an ecocritic approach. Some of the tenets that guided it are death, tradition, and environmental rights. Symbolism is a technique of constructing literary and artistic work that is depicted through employment of symbols either because of interest in the craft and furnishing the piece work with an appealing literary fragrance or for whatsoever reason, such as portray environment. One of the main functions of symbolism in literary work is to censure society obscurely, securely, and devoid of any possible harm or victimization that may fall upon the author.

Natural Destruction from Heavy Metal Perspective: Ecocritical Reading of Burgerkill’s Selected Song Lyrics

This study aims to analyze two song lyrics titled “Hancur” and “Tinggalkan Aku Terdiam” from the Indonesian heavy metal band Burgerkill in order to see how environmental destruction in Indonesia is represented through heavy metal song lyrics. The ecological damage caused by natural exploitation has reached its critical point. The damage is almost beyond repair. Thus, this study tries to scrutinize how musicians represent their concerns on ecological damage. In doing this, this research uses the theory of ecocriticism as the foundational theory in order to scrutinize the texts. Then, this study uses a qualitative-interpretative method which is commonly applied in the study of literary texts. The results show that, firstly, “Hancur” song lyric describes the current state of nature in Indonesia. It shows the neglected environment after its resources are dredged by some people. Meanwhile, “Tinggalkan Aku Terdiam” represent the disappointment and anger of nature towards irresponsible people, it utilizes the first-person point of view to represent as if the nature who leave without any restoring effort after exploiting the nature. Hence, it can be said that, this analysis of the depiction of the ecological destruction is one of the efforts to expedite the pro-environmental movement for natural preservation.

EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL DESECRATION: AN ECOCRITICAL READING OF KAINE AGARY’S YELLOW YELLOW

No doubt, numerous scholars have carried researches out on Nigeria’s squalid state after her independence. The focus of many of these studies range from investigating many of the topical issues that have come to define the country— from war, economy, to politicking. However, not many scholars have paid the enough attention to the ecological concerns of Nigerians. This paper, therefore, examines Kaine Agary’s Yellow Yellow as a testament to the environmental mindfulness of Kaine Agary, Nigerian novelists. The choice of this text is informed by the fact that there is a dearth of serious scholarly research on the novel. Using the theory of Ecocriticism, this study finds out that the author, Agary, is not unaware of the ecological implications of man’s exploitative tendencies on earth’s resources. In fact, he uses his work to berate these forces that promote the unchecked desecration of the mother earth, using the Niger Delta region of Nigeria as a case study.

The Analysis of Family Ecology under the Toxic Smoke in DeLillo’s White Noise

This paper takes the Gladneys in DeLillo’s White Noise as the research object and examines their daily life. Ecocriticism theory is adopted to determine what factors might influence their family ecology and lead to the lack of communication and trust among family members. The results of this study have indicated that the dilemma of the Gladneys stems from the toxic smoke floating in the air and pervading in the sociocultural context. Changes in family structure, mass media and consumer culture all overshadow their family ecology. The Gladneys’ dilemma also reflects the collective dilemma of the post-modern American society.

Cultural Ecological Attitudes in Gita Mehta’s A River Sutra

One of the sparkling stars in the galaxy of Indian writers, Gita Mehta is the brightest. Her novels are written with Indian perspectives and they are explorations of the tension generated by the east-west encounters. Her novel A River Sutra is a colourful fictional account of India that mirrors Indian history and culture. It connects Indian mythology with various depictions of love in its many aspects. It told through a pen-pusher and his encounter with six pilgrims on the banks of the Narmada. In Western Feminist studies, the woman is always portrayed with a quest for freedom from the urban exploitative society to nature. It is appealing to determine that this concept receives a new dimension in a different cultural context. In this novel, Mehta has shifted her focus from the interactions between India and the west to exploring the diversity of cultures within India. Gita Mehta uses the Narmada as the thread, which holds together the main story and the six sub-stories. The present paper discusses in detail the theory of eco-criticism and it aims at highlighting an understanding of various terms like green studies and nature studies, as well as describes in fair detail, the different subfields of eco-criticism, namely, Cultural ecology, Eco-feminism and Gyno-Ecology.

An Eco-critical Analysis of Moby Dick

Moby Dick is well acknowledged as a world masterpiece by the American author Herman Melville. This paper attempts to analyze Melville’s Moby Dick by the theory of eco-criticism. In order to better approach the American society before the 1950s, the author aims to scrutinize the novel with eco-criticism from three such aspects as nature, society and spirit so that the present society can gain some insights in preventing and solving similar problems. Divided into several parts as follows, this paper introduces Melville and Moby Dick as well as eco-criticism first and then interprets the novel via eco-criticism in three aspects, and finally ends with its realistic significance as a conclusion.

Revamping the Environment for National Development: A Lexico-Semantic Reading of Niyi Osundare’s The Eye of the Earth

Environmental poetry is relatively young in the literature of the Nigerian literary writers and critics. Literary scholars of an earlier generation before Osundare – Soyinka, Okigbo, and Okara have dwelt more on the themes and language of cultural heritage, cultural conflicts, colonial and post-colonial political, socio-economic and religious issues. They barely scratched around the themes of environment and ecology. More so, their language may be adjudged obscure and esoteric. Therefore, the present study engages in the exploration of Osundare’s innovative and full-scale venture into pivotal issues of the environment that have become of utmost concern nationally and internationally in contemporary times. Also of interest in this study is Osundare’s efforts to redefine the diction of Nigerian poetry to reach a wider audience. Osundare’s poetry collection, The Eye of the Earth is our focal text. It has been observed that critical studies on this collection are largely centered on literary interpretations. Lexico-semantic exploration of this collection can be considered inadequate, which necessitated the present study to strike a balance in deciphering Osundare’s language and thematic preoccupations. This study is anchored on systemic functional linguistics (SFL) and eco-criticism theory with insights from lexical-semantic theory. Poems of environmental background are purposively selected from the collection. The study reveals Osundare’s tactical manipulation of “common” language in exposing man’s pernicious activities in the natural environment. In a similar manipulative skill in language use, the study unveils consequential roles imperative for a man to obviate his adverse activities on nature in order to achieve development at different spheres of life.

An ecocritical reading of Victor Yankah‟s The Pretty Trees of Gakwana and Sikaman

The increasing environmental concerns of the 20th and 21st centuries have given rise to the term ecocriticism, a field of literary theory and criticism. In this paper, we examined two plays of Victor Yankah using some concepts from ecocriticism as an analytical framework. The paper is premised on the basis that the playwright shares a symbiotic relationship which has become a significant feature of the selected plays. Drawing from the eco-critical theory of ecocriticism and using two of his nature plays: The Pretty Trees of Gakwana and Sikaman, we intend to demonstrate Yankah‟s view and preoccupations about the mutual relationship between the human other and nature (the nonhuman other)-the natural world of environment with the view to prove the playwright‟s concern about the interference of human beings into the world of nature. This situation adversely results in the disruption of the symbiotic (human-nature) relationship. Yankah has presented both the epistemic and retributive forces of nature as well as raised concerns about the environment, ecological consciousness in advocating for ecological sustainability in modern African theatre and dramatic literature scholarship. Thus, the reading of Victor Yanka‟s selected plays adds to the relatively new and developing interest in environmental discourses on the African continent. To the extent that intrinsic features of nature are exhibited in his selected plays, we argue that Yankah provokes environmental debate and a rethinking in African playwrights concerning environmental issues to raise awareness and inspire environmental consciousness and ecological sustainability among people in Africa, and Ghana in particular.

Extraction Ecology: Environment and People in the Anthropocene

The uncontrollable pursuit of growth and benefits has dominated our society. In developed part of the planet people live in energy phase of modernity but it is marked by instability of social situations and culture forms. It is often closely related to issues such as climate change, the disappearance of agro-biodiversity, or the loss of animal biodiversity. The extreme climate flux that human beings face today can be linked to the human continuous need for energy. The constant appetite to consume more and more energy has resulted in environmental degradation, like collapsed impoundment dams, floods, dead zones in forests. It has not only affected the environment but also people. It has given rise to unemployment, crippling poverty, and diseases such as black lung disease. This paper operates at the intersection of ecocriticism and extractive fiction studies to study the impact of mining by examining The Upheaval by Pundalik Naik. By applying the theory of ecocriticism, this paper will study and highlight how these places are rich in resources but are places of environmental degradation, public health issues, poverty and social conflict.

The Superiority Value of a Poetry Anthology in Providing Public Awareness of The Environment During Covid-19 Pandemic

This study describes the superiority value of a poetry anthology in providing public awareness of the environment during the Covid-19 pandemic. Sources of data in this study were four poems from the poetry anthology "Covid-19, Radang dan Ladang Kehidupan". The four poems have the theme of public awareness of the environment during the Covid-19 pandemic. The data was collected using a qualitative method and analyzed data with the stages of identifying, classifying, interpreting, discussing, and concluding the data. The theory used is the theory of ecocriticism. The results show that the values in the poetry anthology have their advantages in conveying messages to the public regarding environmental awareness. The interpretation of the values in the poem implies that the Covid-19 pandemic is a consequence for people who cannot properly care for the environment. On the other hand, Covid-19 has also become a momentum to make people aware so that they can be wiser when living side by side with nature and the surrounding environment.

Cultural Dilemma of The Arab Woman Expressed through Nature Imagery: An Ecocritical Study of Fadia Faqir’s Pillars of Salt

The Arab community is essentially a patriarchal one with a history of women being subjected to various kinds of afflictions and oppression under cultural, religious and societal laws. Though there is a collective consciousness now regarding the position of the Arab woman in the Arab world, with significant progress being made to emancipate and empower them, much needs to be done still. Set in the mid-20th century Jordan, Arab Anglophone author Fadia Faqir’sPillars of Salt portrays the tragic plight of Arab women at the hands of the traditional patriarchal Arab communities of Jordan. Nature plays a significant role in Faqir’s narrative wherein much of the miseries faced by the women characters are conveyed through rich nature imageries and analogies. This renders the novel the identity of an eco-fictional work and provides scope for analysis based on the ecological approaches as perceived in Emerson’s Nature to the more recent theory of Ecocriticism formulated by William Rueckert. This paper explores an ecocritical approach towards the position of women in the Arab society as expressed through profound eco-comparisons, imageries and analogies in Fadia Faqir’s Pillars of Salt.