Waste Land Research Articles

‘Musing upon the king my brother’s wreck’: Shipwrecked Nostos in a Ulyssean Palimpsest in The Waste Land

Abstract In this article, I read the shipwrecked journeys in T. S. Eliot’s 1922 poem The Waste Land as belonging to a long-standing trope of travel by sea. By examining the connections between the scenes of shipwrecks in the poem and its intertexts, including works by Homer and Shakespeare, I reconstruct the characters’ homecoming journeys in a Ulyssean palimpsest of nostos (‘homecoming’) in these scenes. I argue that these scenes foreground the challenges of homecoming by sea while implying the hope for returns through mythical implications and dramatic effect. The article situates drowning and resurrection, the governing themes of the poem, in the critical lineage of nostos that encompasses deferred return and symbolic rebirth. Informed by the context of the Great War and Eliot’s New England heritage, the article challenges the work in modernist studies that tends to interpret Eliot’s depiction of these thwarted journeys as a rejection of homecoming.

Time Series approach to map areas of Agricultural Plastic Waste generation

Abstract. The escalating presence of plastics in agriculture has raised concerns regarding Agricultural Plastic Waste (APW). Hitherto, a lack of comprehensive plasticulture data impedes effective waste management strategies, potentially resulting in plastic pollution and contributing to microplastic formation. APW locations and quantities are pivotal for territorial planning and the formulation of public policies on waste management and land use. Remote detection of agri-plastics has garnered increased consideration, particularly in mapping plastic-mulched farmlands (PMFs) dispersed in extensive regions. This study investigates whether the use of satellite image time series can map PMFs accurately. We assessed pixel-based classification using a 16-day composite time series of Sentinel-2 imagery (S2-16D) obtained from the Brazil Data Cube project. The Plastic-Mulched Landcover Index (PMLI) was joined into S2-16D bands because it is an index focused on PMF detection. Four classifiers (RF, MLP, L-TAE, and TCNN) were compared through agreed classification metrics. The most promising outcome showed an overall accuracy of 100% employing L-TAE but with visible noise in the map. The time series enhanced accuracy while minimizing background confusion, offering a viable solution for PMF detection. The PMF map presented herein represents an initial stride toward fostering circularity in plasticulture throughout South America.

Geographic Information System (GIS) and Multi-purpose Household Survey (MPHS) Based Tax Assessment Approach for manifold revenue generation in Mandav, Dhar (M.P.), India: A pilot ward study

Abstract: This study has been done under project entitled “Prepare Property Tax Register based on GIS & Multi-Purpose Household Survey its integration E-Nagarpalika with Technical Handholding Support” by M.P. Government. In Mandav, as a pilot ward 05 (Rampura Ward) were selected and that aims to find out the comparison of revenue generation in terms of taxation for individual household properties in the same ward. Study ward had 98 existing house hold properties according to Nagar Parishad, Mandav records and after MPH survey it became 164. Using GIS techniques and existing tax assessment approach, in a totality 191% demand growth has been observed. 100% demand growth has been found in commercial properties followed by 39% growth in residential properties and 16% growth in mixed properties. Land Use and Land Cover map has also been made using drone imagery (resolution 0.35cm) and GIS techniques. In study ward agriculture land were found 35.44% of the total area followed by built-up area 27.16%, waste land 17.63%, water bodies 14.36%. Keywords: Manifold Revenue Generation, Demand Growth, Land Use and Land Cover, Multi-purpose Households Survey and GIS techniques.

Riverine macroplastic survey along the segments of Tullahan River in Metro Manila, Philippines

The Philippines is one of the world’s main contributors to global marine plastic pollution. However, field data remains scarce, so model estimates of riverine plastic pollution may be inaccurate. This paper aims to characterize the macrolitter observed along the Tullahan River, with focus on plastics, passing through the barangays of Quezon City and Valenzuela City in Metro Manila. The impact of solid waste management and land use activities on plastic flux were also investigated. For the floating litter, visual counting and float method were used to determine the plastic flux and river velocity, respectively. Riverbank litter was collected manually to characterize it based on plastic product and polymer type. Results show that the macroplastic flux was lowest on the site where residential houses are farthest from the stream. Waste characterization revealed that riverbank litter was primarily plastic – 30%–41% were residuals, and 5%–21% were recyclables. Both methods revealed that wrappers and thin PE plastics are the top contributors to riverine macroplastic pollution. Therefore, the entry of macroplastics into the river may be due to land use activities and weak enforcement of existing solid waste management (SWM) policies. The points discussed in the study can help in improving SWM and land use planning. The results can also increase the accuracy of model estimates.

Coming and Going: The Women of T.S. Eliot

There were four influential women in Eliot's life: two wives, two women who believed that one day he would marry them, and a brief affair of which he was deeply ashamed. New evidence of some 1,131 letters sent by Eliot to one of the women, Emily Hale, available to scholars after a fifty-year embargo imposed by Eliot, throws dramatic new light on T.S. Eliot the man, and also major insights into his poetry.[i] Eliot destroyed her replies, perhaps in order to protect his reputation. Eliot claimed that poetry should be transformed into an impersonal statement, but his poetry was not as 'impersonal' as he alleged, but replete with personal incidents from his private life with his women. His troubled first wife “nearly was the death of me, but she kept the poet alive”. Emily – his first platonic, lifelong love who lived in America – was his poem’s “hyacinth girl”; Mary was a friend he frequented in England for drives in the car, domestic dinners and culture. He finally found true happiness, and the ability to write erotic verse, when he married Valerie, thirty-eight years his junior, and with whom he found contentment in his twilight years. He also had a brief affair with Nancy Cunard, of which he was deeply ashamed. The aim of this paper is to show the various major influences these four women had on Eliot’s life and work. Focus will mainly be on Prufrock, The Waste Land, and Four Quartets.

On Province and Empire in My Ántonia and One of Ours: Cather’s 1922 The Waste Land

Willa Cather profoundly alters her attitude towards the American experiment, World War I, and the prospect of cultural pluralism in America between her 1918 My Ántonia and her 1922 One of Ours. In doing so, she addresses the issue of what kind of culture America should have: a monistic one such as Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson advocated or a pluralistic one. In My Ántonia, set during the period of Great Plains settlement but extending up into World War I, she presents an intact American cultural pluralism: non-English speaking European cultures continuing their positive practices absent the monarchic repression of Central European empires. Her ethnic settlements in the Great Plains practice pluralistic democracy without intervention from centralised authority, implicitly reflecting what could happen under an emerging European anti-monarchic ethos or in an America that allowed for many ways of life. In One of Ours, on the other hand, she savages the jingoism that possessed America during, and after World War I: a repression that makes the war disastrous for pluralistic democracy. The dream falters. Her wartime Nebraska becomes repressive for Germans, Czechs, and other divergent peoples. It practices conformity, a new materialism, and meaningless religion. Indeed, the death of her novel’s hero, Claude Wheeler, is not a sacrifice that enables democratic renewal but rather offers us a self-blinded hero who dies in glorious strife only as he sees it. He actually dies for a nation increasingly making itself unsafe for democracy in an army whose soldiers are massively disillusioned by the war. Thereafter, Cather writes little in a positive vein of Nebraska or the Great Plains and its various cultures but turns to earlier New World catalyst communities such as those of Quebec, the pueblos of the Southwest, and pioneer New Mexico.

The Bodhisattva in T. S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land”: A Journey through Spiritual Desolation

T.S. Eliot's seminal modernist poem "The Waste Land" has long been recognized for its intricate web of literary and philosophical allusions, including references to Mahayana Buddhism. This paper aims to examine the presence and significance of the Bodhisattva, a central figure in this tradition, within the poem. By leveraging Sallie B. King's theory of Buddha Nature (1992), which posits the inherent potential for enlightenment within all beings, this analysis seeks to shed new light on Eliot's portrayal of spiritual desolation, disillusionment and the quest for transformation. Through the lens of Buddha Nature, the fragmented characters and desolate landscapes depicted in "The Waste Land" are re-examined, revealing hidden layers that resonate with the notion of inherent enlightenment in apparent spiritual crisis. The paper explores how Eliot's engagement with Buddhist philosophy, as reflected through the concept of Buddha Nature, bridges eastern and western worldviews, offering a platform for cross-cultural dialogue and interpretation. By synthesizing King's scholarly insights with literary analysis, this paper sheds light on the transcendent potential embedded within the poem. It seeks to unravel Eliot's nuanced exploration of human suffering, the quest for enlightenment, and the interplay between spiritual emptiness and the inherent Buddha Nature. The Bodhisattva's commitment to guiding others toward enlightenment echoes the potential for transformation and renewal embedded within Eliot's desolate world. Through this analysis, the paper aims to contribute to the ongoing scholarly discourse surrounding Eliot's masterpiece, offering fresh perspectives on the poem's engagement with Buddhist philosophy and its universal themes of suffering, enlightenment and the human condition. By illuminating the presence and significance of the Bodhi-sattva and Buddha Nature in "The Waste Land", this paper hopes to inspire further exploration of the transcendent potential within Eliot's work and its enduring relevance in the modern world.

Influence of soil organic carbon fractions on the soil priming effect under different vegetation restoration modes

AbstractThe soil priming effect is a key mechanism influencing carbon (C) cycling processes between the forest soil organic carbon (SOC) pool and the atmosphere. Different vegetation restoration modes have different SOC pool compositions, and it is not clear whether such differences affect the soil priming effect. Therefore, we selected soil from six typical vegetation restoration modes Platycladus orientalis (PO), Pinus sylvestris (PS), Quercus acutissima (QA), shrub (SH) and wasteland (WL) in the soil and rocky mountainous areas of northern China and measured the soil properties, microbial communities, microbial necromass carbon (MNC), SOC fractions and the soil priming effect. The SOC content decreased in the order of PO (21.33 g kg−1), PS (22.00 g kg−1), QA (13.67 g kg−1), SH (13.33 g kg−1) and WL (10.33 g kg−1), and the trends of the mineral‐associated organic carbon (MAOC) and fungal necromass carbon (FNC) content were the same as those of the SOC content. The soil priming effect was greater in both forests and shrublands than in wastelands, with the greatest effect occurring in PO forests, where the soil priming effect reached 159.91 mg CO2‐C kg−1 soil after 30 days of incubation, which was 1.4 times greater than that in WL. The soil priming effect was mainly determined by the difference in MAOC content. In addition, the soil C/N ratio and bacterial community diversity also indirectly affected the soil priming effect by influencing the soil MNC and SOC fractions. Overall, afforestation increased the SOC content, fungal necromass contribution and mineral conservation, increasing the soil priming effect. This theoretical foundation supports the enhancement of SOC sequestration capacity by implementing various modes of vegetation restoration in the future.

The Intersection of Ableism, Domestic Colonialism and Statistics in Britain from Bentham to Galton

Statistics, ableism and domestic colonialism were inextricably intertwined in Britain over the long nineteenth century, based on both engineering people deemed to be “backward” and improving “waste” land, which together were used to justify farm colonies for the disabled, bookended by two key moments. The first is Sir John Sinclair's introduction of descriptive statistics into the English language in order to provide a foundation for domestic colonization which, as the founding president of the British Board of Agriculture and Internal Improvement, he promoted. He also enlisted Jeremy Bentham, who published his own domestic colonization plan (massive pauper panopticons on waste land) rooted in the statistics of his pauper population table. The second key moment occurs at the beginning of the twentieth century, when Sir Francis Galton develops key statistical arithmetic methods as the foundation for eugenics and his defense of compulsory segregation of the mentally disabled into domestic farm colonies.

Green Initiatives for Climate Change Mitigation in Palakkad District of Kerala, India

Trees and forested ecosystems play a significant role in in meeting global commitments on sustainable development as well as adaptation to climate change and mitigation of its impacts. Aggressive tree planting goals to achieve canopy cover growth targets are a common manifestation to overcome the climate change challenges. Miyawaki forest creation, a method developed by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, involves planting trees per square meter which is intended for intensification of green cover to support local biodiversity. A food forest is essentially a planned and planted forest of food plants that provides a variety of food throughout the year. While both Miyawaki forest and food forest aim to restore ecosystems and enhance biodiversity, they differ in their design, purpose, and management practices. Hence a study on comparative analysis of food forests and Miyawaki forests was envisaged to highlight their respective benefits, challenges, and implementation strategies. The present investigation was undertaken on selected institutions of Palakkad district of Kerala namely Krishi Vigyan Kendra Palakkad where Miyawaki forest patch is created at its premises and V T Bhattathiripad College, Sreekrishnapuram where food forest is established. From this study it is understood that Miyawaki forest is reconnecting with the nature by harboring an array of native flora and fauna promoting biodiversity conservation and habitat restoration while food forest is reconnecting with nature by providing food source for pollinated server, as a habitat for many animals and it is very ecofriendly because don’t require any chemical pesticides. These techniques are highly effective in the establishment of urban forests as well as converting unproductive waste lands into ecological and socially beneficial productive lands.

Sorption and desorption behavior and mechanism of oxytetracycline on soil aggregates organic matter separated from soils and sediments in the Yellow River Delta

Soil aggregates organic matter (SAOM) is composed of free particulate organic matter (fPOM), intra-aggregate particulate organic matter (iPOM), and mineral-associated organic matter (mSOM), which are major antibiotic sorbents that play a significant role in the soil organic matter (SOM) turnover process. To date, the oxytetracycline (OTC) sorption and desorption behavior and mechanisms on SAOM have not been contrastively analyzed. SAOM organic components have been used to study scientific problems and to determine their influence on the fate and migration of OTC among the SOM turnover process. Results demonstrated that SAOM had great OTC sorption capacity ranging from approximately 12100–513,000 mg kg−1 and the desorption proportion was no more than 33.60%. The slow organic carbon pool (mSOM) had greater OTC accumulation capacity than the intermediate active pool (iPOM) and the active pool (fPOM), while OTC was more likely to reside in the active pool in wetlands (fPOM-w) and oil waste land (fPOM-o) than the organic carbon pool (mSOM-f) in farmland with human activity interference. The hysteresis was affected by SAOM's physical surface characteristics when the OTC initial equilibrium sorption concentration was higher than 200 mg L−1. When it was lower than that, it was affected by the organic carbon composition. Hydrogen bonds, electrostatic interactions, and π-π interactions dominated the SAOM-OTC interactions. The results of this study will be useful for evaluating the long-term behavior and migration of antibiotics in SOM turnover processes and could refine risk assessments of antibiotics contamination in soil environmental systems.

Estimation of land surface temperature and LULC changes impact on groundwater resources in the semi-arid region of Madhya Pradesh, India

The land surface temperature (LST) changes influence on many factors such as land use and land cover (LULC), vegetation and water resources etc. Now a day’s urban population growth, industrial development and human activity are increased due to human migration and urban expansion. The surface temperature is very harmful to vegetation, groundwater level, and ecosystem health. Urban pollution growth and air pollution factor is also playing important role for increase and decrease the LST with climate change impact. Demand of drinking water are increases particular in the urban city due to the population growth and urban expansion, which all of this direct effect on surface and groundwater sources and resources. Hence we have been chosen the latest technologies such as remote sensing (RS), Geographic information System (GIS) and Google Earth Engine (GEE) are very effective for mapping, monitoring and assessment of spatial maps of LST, LULC, and NDVI (Normalised differential vegetation index) estimation. In this study, main focus on the LULC of 2011 and 2021 were classified using random forest (RF) algorithm, ML and remote sensing datasets. LULC were divided into four categories i. e. agricultural land, built up land, waterbody and waste land. For better understanding about the growth of LST, this study examines the association between LST and NDVI change, what vegetation condition impact on the LST. The main and important results have been found the built-up land and LST positive correlation due to increases both the factors in the urban area. LST increases gradually and its bad effect on the green land, water level and expansion of barren land. The range of LST is 43.60 °C to 45.30 °C. Less vegetation cover showing highest LST and vice versa. All of the LST, NDVI, and LULC direct effect on the groundwater availability in the area. This paper important result found the built-up land and LST both are increased in 2021, NDVI and LST having negative correlation. The results of study can very much useful for understanding the LST, NDVI and LULC, these factors what impact on groundwater availability in the study area.

Pollution index and distribution characteristics of soil heavy metals among four distinct land use patterns of Taojia River Basin in China

The accumulation of heavy metals (HMs) in soil has become a pressing global concern due to their persistent and non-degradable nature, resulting in the accumulation of toxic levels in the environment. In recent years, human activities have significantly altered land use patterns, leading to a marked increase in soil HM levels and subsequent land degradation. This research focused on four distinct land use patterns (vegetable fields (VGF), woodland (WDL), cultivated land (CVL), and wasteland (WSL)) commonly found in the Taojia River Basin, Hunan, China, which is facing severe HM pollution. Soil samples were collected from three different depths (0–10 cm, 10–20 cm, and 20–30 cm) to investigate HM distribution and intensity (cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn)), comprehensive soil pollution index, and their relationship with soil microbial and enzymatic activities. The results revealed that the Cd content exceeded the national standard for soil environmental quality, whereas concentrations of other HMs did not exceed the national standard across the four land use patterns. Most soil HMs were concentrated in the surface layer, with Cu, Pb, and Zn concentrations gradually decreasing with increasing soil depth. Conversely, Ni and Cd concentrations tended to increase with greater soil depth. There were significant positive correlations among HMs, indicating homogeneity among them. The pollution index across the HMs ranked as Cd > Ni > Zn > Cu and Pb, with land uses following the order of VGF (2.70) > CVL (2.12) > WSL (1.72) > WDL (1.63). Soil microbial and enzymatic activity was not the primary factor influencing HM concentration. The specific impacts of land use changes on soil HMs depend on management practices, local conditions, and the distribution characteristics of the HMs involved.

Universalization of Stereotypical Representation and Subjugation of Women in The Waste Land

Universalization of Stereotypical Representation and Subjugation of Women in The Waste Land

“Each in his Prison Thinking of the Key”: A Compoetical Study of the Indian Connection to "The Waste Land"

“Each in his Prison Thinking of the Key”: A Compoetical Study of the Indian Connection to "The Waste Land"

“No One Is Who They Say They Are”: The Political Aesthetics of David Peace, Waste Land Poetry, and Extreme Music

Abstract This article constructs a genealogy of anti-imperialist cultural practice, connecting novels and spoken word projects of David Peace to post–World War II Japanese poetry and to the extreme music practice of the powerviolence band Column of Heaven. By placing Peace's novels in conversation with these different cultural forms, it aims to show how the modernist mystification can augment the radical political effects of popular art during the era of imperialism. The article proposes an alternative route to Marxist cultural criticism via Althusser's understanding of ideological interpellation and his critique of Lenin's classic analysis of imperialism. In this sense, it proposes to link contemporary experimental musical and literary practice to a Marxist politics of anti-imperialism, in contradistinction to the potentially depoliticizing effects of the popular critique of neoliberalism.

A fusion approach using GIS, green area detection, weather API and GPT for satellite image based fertile land discovery and crop suitability

Proper utilization of agricultural land is a big challenge as they often laid over as waste lands. Farming is a significant occupation in any country and improving it further by promoting more farming opportunities will take the country towards making a huge leap forward. The issue in achieving this would be the lack of knowledge of cultivable land for food crops. The objective of this work is to utilize modern computer vision technology to identify and map cultivable land for agricultural needs. With increasing population and demand for food, improving the farming sector is crucial. However, the challenge lies in the lack of suitable land for food crops cultivation. To tackle this issue, we propose to use sophisticated image processing techniques on satellite images of the land to determine the regions that are capable of growing food crops. The solution architecture includes enhancement of satellite imagery using sophisticated pan sharpening techniques, notably the Brovey transformation, aiming to transform dull satellite images into sharper versions, thereby improving the overall quality and interpretability of the visual data. Making use of the weather data on the location observed and taking into factors like the soil moisture, weather, humidity, wind, sunlight times and so on, this data is fed into a generative pre-trained transformer model which makes use of it and gives a set of crops that are suitable to be grown on this piece of land under the said conditions. The results obtained by the proposed fusion approach is compared with the dataset provided by the government for different states in India and the performance was measured. We achieved an accuracy of 80% considering the crop suggested by our model and the predominant crop of the region. Also, the classification report detailing the performance of the proposed model is presented.

Fairy Tales, Madness and Total War

Abstract This paper sets in context the melodramatic conclusion to R. G. Collingwood’s The Principles of Art (1938) and his exceptional praise of T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land (1922). I suggest that the background to this conclusion, with its emphasis on the role of emotion in human agency, must embrace an extraordinary series of essays composed in the mid nineteen-thirties, and which until their publication in 2005 were known as the “folktale manuscripts.” Collingwood’s critique of anthropological method in these essays, with his discussions of ritual, magic and the alleged madness of the so-called “savage mind,” feed into the anxieties about civilization’s condition felt through his reception of Eliot’s poetical diagnosis, and they are developed in Collingwood’s own compelling essay of 1936, “Mad Goes Mad.” The essay is Collingwood’s account of a disease of mind which Art, in the event, proved powerless to cure.

D. H. Lawrence, T. S. Eliot, and the Meaning of the Mythical Method

Abstract: There is a discrepancy between evidence of T. S. Eliot’s respect for D. H. Lawrence and F. R. Leavis’s account of their diametrical opposition. My goal is to establish and spell out the reasons for Eliot’s ambivalent posture. On the one hand, I argue that both authors tried to reconcile the contradiction between social unity and individual freedom, and they did so by resolving it into more basic concerns with morality, impersonality, and tradition. This parallel explains Eliot’s attraction to Lawrence. On the other hand, I argue that the different way they framed and understood these concerns accounts for his antipathy and, in turn, sheds new light on the mythical method in The Waste Land . When considered alongside Lawrence’s work and Eliot’s judgment of it, the mythical method comes across as no glorification of the past but instead as a critique of the present for repeating it.

MUNICIPAL WASTE MANAGEMENT IN TIER-2 CITIES IN NORTHERN INDIA

Public health and environmental concerns, along with the sheer amount of waste being generated, have made managing municipal solid waste (MSWM) a significant task today. Due to institutional and financial constraints, research shows that many urban local bodies (ULBs) in India find it difficult to handle the country's high solid waste loads. ULBs frequently lack the infrastructure, finances, resources, and efficient plans required for improved solid waste management. India faces a number of difficulties in managing its municipal solid waste, including issues with garbage segregation, door-to-door collection, waste treatment technology, land resources, and appropriate disposal techniques. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) have put in place a number of policies and initiatives to address these issues and enhance the nation's municipal solid waste management (MSWM) system as it is now. The Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules were first released by the Environment Ministry in 2000. They have since been updated and are now known as the Solid Waste Management Rules 2015. To help cities and towns plan and execute efficient MSWM systems in compliance with the 2015 SWM Rules amendment, the MoUD has also created a draft MSWM manual. Due to insufficient enforcement by regulators and a lack of awareness among stakeholders, many policies and programmes frequently fall short of their objectives. This essay provides a comprehensive review of solid waste management and highlights important facets of the policies and initiatives the Indian government has put in place to address the issues in this field.