6-ecocriticism

ECOCRITICISMMr.RajendraTambileAssistantProfessorDepartmentofEnglishChhatrapatiShivajiCollege,Satara1ContemporaryEnvironmentalPressures/CrisesOilspills—toxicwastecontamination—extinctionofspecies—battleoverpubliclanduse—nuclearwastedumps—agrowingholeintheozonelayer—globalwarming—acidrain—lossoftopsoil—destructionofthetropicalrainforest—wildfire—poisonousgasemission—famine—flood—hurricane/storms—indusralization—pollution—urbanization—overpopulation2BeginningEcologicallyinformedcriticismsince1970sBut,atfirst,unrecognizedcriticalschoolormovementCategorizedunderamiscellanyofsubjectheadings:-AmericanStudies-Regionalism-Pastoralism-theFrontier-HumanEcology-ScienceandLiterature-NatureinLiterature-LandscapeinLiteratureInvestigationofanenvironmentalapproachtoliteratureinisolationAsaconsequence,ecocriticismdidnotbecomeapresenceinthemajorinstitutionsofpower3LiteraryBearingsofEcocriticismEcocriticism,asamethodologicalapproach,hastakenitsliterarybearingsfrom:TheBritishRomanticismoftheearlynineteenthcenturyThreemajor19thcenturyAmericanwriters:-RalphWaldoEmerson-MargaretFullerand-HenryDavidThoreauwhoseworkscelebratenature,thelifeforceandwilderness4TheOriginof‘Ecocriticism’Theterm‘ecocriticism’wascoinedinthe1970s.WilliamRuckertfirstusedtheterm‘ecocriticism’inhisessay‘LiteratureandEcology:AnExperimentinEcocriticism’in1978Thefocus-“theapplicationofecologyandecologicalconceptstothestudyofliterature”Ecocriticism,asacriticalapproachinUSAinthelate1980sAs‘GreenStudies’inUKintheearly1990s5DifferencefromotherDisciplinesStructuralismdealswiththestructuralistapproachtoliteratureandlanguagePost-structuralismtendstotextualreadingwiththeaimofunmaskinginternalcontradictionsorinconsistenciesinthetexttoshowthedisunitywhichunderliesitsapparentunityFeministcriticismexamineslanguageandliteraturefromagender-consciousperspectiveMarxistcriticismbringsanawarenessofmodesofproductionandeconomicclasstoitsreadingoftexts6Disciplinescontinues…Ecocriticism:emphasizesecocentricvaluesofmeticulousobservation,collectiveethicalresponsibility,andtheclaimsoftheworldbeyondourselveschallengesthenotionthateverythingissociallyand/orlinguisticallyconstructedandinstead,proposesecocriticalpositions“Everythingisconnectedtoeverythingelse.”earth-centeredcriticalapproachtoliteratureinterdisciplinaryapproach7DevelopmentIn1985,EnvironmentalliterarystudiesstartedwithFrederickO.Waage’sessay,“TeachingEnvironmentalLiterature:Material,Methods,Resources”In1989,AliciaNiteckifounded“TheAmericanNatureWritingNewsletter”In1991,HaroldFrommorganizedMLAspecialsessionofanannualliteraryconferenceunderthetitle,“Ecocriticism:TheGreeningofLiteraryStudies”In1992,GlenLoveChairedAmericanLiteratureAssociationunderthetitle,“AmericanNatureWriting:NewContexts,NewApproaches”8Developmentcontinues…In1992,EcocriticismemergedasacriticalschoolonlybecauseofanewAssociationfortheStudyofLiteratureandtheEnvironment(ASLE)In1993,anewjournal,ISLEestablished:InterdisciplinaryStudiesinLiteratureandEnvironmentBy1993,ecologicalliterarystudyemergedasarecognizablecriticalschool.In1996,Glotfelty,alongwithHaroldFromm,promulgatedanawarenessofecocriticismbyproducingananthologyofecocriticalessays,thefirstofitskind,entitledTheEcocriticismReader:LandmarksinLiteraryEcology(1996),acollectionofdifferentecocriticalessayspublishedinbooksandjournalsfromthe1970s9SomeBasicConceptsanthropocentrism-Thevaluationofnatureonlyinsofarasitradiatesoutfromhumankind.(Bate,2000:138)biodiversity-thevarietyofspecies,bothflora/andfauna,containedwithinanecosystembiosphere/Ecosphere-theregionsofthesurfaceandatmosphereoftheearthwherelivingorganismsexistdeepecology/ecosophy-arelationalunderstandingofselfhood“basedonactiveidentificationwithwiderandwidercirclesofbeing”(Mathews2001:221)eco-thewordeco,derivedfromtheGreekoikos,means‘house’(WilliamHowarth)ecocentrism-theinterlinkageoftheorganismalandtheinanimateecofeminism-theviewthatthe“twindominationsofwomenandnature”areartifactsofpatriarchalcultureinstitutedinantiquity(Davion,2001)ecology-ascience,adisciplinethatstudiestherelationsbetweenspecies,habitatsorthebasisforahumanvision.Ecosystem-asystemformedbytheinteractionofacommunityoforganismswiththeirphysicalenvironment10Conceptscontinue…environ-means“around”environment-surroundingsofanindividualperson,aspecies,asociety,oroflifeformsgenerallyenvironmentalism-amovementforprotectingtheearthfromhumanpollutionanddestructionnaturewriting-literarynonfictionthatoffersscientificscrutinyoftheworld(Buell2006:140)overpopulation-overexploitationofnaturalresourcesplace-boundedandmarkedashumanlymeaningfulthroughpersonalattachment,socialrelationsandphysiographicdistinctiveness(Buell2006:145)rainforest-adenseforestgrowinginareasofveryhighrainfalltopsoil-thefertile,dark-colouredsurfacesoiltoxicwaste-wastematerial,ofteninchemicalformwild/wildness/wilderness-undomesticated11Ecocriticism:DefinitionsCheryllGlotfelty-‘thestudyoftherelationshipbetweenliteratureandthephysicalenvironment’(1996.TheEcocriticismReader:LandmarksinLiter