1. ECOCRITICISM Mr. Rajendra Tambile Assistant Professor
Department of English
Chhatrapati Shivaji College, Satara

2. Contemporary Environmental Pressures/Crises
Oil spills—toxic waste contamination—extinction of species—battle over public land use—nuclear waste dumps—a growing hole in the ozone layer—global warming—acid rain—loss of topsoil—destruction of the tropical rain forest—wildfire—poisonous gas emission—famine—flood—hurricane/storms—indusralization—pollution—urbanization—overpopulation

3. Beginning Ecologically informed criticism since 1970s
But , at first, unrecognized critical school or movement
Categorized under a miscellany of subject headings:
- American Studies
- Regionalism
- Pastoralism
- the Frontier
- Human Ecology
- Science and Literature
- Nature in Literature
- Landscape in Literature
Investigation of an environmental approach to literature in isolation
As a consequence, ecocriticism did not become a presence in the major institutions of power

4. Literary Bearings of Ecocriticism
Ecocriticism, as a methodological approach, has taken its literary bearings from:
The British Romanticism of the early nineteenth century
Three major 19th century American writers:
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
-Margaret Fuller and
-Henry David Thoreau
whose works celebrate nature, the life force and wilderness

5. The Origin of ‘Ecocriticism’
The term ‘ecocriticism’ was coined in the 1970s.
William Ruckert first used the term ‘ecocriticism’ in his essay ‘Literature and Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism’ in 1978
The focus- “the application of ecology and ecological concepts to the study of literature”
Ecocriticism, as a critical approach in USA in the late 1980s
As ‘Green Studies’ in UK in the early 1990s

6. Difference from other Disciplines
Structuralism deals with the structuralist approach to literature and language
Post-structuralism tends to textual reading with the aim of unmasking internal contradictions or inconsistencies in the text to show the disunity which underlies its apparent unity
Feminist criticism examines language and literature from a gender-conscious perspective
Marxist criticism brings an awareness of modes of production and economic class to its reading of texts

7. Disciplines continues…
Ecocriticism:
emphasizes ecocentric values of meticulous observation, collective ethical responsibility, and the claims of the world beyond ourselves
challenges the notion that everything is socially and/or linguistically constructed and instead, proposes ecocritical positions “Everything is connected to everything else.”
earth-centered critical approach to literature
interdisciplinary approach

8. Development
In 1985, Environmental literary studies started with Frederick O. Waage’s essay, “Teaching Environmental Literature: Material, Methods, Resources”
In 1989, Alicia Nitecki founded “The American Nature Writing
Newsletter”
In 1991, Harold Fromm organized MLA special session of an
annual literary conference under the title, “Ecocriticism: The
Greening of Literary Studies”
In 1992, Glen Love Chaired American Literature Association under the title, “American Nature Writing: New Contexts, New Approaches”

9. Development continues…
In 1992, Ecocriticism emerged as a critical school only because of a new Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment (ASLE)
In 1993, a new journal, ISLE established: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment
By 1993, ecological literary study emerged as a recognizable critical school.
In 1996, Glotfelty, along with Harold Fromm, promulgated an awareness of ecocriticism by producing an anthology of ecocritical essays, the first of its kind, entitled The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology (1996), a collection of different ecocritical essays published in books and journals from the 1970s

10. Some Basic Concepts
anthropocentrism- The valuation of nature only in so far as it radiates out from humankind. (Bate, 2000: 138)
biodiversity- the variety of species, both flora/and fauna, contained within an ecosystem
biosphere/Ecosphere- the regions of the surface and atmosphere of the earth where living organisms exist
deep ecology/ecosophy- a relational understanding of selfhood “based on active identification with wider and wider circles of being”
(Mathews 2001:221)
eco- the word eco, derived from the Greek oikos, means ‘house’
(William Howarth )
ecocentrism- the interlinkage of the organismal and the inanimate
ecofeminism- the view that the “twin dominations of women and nature” are artifacts of patriarchal culture instituted in antiquity (Davion, 2001)
ecology- a science, a discipline that studies the relations between species, habitats or the basis for a human vision.
Ecosystem- a system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their physical environment

11. Concepts continue… environ- means “around”
environment- surroundings of an individual person, a species, a society, or of life forms generally
environmentalism- a movement for protecting the earth from human pollution and destruction
nature writing- literary nonfiction that offers scientific scrutiny of the world (Buell 2006:140)
overpopulation- overexploitation of natural resources
place- bounded and marked as humanly meaningful through personal attachment, social relations and physiographic distinctiveness (Buell 2006:145)
rain forest- a dense forest growing in areas of very high rainfall
topsoil- the fertile, dark-coloured surface soil
toxic waste- waste material, often in chemical form
wild/wildness/wilderness- undomesticated

12. Ecocriticism: Definitions
Cheryll Glotfelty- ‘the study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment’
(1996. The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology. Georgia: University Press.)
Lawrence Buell- “‘ecocriticism’ as a study of the relationship between literature and the environment conducted in a spirit of commitment to environmentalist praxis”
(2001.Writing for an Endangered World: Literature, Culture, and Environment in the U.S. and Beyond. London: Harvard University Press.)

13. Definitions continue…
Simon Estok- “simply the study of Nature or natural things in literature; rather, it is any theory that is committed to effecting change by analyzing the function–thematic, artistic, social, historical, ideological, theoretical, or otherwise–of the natural environment, or aspects of it, represented in documents (literary or other) that contribute to material practices in material worlds”
(2005.“Shakespeare and Ecocriticism: An Analysis of ‘Home’ and ‘Power’ in King Lear.” AUMLA 103 (May 2005))

14. Definitions continue…
Camilo Gomides- "The field of enquiry that analyzes and promotes works of art which raise moral questions about human interactions with nature, while also motivating audiences to live within a limit that will be binding over generations"
(2006. Putting a New Definition of Ecocriticism to the Test: The Case of The Burning Season, a film (mal) Adaptation". ISLE Vol Winter.)
Andrew Stables- ‘literary study through a green lens’
(2003. Education for Diversity: MakingDifference. Aldershot: Ashgate Press.)

15. Questions of Ecocritics
How is nature represented in literature?
What role does the physical setting play in the plot?
Are the values expressed in the play consistent with ecological wisdom?
How can we characterize nature writing as a genre?
In addition to race, class and gender, should place become new category?
Do men write about nature differently than women do?
In what ways has literacy itself affected humankind’s relationship to the natural world?

16. Questions continue…
How has the concept of wilderness changed over time?
In what ways and to what effect is the environmental crisis seeping into contemporary literatures and popular culture?
What bearing might the science of ecology have on literary studies?
How is science itself open to literary analysis?
What cross-fertilization is possible between literary studies and environmental discourse in related disciplines such as history, philosophy, psychology, art history and ethics?

17. Fundamental premise of ‘Ecocriticism’
Interconnection between human culture and the physical world, ‘affecting it and affected by it’
Negotiation between the human and non-human world
Expanding the notion of ‘the world’ from ‘society’ to the ‘entire ecosphere’

18. Three Phases of ‘Ecocriticism’
Ecocriticism studies the following topics into three developmental phases:
The representation of nature, savage wilderness, frontier, animals, cities, specific geographical regions, rivers, mountains, deserts, technology, garbage and the body in literature
The neglected genre of nature writing, a tradition of nature-oriented nonfiction in England and further in America---identifying fiction and poetry writers whose works manifests ecological awareness---environmental conditions of author’s life---the influence of the place on the imagination---where an author grew up and travelled and wrote for understanding of his/her work
The symbolic construction of the species---ecofeminism--- an ecological poetics---a metaphorical function of poetry in society---the philosophy currently known as deep ecology

19. Global crisis: Root cause and solution
The Root Cause:
The current environmental problems are largely of our own making or a by-product of culture. As historian Donald Worster explains, we are facing a global crisis today
not because of how ‘ecosystems function’
but rather how our ‘ethical systems function’
Solution:
We’re not part of the solution, we’re part of the problem. So it requires understanding those ‘ethical systems’ with the help of understanding other disciplines from humanities to reform the problem

20. The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology Ed
The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology Ed. by Cheryll Gottfelty and Haraold Fromm

21. The Contents of the Book
The book is divided into three sections, reflecting the three
major phases of ecocritical work:
Introduction: “Literary Studies in An Age of Environmental Crisis”
Ecotheory: Reflections on Nature and Culture
Ecocritical Considerations of Fiction and Drama
Critical Studies of Environmental Literature

22. Essays in this Collection
I. Ecotheory: Reflections on Nature and Culture
This section begins with theory in order to raise some fundamental
questions about the relationship between nature and culture and to
provide a theoretical foundation. It includes ten essays.
1. Lynn White’s “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis”
Environmental crisis: a matter of beliefs and values- direction to science and technology
Judeo-Christian religion: anthropocentric arrogance and dominating attitude towards nature
2. Christopher Manes’ “Nature and Silence”
Shifting nature from animistic to symbolic presence
From voluble subject to mute object
Only humans as speaking subjects in our culture

23. I. Ecotheory: Reflections on Nature and Culture continues…
3. Harold Fromm’s “From Transcendence to Obsolescence: A Route
Map”
The effect of Industrial Revolution over humanity’s conceptions and of its relationship to nature
Technology: a false illusion of controlling nature
Only natural support systems: a support to ‘unconquerable minds’
4. Frederick Turner’s “Cultivating the American Garden”
The problem of defining nature
Healthy mediators between culture and nature: cooking, music, landscape painting and gardening
5. Alison Byerrly’s “The Uses of Landscape: The Picturesque Aesthetic
and the National Park System”
European aesthetics of the picturesque: the way to producing and marketing an interpretation of nature’s text

24. I. Ecotheory: Reflections on Nature and Culture continues…
6. William Howarth’s “Some Principles of Ecocriticism”
The development of the science of ecology
Traditional points of hostility between science and humanities
Ecocriticism: a medium to forge partnership between historic enemy cultures
7. Neil Evernden’s “Beyond Ecology: Self, Place, and the Pathetic
Fallacy”
Sense of self: “no such thing as an individual, only individual-in-context”, no such thing as self, only “self-in-place”
Accordingly literature via metaphor: a way to feel relatedness of self with place

25. I. Ecotheory: Reflections on Nature and Culture continues…
8. William Rueckert’s “Literature and Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism”
Discovery of somethin about literature and ecology
Description of a poem as stored energy
Release of the energy through human community for social action
9. Sueellen Campbell’s “The Land and Language of Desire: Where Deep Ecology
and Poststructuralism Meet”
Poststructuralism and ecological philosophy: Parallels in ‘fundamental premises’, ‘critical stance’ and ‘basic tactics’
10. David Mazel’s “American Literary Environmentalism as Domestic Orientalism”
Construction of environment itself as an exercise of cultural power
The ‘environment’ as a social and linguistic construct

26. II. Ecocritical Considerations of Fiction and Drama
This second section studies representations of nature in fiction and
drama, including reflections on the ecological significance of literary
modes and narrative structures, from Paleolithic hunting stories to
postmodern mystery novels. The section contains six essays:
1. Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction”
Male activity of hunting as tradition of ‘death’
While female tradition as of ‘life’
2. Joseph Meeker’s “The Comic Mode”
Literary modes of comedy and tragedy: from ecological standpoint
Comedy as healthy ‘survival’ while tragedy maladaptive

27. II. Ecocritical Considerations of Fiction and Drama continues…
3. Annette Kolodny’s “Unearthing Herstory: An Introduction”
Exposition of pervasive metaphor of land-as-woman
4. Scott Russell Sander’s “Speaking a Word for Nature”
A strong sense of nature in American nature writers: Appreciation
Lack of natural world awareness in contemporary fiction
5. Cynthia Deitering’s “The Postnatural Novel: Toxic Consciousness in
Fiction of the 1980s”
A clue for basic shift in American consciousness
The shift from culture defined by its production to a postindustrial culture defined by its waste
6. Dana Phillips’ “Is Nature Necessary”
Difference between modernism and postmodernism
In modernism- the root of culture in nature
In postmodernism- replacement of nature by commodified representation

28. III. Critical Studies of Environmental Literature
This final section focuses on environmental literature in America,
encompassing both Native American stories and the Thoreauvian nature
writing tradition. There are nine essays in this section.
1. Glen A. Love’s “Revaluing Nature: Toward an Ecological Criticism”
Indifference of literary studies to environmental crisis
Because discipline’s narrowly anthropocentric view
So revaluation nature-oriented literature from
ego-consciousness to ‘eco-consciousness’
2. Paula Gunn Allen’s “The Sacred Hoop: A Contemporary Perspective”
Distinctive ways of perceiving reality and fundamental assumptions about universe

29. III. Critical Studies of Environmental Literature continues…
3. Leslie Marmon Silko’s “Landscape, History, and the Pueblo
Imagination
The functions of Pueblo oral narratives: to explain the world, to help people survive in it and to transmit culture
4. Thomas J. Lyon’s “A Taxonomy of Nature Writing”
Three important dimensions of classification of nature writing:
Natural history information
Personal response to nature and
Philosophical interpretation of nature
5. Michael Branch’s “Indexing American Possibilities: The Natural
History Writing of Bartram, Wilson, and Audubon”
A review: Henry David Thoreau not progenitor of American nature
But direct heir of early romantic natural historians

30. III. Critical Studies of Environmental Literature continues…
6. Don Cheese’s “Desert Solitaire: Counter-Friction to the Machine in the
Garden”
Even most of the Thoreau’s followers of the same tradition
7. Vera L. Norwood’s “Heroines of Nature: Four Women Respond to the
American Landscape”
Sense of tradition of women’s nature writing
Review of four women: Isabella Bird, Mary Austin, Rachel Carson, and Annie Dillard
Exploration of difference between masculine and feminine environmental ethics
8. Scot Slovic’s “Nature Writing and Environmental Psychology:
The Interiority of Outdoor Experience”
Careless attentiveness of nature writer to nonhuman world
9. Michael J. McDowell’s “The Bakhtinian Road to Ecological Insight”
Literary theories: ideal perspective for ecocritics
Bakhtin’s notions of dialogics: ‘chronotope’ and ‘carnivalesque’

31. The Future of ‘Ecocriticism’
In the future, ecocritical scholarship/ecocriticism will become:
more interdisciplinary
multicultural
international
multi-ethnic movement

32. Thank You!