Hello Friends!
I am Nidhi Jethava and a student of MK Bhavnagar University. In this blog I am going to discuss eco-criticism.
What is Eco-criticism ?
Eco-criticism was a term coined in the late 1970s by combining “criticism” with a shortened form of “ecology”—the science that investigates the interrelations of all forms of plant and animal life with each other and with their physical habitats.
Eco-criticism is the study of the relationship between literature and nature.
What do eco-critics do ?
1. They re-read major literary works from an ecocentric perspective, with particular attention to the representation of the natural world.
2. They extend the applicability of a range of ecocentric concepts, using them of things other than the natural world -concepts such as growth and energy, balance and imbalance, symbiosis and mutuality, and sustainable or unsustainable uses of energy and resources.
3. They give special canonical emphasis to writers who foreground nature as a major part of their subject matter, such as the American transcendentalists, the British Romantics, the poetry of John Clare, the work of Thomas Hardy and the Georgian poets of the early twentieth century.
4. They extend the range of literary-critical practice by placing a new emphasis on relevant 'factual' writing, especially reflective topographical material such as essays, travel writing, memoirs, and regional literature.
5. They turn away from the 'social constructivism' and 'linguistic determinism' of dominant literary theories (with their emphasis on the linguistic and social constructedness of the external world) and instead emphasise ecocentric values of meticulous observation, collective ethical responsibility, and the claims of the world beyond ourselves.
Example :-
Here I would like to give an example of the poem ‘ Tree Once Again’ By Sitanshu Yashschandra. It is originally written in Gujarati but it is translate by Devang Nanavati.
Tree once Again by Sitanshu Yashschandra :-
That olden ocher brown tree trunk
Already sawed, rasped and tip-tapped for so many
Years from now
Was used to make the furniture for home.
The dining table for hasty meals and the chairs,
And the table to write letters to the new
acquaintances and to thee seniors
A radio stand from which absolute fresh news keep
Flowing daily-so many things of such great importance
Were made out of
That olden ocher brown tree trunk.
Nowhere a storm struck. Nor did any thunder bolts.
Even not a tint of memory could trace how that tree
looked like. Tree ?
Funny it sounds and I cannot believe it today
That this table, chairs, writing table, stand, book shelf
All the things
Were indeed an olden tree once upon a time!
Today, It’s incredible
And, perhaps I would laugh.
That
A red bird suddenly takes a flight from the self
Where the flies of Jankalyan and Akhand anand are
Stocked.
That
The intoxicating fragrance of a spring arriving
Unannounced oozen into the drawer where the daily
Wares are kept folded.
And, then, again one laughs a little, and feels
amused, and remember
That
The olden orchard brown tree trunk
Already saved, rasped and tip-tapped so many years
From now
Has been used to make the furniture for home.
Translated by Nanavati D.S.
Explanation :-
The poem is very eco- centric and it talks about how we mercilessly use trees. Poets remember that trees from which all these stuff like chairs, tables, stands are made. Human beings cut down the trees and it will be very harmful for the environment. Sitanshu sir very wisely describes the problem of Eco-criticism in this poem. In this poem the environment is at the center. How do we read the trees ? We used so many things made by trees and so many forests are also becoming desert humans for their sake and need and greed constantly harms the environment. This poem very silently puts a light on that matters.
This poem deals with idea of the world whether it should be ego centrist or Eco-centric ?
Thank you....
No comments:
Post a Comment