General Essay
Theoretical Position
and Trends: An Overview
Group IV
FEMINISM
AND GENDER
Jeeva Dharanyah M (2113312005018)
Feminism
is a movement that advocates for the equal rights of men and women and the
elimination of gender-based discrimination. It is a form of activism that seeks
to challenge the structures of power that maintain patriarchy and oppression of
women. It is a movement that challenges the idea that a certain gender should
be treated as superior to another; and instead, seeks to create a society where
people of all genders are treated with respect and dignity.
History
of feminism
The history of feminism
is long and varied, and has been shaped by the social and political contexts of
different societies around the world. The earliest feminist movements can be
traced back to the late 18th century, when women like Mary Wollstonecraft and
Olympe de Gouges wrote about the need for greater rights and freedoms for
women. Since then, feminism has evolved and adapted to the changing needs of
society, pushing for greater representation of women in politics, economic
equality, and reproductive rights.
The history of feminism
comprises the narratives (chronological or thematic) of the movements and
ideologies which have aimed at equal rights for women. While feminists around
the world have differed in causes, goals, and intentions depending on time,
culture, and country, most Western feminist historians assert that all
movements that work to obtain women's rights should be considered feminist
movements, even when they did not (or do not) apply the term to themselves.
Some other historians limit the term "feminist" to the modern feminist
movement and its progeny, and use the label "protofeminist" to
describe earlier movements.
Modern Western feminist history is
conventionally split into three time periods, or "waves", each with
slightly different aims based on prior progress:
First-wave feminism
of the 19th and early 20th centuries focused on overturning legal inequalities,
particularly addressing issues of women's suffrage.
Second-wave feminism
(1960s–1980s) broadened debate to include cultural inequalities, gender norms,
and the role of women in society.
Third-wave feminism
(1990s–2000s) refers to diverse strains of feminist activity, seen by
third-wavers themselves both as a continuation of the second wave and as a
response to its perceived failures.
Renaissance
feminism
Renaissance defences of
women are present in a variety of literary genre and across Europe with a
central claim of equality. Feminists appealed to principles that progressively
lead to discourse of economic property injustice themes. Feminizing society was
a way for women at this time to use literature to create interdependent and
non-hierarchical systems that provided opportunities for both women and men.
17th
century
Margaret Fell's most
famous work is "Women's Speaking Justified", a scripture-based
argument for women's ministry, and one of the major texts on women's religious
leadership in the 17th century.[37] In this short pamphlet, Fell based her
argument for equality of the sexes on one of the basic premises of Quakerism,
namely spiritual equality. Her belief was that God created all human beings,
therefore both men and women were capable of not only possessing the Inner
Light but also the ability to be a prophet.[38] Fell has been described as a
"feminist pioneer.
18th
century: the Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment
was characterized by secular intellectual reasoning and a flowering of
philosophical writing. Many Enlightenment philosophers defended the rights of
women, including Jeremy Bentham (1781), Marquis de Condorcet (1790), and Mary
Wollstonecraft (1792). Other important writers of the time that expressed
feminist views included Abigail Adams, Catharine Macaulay, and Hedvig Charlotta
Nordenflycht.
Jeremy Bentham
The English utilitarian and classical liberal philosopher Jeremy Bentham said that it was the placing of women in a legally inferior position that made him choose the career of a reformist at the age of eleven, though American critic John Neal claimed to have convinced him to take up women's rights issues during their association between 1825 and 1827. Bentham spoke for complete equality between sexes including the rights to vote and to participate in government. He opposed the asymmetrical sexual moral standards between men and women.
The
feminine Ideal
19th-century feminists
reacted to cultural inequities including the pernicious, widespread acceptance
of the Victorian image of women's "proper" role and
"sphere". The Victorian ideal created a dichotomy of "separate
spheres" for men and women that was very clearly defined in theory, though
not always in reality. In this ideology, men were to occupy the public sphere
(the space of wage labour and politics) and women the private sphere (the space
of home and children.) This "feminine ideal", also called "The
Cult of Domesticity", was typified in Victorian conduct books such as Mrs
Beeton's Book of Household Management and Sarah Stickney Ellis's books.
Feminism in fiction
As
Jane Austen addressed women's restricted lives in the early part of the
century. Charlotte Brontë, Anne Brontë, Elizabeth Gaskell, and George Eliot
depicted women's misery and frustration. In her autobiographical novel Ruth
Hall (1854), American journalist Fanny Fern describes her own struggle to
support her children as a newspaper columnist after her husband's untimely
death. Louisa May Alcott penned a strongly feminist novel, A Long Fatal Love
Chase (1866), about a young woman's attempts to flee her bigamist husband and
become independent.
Male authors also recognized injustices against women. The novels of George Meredith, George Gissing, and Thomas Hardy, and the plays of Henrik Ibsen[69] outlined the contemporary plight of women. Meredith's Diana of the Crossways (1885) is an account of Caroline Norton's life. One critic later called Ibsen's plays "feministic propaganda"
19th
to 21th century
Feminists did not
recognize separate waves of feminism until the second wave was so named by
journalist Martha Weinman Lear in a 1968 New York Times Magazine article
"The Second Feminist Wave", according to Alice Echols. Jennifer
Baumgardner reports criticism by professor Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz of the division
into waves and the difficulty of categorizing some feminists into specific
waves, argues that the main critics of a wave are likely to be members of the
prior wave who remain vital, and that waves are coming faster. The "waves
debate" has influenced how historians and other scholars have established
the chronologies of women's political activism.
Types
of feminism
There are different types
of feminism, each with its own focus and goals. Liberal feminism focuses on
creating equal opportunities for women through legal and social reform, while
radical feminism seeks to challenge the structures of power that maintain
patriarchy and oppression of women. Marxist feminism, on the other hand,
focuses on dismantling the capitalist system that reinforces gender inequality.
Other major types of feminism include intersectional feminism, eco-feminism,
and queer feminism.
understand and engage difference.
Comprehensive approaches that integrate multiple issues and movements.
Criticism – Makes
feminism a handmaiden of neo liberalism.
Post Structuralist
Feminism – Discursive nature of all identities. No universal
category of man or woman. Looks at psychoanalysis of gender identities.
Critiques ‘normal’ and challenges norms.
Criticism – Rejects human
nature of female.
Neo Liberal Feminism
– Convert structural gender inequality into individual inequality.
Self-improvement considered as the key to fight patriarchy. Economic metrics to
calculate feminist movement.
Criticism – Creates
radicalized classes within the feminist movement, legitimization of hierarchal
relationships. Concern with self-more than the society.
Post Modern Feminism –
Reject essentialism, philosophy, and universal truths in favour of embracing
the differences that exist amongst women to demonstrate that not all women are
the same. Analyse any notions that have led to gender inequality in society.
Address dichotomy of interpretation and language.
Criticism – Abandonment
of the feminist barometer causes precluding political liberation.
Individualist Feminism
– Focuses on I – Individual. Root in Liberal Feminism.
Criticism – Promotes
hegemony, essentialism and disregards the feminist movement of challenging
social strictures and power dominance.
Conclusion
Feminism is an important
movement that has been instrumental in bringing about greater gender equality
around the world. It has helped to challenge the structures of power that
maintain oppression of women, and has sought to create a society where people
of all genders are treated with respect and dignity. It is a movement that
seeks to create a more equal and just world for all.
POSTCOLONIALISM
Jency
Princess T (2113312005019)
Postcolonialism is a complex and multifaceted field of study
that encompasses a wide range of theoretical perspectives and historical
contexts. As such, there are many different scholars and thinkers who have
contributed to the development of postcolonial thought and who have offered
insights into the issues of alienation and cultural identity.
Some of the key figures in the
development of postcolonialism include Edward Said, Homi K. Bhabha, Gayatri
Chakravorty Spivak, and Frantz Fanon. Each of these scholars has offered unique
perspectives on the ways in which colonialism and imperialism have affected
cultural identity and contributed to alienation.
Frantz Fanon, a Martinique-born psychiatrist and philosopher, wrote extensively about the psychological effects of colonialism on colonized peoples. His work, such as "Black Skin, White Masks" and "The Wretched of the Earth," explored the themes of alienation and the struggle for cultural identity in the context of colonization.
Homi Bhabha, an Indian cultural theorist,
developed the concept of "hybridity" as a way to understand the
complex ways in which colonial cultures interact and transform one another. He
argued that cultural identity is not fixed or essential, but rather constantly
shifting and evolving, as different cultures come into contact and influence
one another.
Gayatri Spivak, an Indian feminist and
postcolonial scholar, explored the ways in which colonialism and globalization
have shaped the production and dissemination of knowledge. She argued that
Western academic discourse often reinforces colonial power structures, and that
it is important to create spaces for marginalized voices and perspectives to be
heard.
"I Lost My Talk" by Rita Joe is a powerful poem that
reflects on the impact of colonialism on Indigenous people in Canada. The poem
describes the loss of the speaker's traditional language and cultural identity,
and the struggle to reclaim these essential parts of her heritage.
The theme of postcolonialism is
central to this poem, as it explores the lasting effects of colonialism on
Indigenous communities. Colonialism is a system of power and domination that
involves the control and exploitation of one group of people by another. In
Canada, colonialism has had a profound impact on Indigenous peoples, as their
lands were stolen, their cultures were suppressed, and their ways of life were
disrupted.
The poem describes the speaker's
loss of her language and the cultural knowledge that it contains. She describes
how her words were taken away, leaving her unable to express herself in the way
that she was accustomed to. This loss of language represents a loss of culture,
identity, and connection to the past.
The poem also explores the process
of reclaiming language and cultural heritage. The speaker describes how she is
starting to remember her language, and how she is working to relearn the
traditions and practices of her ancestors. This process of reclaiming what was
lost is an important part of postcolonial resistance, as it represents a
rejection of the systems of power and domination that have been imposed on
Indigenous peoples.
Overall, "I Lost My Talk"
is a powerful reflection on the impact of colonialism on Indigenous communities
in Canada. The poem emphasizes the importance of language and cultural heritage
in maintaining a sense of identity and connection to the past, and highlights
the ongoing struggle to reclaim what has been lost.
MODERNISM
Josephine Jeba J (2113312005020)
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
"Modernism"
is a theoretical movement and system of thought that challenges tradition and
attempts to explore alternatives to conventional assumptions. Modernism seeks
to create a new and contemporary world order. Modern writers and thinkers
consider Victorian ideas and ethics to be extremely illusory and irrelevant to
the rapidly changing world. Modern critics started questioning the existence of
an omnipresent creator God and the value systems in religions. They consider
the belief in idealistic standards to be false. As a result, modern writers
started experimenting with new styles and forms in literature.
PERIOD OF MODERNISM:
It
is difficult to state an exact period during which Modernism was found and
developed, owing to its multifariousness. However, due to the literary
production of themes and styles of Modernism, it can be attributed that the two
decades between 1910 and 1930 stand for the period of Modernism.
BRIEF OUTLOOK OF THE TERM 'MODERNISM':
The
term "Modernism" has different notions in various cultures as it
challenged everything "traditional" and demanded to be replaced and
recreated. Modernism not only revolutionized
the field of literature, but it also created a significant impact on other art
platforms, such as music. Modernism rejects melody and music genres. Similarly,
in painting, Modernism promotes the direct representation of the picture that
the artist imagines in their mind. In a nutshell, Modernism is an umbrella term
that represents the unique and experimental attempts of authors and artists in
their respective fields. It cannot be given a certain definition as the term
itself is evolving and branching out into new spheres.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERNISM:
Modern
critics consider the characteristics of Modernism as:
i)
The emancipatory power of reason
iii)
Freedom from superstition
iv) Innovation and experimentation in art forms
THREE PIONEERS IN MODERNISM:
In
Modernism, there are three epoch-making theorists who contributed their
valuable ideas and laid the foundation of Modernism in all art forms. Modernism
took its theoretical approach by drawing notions from Marxism, Structuralism,
Psychoanalytic criticism, etc. The three pioneers of Modernism are Friedrich
Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, and Karl Marx. These theorists of thinking and
analyzing Modernism, in all art forms, especially in Literature.
He is one of the notable theorists in the field of Modernism, and some people regarded him as the first postmodernist because of his detailed analysis of Western thought and behavior. Friedrich rejected the nihilistic concepts and offered a sustained critique of Christianity. He criticized the universalist approaches to literature. He considered the conventional assumptions to be false and promoted reasoning.
KARL MARX:
Karl Marx is one of the influential critics in Capitalism. He developed Marxism, which is a theoretical system that criticizes Capitalism and Imperialism. One of his important contributions is the metaphor of "base" and "superstructure." Through this, he explained the connection between economic relations and social consciousness. He introduced the concept of bourgeoisie and proletariat to explain the injustice enacted on the labor class by the ruling class. This revolutionary concept birthed out of the seed of Modernism. He also discussed the concept of "Ideology," which showcases how the ruling class projects their interests as the interests of the people through social institutions such as religion, school, morality, art, and culture. The critical analysis of capitalism and its associations provoked modern intellectuals to question the existing sources of literature and resist the irrational dogmatic principles imprinted in it. To mention, the church was under the control of the Pope, and the state was controlled by the instructions of the religious order of the Pope. As a result, the ideologies proposed by the Pope were pushed into the minds of people. Hence, modern critics and writers refused their religious institutions and promoted reasoning.
SIGMUND FREUD:
Freud
is one of the notable critics and the founder of Psychoanalysis. He rejected
the traditional assumptions of the human mind as undivided and autonomous. He
proposed that the human mind works on the basis of unconscious desires and
drives, and thereby rejected Cartesian's traditional notions about the human
mind.
These three pioneers paved the way for Modernism and shaped the understanding of modern critics and intellectuals to perceive literature and other platforms. Their critical analysis of literature in a Modernist lens result in innovative and experimental literary works.
VERSIONS OF MODERNISM
T.S Eliot is one of the important critics in Modernism. He offered criticism about Modernism through his literary works. Especially in his poetry, the styles and forms of Modernism can be found. For instance, Eliot's "The Wasteland" poem is a classic example of Modernist poetry. This poem is a collage of fragmented concepts and ideologies. Each stanza has numerous images and it connotes different notions. Through this poetry, Eliot promotes the experimental techniques of Fragmentation. As aforementioned, Modernism rejects the traditional systems and encourages creating new and contemporary. This was clearly presented in Eliot's "The Wasteland" because this poem doesn't follow any traditional rhythmic patterns and rhyme schemes. It has no series of content delivery; rather, it was written in a manner of how the poet conceives in its mind. This raw and real presentation of literature was proposed by T.S Eliot. He rejected the Romantic conventions of poetry as proposed by Wordsworth. Eliot considers this romantic emphasis on poetry leads to a misrepresentation of reality. Furthermore, T.S Eliot strongly agreed with the notion that literature cannot be viewed in any social, political, and historical background, and especially the author's biographical information should not be considered in the process of criticism. This concept was broadly discussed in the next paragraph.
MODERNIST APPROACH IN THE CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF LITERATURE:
I.A Richards is one of the important critics in modernism. He followed the notion of T.S Eliot regarding the critical analysis of literature. Richards offered a set of poems to his students without the author and asked them to analyse it. The students began to interpret based on their understanding. The critical analysis of these poems was different and free from subjective perspectives. When the author’s name provided with the poems, the students recalled the early and possible biographical or socio-political and cultural information regarding the poets and started to analyse it based on their preconceived notions and assumptions. This critical analysis is biased compared to the former critical analysis, which is performed without subjective perspectives. Through this experiment, Richards concluded that critical analysis should be free from subjective notions and preconceived assumptions regarding the text as well as the author. T.S Eliot, who introduced the concept 'subjective core-relative also advocates the same concept of critical analysis.
CONCLUSION:
"Modernism"
was a significant intellectual movement that impacted all art forms, including
literature, music, dance, and painting. It shaped society and dismantled the
traditional approaches towards the understanding of literature, morality, art,
and culture. It challenged everything traditional and demanded to be recreated
and replaced. It encouraged modern writers and artists to experiment with new
styles, forms, and themes in literature and other art forms.
The
First and Second World Wars, the advancements in science and technology, and
the rapidly changing environment had a significant impact on the minds of
modern thinkers and writers, which was reflected in the themes of Modernist
literature. Fragmentation, loss of faith, and innovative experimentation in art
forms were some of the key themes of Modernist literature.
In
conclusion, Modernism was a major turning point in the history of art and
literature, and it had a profound impact on the way people thought and
expressed themselves. The movement's legacy continues to influence contemporary
art and literature, and its themes and ideas remain relevant even today.
Marxism
Juel Rajan (2113312005021)
What Is Marxism?
Marxism is a social, political, and economic philosophy
named after the 19th-century German philosopher and economist Karl Marx. His
work examines the historical effects of capitalism on labor, productivity, and
economic development, and argues that a worker revolution is needed to replace
capitalism with a communist system.
Marxism posits that the struggle between social
classes—specifically between the bourgeoisie, or capitalists, and the
proletariat, or workers—defines economic relations in a capitalist economy and
will lead inevitably to a communist revolution.
Marxism is an economic and political theory that examines
the flaws inherent in capitalism and seeks to identify an alternative, which he
called "utopian socialism."
Marxist theories were influential in the development of
socialism, which requires shared ownership by workers of the means of
production.
Communism outright rejects the concept of private
ownership, mandating that "the people," in fact the government,
collectively own and control the production and distribution of all goods and
services. Understanding Marxism
Marxism is both a social and political theory, and
encompasses Marxist class conflict theory and Marxian economics. Marxism was
first publicly formulated in 1848 in the pamphlet The Communist Manifesto by
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, which lays out the theory of class struggle and
revolution.
Marxian economics focuses on criticism of capitalism,
detailed by Marx in his book Das Kapital, published in 1867.
Generally, Marxism argues that capitalism as a form of
economic and social reproduction is inherently flawed and will ultimately fail.
Capitalism is defined as a mode of production in which
business owners (the capitalists) own all of the means of production (the
factory, the tools and machinery, the raw materials, the final product, and the
profits earned from their sale). Workers (labor) are hired for wages and have
no ownership stake and no share in the profits. More than a century after his
death, Karl Marx remains one of the most controversial figures in the Western
world. His relentless criticism of capitalism and his corresponding promise of
an inevitable, harmonious socialist future inspired a revolution of global
proportions. It seemed that—with the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and the spread
of communism throughout Eastern Europe—the Marxist dream had firmly taken root
during the first half of the twentieth century.
That dream collapsed before the century had ended. The people of Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Romania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Albania, and the USSR rejected Marxist ideology and entered a remarkable transition toward private property rights and the market-exchange system, one that is still occurring.
Although Marx tried to use the labor theory of value
against capitalism by stretching it to its limits, he unintentionally
demonstrated the weakness of the theory’s logic and underlying assumptions.
Marx was correct when he claimed that classical economists failed to adequately
explain capitalist profits. But Marx failed as well. By the late nineteenth
century, the economics profession rejected the labor theory of value.
Mainstream economists now believe that capitalists do not earn profits by
exploiting workers (see profits). Instead, they believe, entrepreneurial
capitalists earn profits by forgoing current consumption, by taking risks, and
by organizing production.
There is more to Marxism, however, than the labor theory
of value and Marx’s criticism of profit seeking. Marx wove economics and
philosophy together to construct a grand theory of human history and social
change. His concept of alienation, for example, first articulated in his
Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, plays a key role in his criticism
of capitalism.
Marx believed that people, by nature, are free, creative
beings who have the potential to totally transform the world. But he observed
that the modern, technologically developed world is apparently beyond our full
control. Marx condemned the free market, for instance, as being “anarchic,” or
ungoverned. He maintained that the way the market economy is
coordinated—through the spontaneous purchase and sale of private property
dictated by the laws of supply and demand—blocks our ability to take control of
our individual and collective destinies.
Marx condemned capitalism as a system that alienates the
masses. His reasoning was as follows: although workers produce things for the
market, market forces, not workers, control things. People are required to work
for capitalists who have full control over the means of production and maintain
power in the workplace. Work, he said, becomes degrading, monotonous, and
suitable for machines rather than for free, creative people. In the end, people
themselves become objects—robotlike mechanisms that have lost touch with human
nature, that make decisions based on cold profit-and-loss considerations, with
little concern for human worth and need. Marx concluded that capitalism blocks
our capacity to create our own humane society.
Marx’s notion of alienation rests on a crucial but shaky
assumption. It assumes that people can successfully abolish an advanced, market-based
society and replace it with a democratic, comprehensively planned society. Marx
claimed that we are alienated not only because many of us toil in tedious,
perhaps even degrading, jobs, or because by competing in the marketplace we
tend to place profitability above human need. The issue is not about toil
versus happiness. We are alienated, he maintained, because we have not yet
designed a society that is fully planned and controlled, a society without
competition, profits and losses, money, private property, and so on—a society
that, Marx predicted, must inevitably appear as the world advances through
history.
Marx was inspired by classical political economists such
as Adam Smith and David Ricardo, while his own branch of economics, Marxian
economics, is not favored among modern mainstream thought. Nevertheless, Marx's
ideas have had a huge impact on societies, most prominently in communist
projects such as those in the USSR, China, and Cuba. Among modern thinkers,
Marx is still very influential in the fields of sociology, political economy,
and strands of heterodox economics.
In general, Marx claimed there are two major flaws inherent in capitalism that led to the exploitation of workers by employers: the chaotic nature of free market competition and the extraction of surplus labor. Ultimately, Marx predicted that capitalism would eventually destroy itself as more people become relegated to working-class status, inequality rose, and competition would lead the rate of corporate profits to zero. This would lead, he surmised, to a revolution where production would be turned over to the working class as a whole.
Marx's Written Works:
During his lifetime, Karl Marx wrote and published no
less than least fifteen complete multi-volume books, along with numerous
pamphlets, articles, and essays. He could often be found writing at the reading
rooms at London's British Museum.
Perhaps his most famous work, The Communist Manifesto
summarizes Marx and Engels's theories about the nature of society and politics
and is an attempt to explain the goals of Marxism, and, later, socialism. When
writing The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels explained how they thought
capitalism was unsustainable and how the capitalist society that existed at the
time of the writing would eventually be replaced by a socialist one.
Das Kapital (in English, Capital: A Critique of Political
Economy) was a full and comprehensive three-volume critique of capitalism. By
far the more academic work, it lays forth Marx's theories on commodities
production, labor markets, the social division of labor, and a basic
understanding of the rate of return to owners of capital. Marx died before the
third volume was finished, which was published posthumously by Engels based
largely on Marx's notes. Today, many of the ideas and critiques of capitalism
remain relevant, such as the emergence of monopolistic mega-corporations,
persistent unemployment, and the general struggle between workers and
employers.
Marx's work laid the foundations for future communist
leaders such as Vladimir Lenin and Josef Stalin. Operating from the premise
that capitalism contained the seeds of its own destruction, his ideas formed
the basis of Marxism and served as a theoretical base for communism.
Nearly everything Marx wrote was viewed through the lens
of the common laborer. From Marx comes the idea that capitalist profits are
possible because the value is "stolen" from the workers and
transferred to employers.
Marxist ideas in their pure form have very few direct
adherents in contemporary times; indeed, very few Western thinkers embraced
Marxism after 1898, when economist Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk's Karl Marx and the
Close of His System was first translated into English. In his damning rebuke,
Böhm-Bawerk showed that Marx failed to incorporate capital markets or
subjective values in his analysis, nullifying most of his more pronounced
conclusions. Still, there are some lessons that even modern economic thinkers
can learn from Marx.
Though he was the capitalist system's harshest critic,
Marx understood that it was far more productive than previous or alternative
economic systems. In Das Kapital, he wrote of "capitalist production"
that combined "together of various processes into a social whole,"
which included developing new technologies.
He believed all countries should become capitalist and
develop that productive capacity, and then workers would naturally revolt,
leading communism whereby the workers would become the dominant social class
and collectively control the means of production. But, like Adam Smith and
David Ricardo before him, Marx predicted that because of capitalism's
relentless pursuit of profit by way of competition and technological progress
to lower the costs of production, that the rate of profit in an economy would
always be falling over time.
ECOCRITICISM
Kadambari R (2113312005022)
INTRODUCTION:
Ecocriticism is the study
of literature and environment from an interdisciplinary point of view where all
sciences come together to analyse the environment and brainstorm possible
solutions for the correction of the contemporary environmental situation.
Ecocriticism investigates
the relation between humans and the natural world in literature. It deals with
how environmental issues, cultural issues concerning the environment and
attitudes towards nature are presented and analysed. One of the main goals in
ecocriticism is to study how individuals in society behave and react in
relation to nature and ecological aspects. This form of criticism has gained a
lot of attention during recent years due to higher social emphasis on
environmental destruction and increased technology. It is hence a fresh way of
analysing and interpreting literary texts, which brings new dimensions to the
field of literary and theoretical studies. Ecocriticism is an intentionally
broad approach that is known by a number of other designations, including
“green (cultural) studies”, “ecopoetics”, and “environmental literary
criticism.”
APPROACHES IN ECOCRITICISM:
ECOFEMINISM
1. This approach combines
ecology and feminism and explains the feminist nature to help understand the
ecology. Feminists have given the concept of gender theory to analyse the
relationship between humans and nature. So, it can be considered a branch of
ecocriticism and is the field of studying the interconnection between the
oppression of women and nature.
2.
The land is often considered as a feminine in nature because of its fertility
that nurtures life and is owned by the man as a property. So, the feminists
draw the lines of comparison to understand the similarity of dominant nature of
man over women and the domination of land in the context of gender
relationships.
3. The term was
originally coined in the book Le Féminisme ou la Mort (1974) written by the
French author Françoise d’Eaubonne. But the term is being used in different
ways and meanings in the modern time, they are ecofeminist theory, ecofeminist
art, social and political philosophy, social justice, religion, poetry and
contemporary feminism. Because of different types and beliefs of feminism among
feminists, different versions of ecofeminism are available in the current
literature.
4. There are two sections
of this approach where first is referred to as a radical camp which is largely
focused on reversing the domination of man over woman and uncontrolled use of
nature. This is because nature and women are close to each other biologically,
emotionally and spiritually. The second section of the field follows the first
which refuses to accept the concept of feminine essence that is considered
responsible for the assumption that women and nature are connected to a great
extent.
5. Modern science is evaluated in the book by
Vandana Shiva and Maria Mies in their book Ecofeminism. According to them,
modern science is largely dominated by men and this has, to a great extent,
affected the natural childbirth process by the use of birth control medicines.
6. It has made the birth
process and ultimately the health and life of women dependent on the
specialised medical technologies that are controlled by men. This can be seen
as one of many ecofeminism examples in the literature that are created as an
effort to contribute towards improving the situations of women in a natural
context.
PASTORAL
1. This is basically a
lifestyle of shepherds and strongly states the duality of urban and rural life
and is deep-rooted in the western culture. This trope has presented itself in
the genres of literature, art, and music which shows rural life in such an
idealised manner that can attract the attention of urban audiences. The author
displays the complex life or pastoralism of the rural areas in a simple way in
the literature by using various techniques.
2. Since pastoral literature maintains a firm
view towards nature, authors like Paul Alpers describe it as a mode instead of
a genre. It is apparent in different types of literature like poetry, drama as
a mode and pastoral elegy as a genre.
3. Well-known literary
theorist Terry Gifford in his book Pastoral has defined the pastoral in three
ways. The first way is the historical literary perspective which recognizes the
lifestyle of shepherds and discusses their hardship. The second way is about
the literature that explains the country life in an opposite context to the
urban life explicitly or implicitly. The third way is about the way of
classification of the country life that can be said as that of derogatory
manner.
4.
Greg Gerrard, a best seller author of ecocriticism, has divided the pastoral
theory into three branches. The first branch is Classic Pastoral which takes
into consideration nature as a place where humans get peace of mind and
identifies the self. The second branch is Romantic Pastoral that describes the
post-industrial revolution period that signifies the importance of rural
independence which is more desirable instead of urbanisation. And the third is
American Pastoral which explains the farmland as a boundary between the
wilderness and urban area. This considers the land as a resource which can be
used for farming. Many authors including Greg have worked to define pastoral in
literature that is very helpful for the aspiring students of ecology and
nature.
1. Wilderness is the
environment naturally existing around us on the Earth that is not affected by
human activities yet. In a more comprehensive meaning, they are the areas which
humans do not control and where they have not created any disturbance by making
roads and installing pipelines or developing infrastructures for the industries
and are still intact as they were. In recent times, the marine wilderness has
also gained attention as its area is continuously being affected by human
activities.
2. However, efforts are
also being made to maintain them and protect them from the intervention, and
some governments have already started paying attention to them. Governments and
global organisations are actively working to restrict the motorised activities
of humans on the lands that are not yet modified for the use of cultivation or
transportation or industrial production.
3. Literature has paid
enough attention to develop and define tropes to understand the wilderness. How
the wilderness is developed and plays a valuable role in nature and life on the
Earth is the subject of examination in this approach. This has also
successfully attracted the attention of ecocritics.
4. However, it is also
seen with two different beliefs in the American and the British cultures.
According to the first belief, wilderness is considered a threat. This is
evident in the early British culture and Biblical tales of creation. According
to the early American pieces of literature, wild-land is mentioned as the place
for demonic activities.
5. But in modern
literature, it is seen as a sanctuary where animals can be kept safe and in
their natural way of life. People of the modern world have documented the encounters
with the wilderness to help understand it from a more positive perspective.
Many novels have described life in the wild which has changed the way the world
used to see the wild-land and its environment.
WAVES OF ECOCRITICISM:
There are basically two
waves of ecocriticism as identified by Lawrence Buell. The first wave
eco-critics “focused on nature writing, nature poetry, and wilderness fiction”
(Buell 138). They used to uphold the philosophy of organism. Here environment
effectively means natural environment (Buell 21). The aim of the wave was to
preserve ‘biotic community’ (Coupe 4). The eco-critics of this wave appraised
“the effects of culture upon nature, with a view toward celebrating nature,
berating its despoilers, and reversing their harm through political action”
(Howarth 69). So, ecocriticism initially aimed at earth care.
The
second wave eco-critics inclined towards environmental justice issues and a
‘social ecocriticism’ which considers ‘urban landscape as seriously as natural
landscape’ (Buell 22). This wave of ecocriticism is also known as revisionist
ecocriticism. It seeks to locate the vestiges of nature in cities and exposes
crimes of eco-injustice against society’s marginal section. The eco-critics
interpret nature writing texts. At the same time, they use them as a context
for analysing the principles and customs of our society in relationship to
nature. Often, the result is a critique of how our culture devalues and
degrades the natural world. Now ecocriticism is said to be in the third wave as
stated by Glotfelty, Scott Slovic and others initiating feminist perspectives
in the study of eco literature.
Buell in the essay, "Ecocriticism: Some Emerging Trends," published in 2011, after a thorough analysis of the European, British, American, Japanese, Chinese and Indian schools of ecocriticism, directs the future of ecocriticism to the ecocritical scope in the Third World countries. It is in this circumstance that Indian ecocriticism must study its movement and history. The objectives of the as hinted earlier, are to critically study the present and past areas of environmental activities in Indian education in the reference of the large body of eco-critical scholarship in the West and to express the concerns.
INDIAN AUTHORS AND ECOCRITCISM:
In Indian writing the
writers also showed a great concern towards nature and natural objects. They
remained very conscious about nature and depicted nature very well. Authors
focused on natural objects in order to save the natural environment.
Colonialism also played a key role in the destruction of the environment
throughout the world. Man changed his attitude towards nature and tries to
protect the natural objects. In Indian Writing in English the authors also
highlighted the theme of ecocriticism in their works through different ways.
Kamala
Markandaya is one of the greatest Indian Novelists in English.
She has used nature in her novels. The duality of nature is described
beautifully in her fiction. Her well known novel, Nectar in a Sieve, is a
perfect example of nature imagery. Environmental Degradation and its effect on
mankind is described.
Bhabani
Bhattacharya has depicted the natural calamity
realistically in his famous novel, So Many Hungers. The Real Bengal famine of
1943 is described in the novel. How the famine affected people is realistically
portrayed Bhattacharya used various nature symbols. The characters Laxminathan
and Samerandra Bose are compared with Jackals and Vultures because of their and
Greed.
In
Anita Desai’s fiction, nature has a strong presence. She is famous for
introducing psychological novels in Indian – English Fiction she uses external
landscapes to portray interior states of mind. In Cry, the Peacock, the
complexities of Maya’s inner life are effectively brought out through the
landscape as her resentment against her husband for his inability to
communicate with her. Maya compares herself with the peacock in the jungle. The
peacocks are said to fight before they mate, living they are aware of death and
dying when they are in love with life. This is reflected towards the end in the
novel, during a dust storm. Both husband and wife go up to the roof of their
house. She pushes him off the parapet and he dies. In Voice in the City,
Monalisa is repeatedly compared to the caged bird in her house who wants to be
free. Her condition reflects the plight of the imprisoned bird whose need is no
one’s concern and its life is for the pleasure of the others. She finally takes
her own life to free herself.
Arundhati Roy’s
breakthrough novel, the God of Small Things, deals with the topics of nature
and environment. Environmental pollution is reflected in the change in
condition of Ayemenem and the river Meenachal. The river has become deformed
and repulsive due to environmental pollution. The harmful effect of
urbanisation on Environment and the resultant degenerated human beings is
elaborated in the novel.
Amitav
Ghosh in his novel, The Hungry Tide, Shows the value of Eco
balance. It deals with the geographical areas of the Sunderban Islands in the
Bay of Bengal. Ghose describes the complicated ecosystem and the environment.
The visit of a marine biologist Piyali in Sunderbans for the research study of
a special species of dolphin in a tide pool is delineated. A negative effect of
fundamental environment protectionism is explored in the novel. He reveals the
myopic attitude of the national and international environmentalists who think
animal protection is more important than the saving of human life.
Ecocriticism’s
greatest challenge in the first part of the 21st century is to address the
question of environmental concerns in nature writing, nature poetry and
wilderness narratives.
Ecocriticism is becoming
a globally relevant agenda of research and teaching in the disciplines of
literary and cultural studies as an integral part of the environmental
humanities, which in my view has the potential for providing new answers to the
much-debated question of why the humanities matter today. Ecocriticism in this
sense is not a single unified theory or methodology but the platform for a
lively, polycentric, and dynamically developing transcultural and transnational
dialogue, which can only gain from the multi-vectoral directions that it
produces, acknowledging that these directions represent no all-explanatory
truth-claims but exploratory perspectives within a constantly shifting
discursive field.
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