Ecocritical Concerns in Lakshmi Kannan’s Short Stories “Muniyakka,” “Nandanvan,” and “Because”

Abstract

The relationship between nature and mankind has been inextricable since time immemorial. Writers down the ages in almost all cultures of the world have presented nature in its splendour and beauty. Hence it becomes important to study how literature represents the essential human relationship with nature and also the role of nature as a nurturer. This paper attempts to examine how nature and environment appear as tropes in three short stories of Lakshmi Kannan namely “Muniyakka,” “Nandanvan,” and “Because.” These stories have been translated from Tamil into English by the author herself. The paper aims to highlight the ecocritical vein that runs through these selected short stories in the light of the theory of ecocriticism. Ecocriticism is an interdisciplinary study that aims at analysing texts that illustrate environmental concerns and it examines the various ways literature treats the subject of nature. The paper further argues that the relationship between nature and mankind is one of reciprocity.