Green Studies/ Ecocriticism in Indian English Fiction
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This paper explores the traces of Ecocriticism in Indian English fiction. Ecocriticism began in United States of America during late nineteen eighties and in United Kingdom in nineteen nineties and still is an emergent movement across the globe. From the very beginning Indian novelists were inclined towards nature but true essence of ecocriticism was found after nineteen eighties. Intimate relationship between human and nature has been indicated in Indian fiction from the very beginning. Environment has become a global issue in the contemporary scenario and literature reflects this issue very seriously with the help of ecocriticism. Nature is both a preserver and a destroyer but negligence of nature and its exploitation brings destruction to mankind. Environmental problems have become global as it affects the people across the globe. Through the novels of Raja Rao, R.K. Narayan, Kamla Markandya, Ruskin Bond, Anita Desai, Kiran Desai, V.S. Naipaul and Amitav Ghosh; one finds a deep interconnectedness and interdependence of man and nature. Some novelist admires the aesthetic beauty of nature, its picturesque, scenic and sublime beauty while some are worried about the disturbance of ecological balance and desires to contribute to environmental restoration. Ruskin Bond explores the healing power of nature. Anita Desai portrays the inner consciousness of human through nature imagery. Amitav Ghosh through his novels like The Hungry Tide brings out the relationship between human, nature and animal world showing how imbalance can affect human being drastically.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Bindu, D.S. “Humanism versus Environmentalism-The Hungry Tide”, Indian Journal of Applied Research. 1.3 (2011): 135-136. Web. 9 Nov. 2014. <http://www.theglobaljournals.com/ijar/file.php?val=December_2012_1356848690_c25da_45.pdf>
C, Indulekha. “The “Invisible Environmentalist” in Kamala Markandaya: An Eco Aesthetic Blend in Nectar in a Sieve”, The Criterion: An International Journal in English. 5.2 (2014): 719-723.Web. 8 Dec. 2014. < http://www.thecriterion.com/V5/n2/Indulekha.pdf>
Desai, Anita. Cry, The Peacock. New Delhi: Orient, 1980. Print.
Garrad, Greg. Ecocriticism. London: Routledge, 2012.Print.
Glotfelty, Cheryll and Harold Fromm, ed. The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary
Ecology. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1996. Web. 27 Nov. 2014. <http://ide548.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/73887822-the-eco-criticism-reader-landmarks-in-literary-ecology.pdf>
Markandaya, Kamala. Nectar in a Sieve. New York: Signet Classic, 1982. Print.
Nayar, Pramod K. Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory. New Delhi: Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd, 2010. Print.
Nazir, Farkhanda. “Women and Nature: Ecofeminist Study of Kamala Markandaya’s Novel Nectar in a Sieve”, British Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. 9. 2 (2013): 54-68.Web. 8 Dec. 2014. <http://www.ajournal.co.uk/HSpdfs/HSvolume9%282%29/HSVol.9%20%282%29%20Article%205.pdf>
Rao, Raja. Kanthapura. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2006. Print