Re-Thinking Environment Literature, Ethics and Praxis
Re-Thinking Environment Literature, Ethics and Praxis
Edited by
Dr Shruti Das
Worldwide Circulation through Authorspress Global Network First Published in 2017 by Authorspress Q-2A Hauz Khas Enclave, New Delhi-110 016 (India) Phone: (0) 9818049852 e-mails:
[email protected];
[email protected] Website: www.authorspressbooks.com Re-Thinking Environment: Literature, Ethics and Praxis ISBN 978-93-5207-466-2 Copyright © 2017 Editor Disclaimer Concerned authors are solely responsible for their views, opinions, policies, copyright infringement, legal action, penalty or loss of any kind regarding their articles. Neither the publisher nor the editor will be responsible for any penalty or loss of any kind if claimed in future. Contributing authors have no right to demand any royalty amount for their articles. Printed in India at Krishna Offset, Shahdara
Board of Editors Prof. Ram Narayan Panda PG Department of English, Berhampur University, Odisha Prof. Sukhbir Singh Osmania University, Hyderabad Deepshikha Routray Lecturer in English, Ganjam College, Ganjam, Odisha Munira Salim Lecturer in English, Stewart Science College, Cuttack, Odisha
Foreword
Environmental well-being has been an important component of Oriental theology since the pre-Vedic times. Environmental consciousness gained ground in the West as a part of the Feminist movement in the early 1990s. Ecocriticism has proliferated from the study of Nature writers into a highly diverse and interdisciplinary field encompassing a wide variety of literary genres, cultural and literary theories, while drawing on the social and the natural sciences. Ecocriticism has at its foundation an awareness of ecological systems, and maintains a keen focus on the myriad ways in which systems of human making depend upon, intersect with, or exploit nature, and how humans are as much a part of nature as plants and other animals, i. e., how nature both produces and is produced through a myriad of systems. It focuses on how literature explores the vital relation of people to place and non-human life highlighting environmental ethics and sustainable energy. The word “ecocriticism” saw the light of day in William Rueckert’s 1978 essay “Literature and Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism” and apparently lay dormant in critical vocabulary until the 1989 Western Literature Association meeting (in Coeur d’Alene), when Cheryll Glotfelty not only revived the term but urged its adoption to refer to the diffuse critical field that heretofore had been known as “the study of nature writing.” Cheryll’s call for an “ecocriticism” was immediately seconded at that same WLA meeting by Glen Love
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(Professor of English at the University of Oregon) in his Past President’s speech, entitled “Revaluing Nature: Toward an Ecological Literary Criticism.” Since then, the term “ecocriticism” has enjoyed wide usage. Rather than provide the definitive answer, the term intends to foster an awareness of the varied uses to which scholars are putting it. The need of the hour is to re-examine nature-oriented literature that redirects us from “ego-consciousness” to “ecoconsciousness.” Glen Love has urged scholars to rethink pastoralism and to pay greater attention to nature-oriented literature. Cheryll Glotfelty has advocated a manner of criticism, i. e., ecocriticism as a critical practice of analysing literature that would address the interconnections between human culture and the material world, involving both the human and the nonhuman. She has advocated the adaptation of Elaine Showalter’s three developmental stages of feminist criticism as an analogous model for ecocriticism. Thus, sort of homology has been established between feminist criticism and eco-criticism. Ecocriticism is the critical and pedagogical broadening of literary studies to include texts that deal with the nonhuman world and our relationship to it. (Such a definition draws on the work of critics like Glen Love, Cheryll Glotfelty, and others.) Ecocriticism necessarily entails a shift away from approaches that strictly privilege language and the difficulty of referentiality to approaches that re-emphasize the real work of words in a world of consequence, joy, and despair. Like feminism at its best, ecocriticism is fundamentally an ethical criticism and pedagogy, one that investigates and helps make possible the connections among self, society, nature, and text. Like feminism, ecocriticism/environmentalism needs a diversity of approaches. It is time for ecocritics to become inclusive and to try to develop
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an ecologically oriented poststructuralism (as Sue Ellen Campbell has suggested). Analogous efforts in ecocriticism study how nature is represented in literature, addressing the virgin land, Eden, Arcadia, howling wilderness etc. The second stage of feminism, as Showalter distinguishes, is the woman’s literary tradition stage which rediscovers, reissues and reconsiders literature by women. In ecocriticism, a similar endeavour is oriented to describing the genre of non-fiction nature writing, and examining ecologically oriented fiction, poetry and drama. Showalter’s third phase is the theoretical phase, which raises fundamental questions about symbolic and linguistic construction of gender and sexuality. Similar work in ecocriticism examines how literary discourse has constructed “nature.” Glotfelty defines ecocriticism as the study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment. She says, “Just as feminist criticism examines language and literature from a gender-conscious perspective, and Marxist criticism brings an awareness of modes of production and economic class to its reading of texts, ecocriticism takes an earth-centered approach to literary studies.” (http://www. asle. org/wp-content/uploads/ ASLE_ Primer_DefiningEcocrit. pdf) She voices the concerns of environmentalists, ecocritics and theorists, who ask questions like:
How is nature represented in poetry?
What role does the physical setting play in the plot of a particular novel?
Are the values expressed in a particular play consistent with ecological wisdom?
How do our metaphors of the land influence the way we treat it?
How can we characterize nature writing as a genre?
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In addition to race, class, and gender, should place become a new critical category?
Do men react to and write about nature differently than women do?
In what ways has literacy itself affected humankind’s relationship to the natural world?
How has the concept of wilderness changed over time?
In what ways and to what effect is the environmental crisis seeping into contemporary literature 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?
Glotfelty and other ecocritics are of the opinions that, despite the broad scope of inquiry, all ecological criticism share the fundamental premise that human culture is connected to the physical world, affecting it and being affected by it. Therefore we can surmise that ecocriticism takes as its subject the interconnections between nature and culture, specifically the cultural artifacts like, language and literature. As a critical stance, it has one foot in literature and the other on land; as a theoretical discourse, it negotiates between the human and the nonhuman. Theorists claim that ecocriticism can be further characterized by distinguishing it from other critical approaches. Literary theory, in general, examines the relations between
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writers, texts, and the world. In most literary theory “the world” is synonymous with society – the social sphere. Ecocriticism expands the notion of “the world” to include the entire ecosphere. Environmentalism or ecocriticism establishes that literature does not float above the material world in some aesthetic ether, but, rather, participates in an immensely complex global system, in which energy, matter, and ideas interact. The troubling awareness that we have reached the age of environmental limits, a time when the consequences of human actions are damaging the planet’s basic life support systems forms the motivation and basis of most ecocritical work. This awareness sparks a sincere desire to contribute to environmental restoration, not just in our spare time, but from within our capacity as scholars of literature. We are facing a global crisis today, not because of how ecosystems function but rather because of how our ethical systems function. Getting through the crisis requires understanding our impact on nature as precisely as possible, but even more, it requires understanding those ethical systems and using that understanding to reform them. Historians, along with literary scholars, anthropologists, and philosophers, cannot do the reforming, of course, but they can help with the understanding. (The Wealth of Nature: Environmental History and the Ecological Imagination [New York: Oxford UP, 1993, p. 27) Literary scholars specialize in questions of value, meaning, tradition, point of view, and language, and it is in these areas that the collection of essays in this volume are making a substantial contribution to environmental thinking. Consciousness raising is an important motivation for this work. The writers have tried to encourage others to think seriously about the relationship of humans to nature, about the ethical and aesthetic dilemmas posed by the environmental crisis, and
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about how language and literature transmit values with profound ecological implications. Western ideology has as its mainstay the binaries that separate men from women, mind from body, and humanity from nature. The essays in this volume investigate the ways in which the interlaced natural and cultural systems influence, and are influenced by, literary works and criticism. It seeks to open to critique the conventional practices and representations in literature as well as grafting trajectories, making sense of the chaotic, or making chaotic that which seems ordered through new interdisciplinary paradigms. It introduces new horizons in environmental consciousness and explore potential areas of sustainable development by engaging with issues such as global warming, deforestation, animal rights, water issues, climate change etc. along with different other aspects of deep and social ecology so that our present understanding might lead to future developments, both in scholarship and in pedagogy. – Shruti Das
Contents
Foreword
7
PART I. ECO-CONSCIOUSNESS IN LITERATURE AND PRAXIS
1. Wasteland, Forest, and Emplacement: The Promise (and Peril) of Narration
21
Alan Johnson
2. Eco-consciousness in the Vedic Age: A Reading of Ashwin Sanghi’s Krishna Key
40
Dr. Preetha M. M
3. From Eco-sensibility to Ecofeminism
49
Shruti Das
4. Eco-consciousness in Swear Songs: A Study of Bharanippattukal
60
Veena R. Nair & O. Arun Kumar
5. Eco-sensitivity Coercion in Meghana Pant’s People of the Sun
69
Chinmayee Sahu PART II. WILDERNESS AND CRISIS IN LITERATURE
6. Ecopoetics of Grazia Deledda: A Study through Reeds in the Wind
79
Chittaranjan Misra
7. Eco-centric Dimension in Thoreau’s Walden Dr. T. Eswar Rao
87
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8. Rethinking Nature: Wilderness in Arun Joshi’s The Strange Case of Billy Biswas
95
N. Lakshmi & G. Chenna Reddy
9. Ecological Crisis in Ruskin Bond’s Selected Short Stories Annie Jane C Mawkhiew
10. Culture and Nature in Selected Poems of Shruti Das: An Ecocritical Study
104 104
111
Samita Mishra PART III. CLIMATE CHANGE REPRESENTATIONS
11. Climate Change and its Impact in Barbara Kingsolver’s Novel Flight Behavior
121
Sr. Innyasamma Gade
12. “Not a drop of water, nor a blade of grass:” Reading Haruki Murakami’s Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage as a Postmodern Ecological Text 130 Minakshi Prasad Mishra
13. Dire Consequences of the Fall of an Ecosystem: A Critique on Helon Habila’s Oil On Water Ramesh K. G., James Joseph & P. C. Roy
14. Environmental Scatology in Eni-Jologho Umuko’s The Scent of Crude Oil
141 141
151
Ajumeze Henry Obi PART IV. LOCATION, ANTHROPOCENE AND DEEP ECOLOGY
15. Creating a Sense of Place through Literature: A Bioregional Reading of Barungin (Smell the Wind)
165
Aleena Manoharan
16. Bonbibi and Cetology: The Confluence of the Mythic and the Scientific in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide Maitrayee Misra
176
Contents
17. From the Politics of the River to the Making of the Dam: Locating Environmental Refugees in Manoj Das’ The Submerged Valley
15
185
Munira Salim
18. Towards Symbiogenesis: Re-Reading Carlos Saldanha’s Rio and Rio 2 194 Suranjana Bhadra
19. Entangled Bodies – The Symbiotic Eco-Cosmo-Vision of Tree Matters
204
Pritha Banerjee
20. Anthropocentric Limits in Ecological Considerations: Towards A Green Orientation
219
Gagana Bihari Purohit PART V. ECO-THEOLOGY AND ECO-ETHICS
21. Natural Supernaturalism and Tribal Eco-theology in Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar’s The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey
235
Asis De
22. Gitanjali (Song Offerings): The Aesthetics of Eco-Spirituality
243
Kalikinkar Pattanayak
23. Pantheism, Animism and Personalism: Understanding Deep Ecology through the Poetry of Robinson Jeffers
254
Shrabanee Khatai
24. Ethical Praxis and the Ecological Aspects of Khasi Folklore
266
Auswyn Winter Japang,
25. Ecoethics: A Philosophical Panacea for Environmental Melancholia Bhagabat Nayak
277
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26. The Environment in Arundhati Roy’s Non-Fiction
291
Ranjit K Pati
27. Expounding ‘Social Ecology’ with Special Reference to Ethics and Praxis in Tagore’s Ashram School at Santiniketan
300
Nishamani Kar PART VI. ECO-PSYCHOLOGY AND LITERATURE
28. Nature Speaks: Eco-psychological Elements in Aminatta Forna’s Ancestor Stones
315
Deepshikha Routray
29. The Transformative Power of Nature in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God
327
R. Sheela Banu
30. Green Therapy: A Case Study
338
Pragyan Paramita Pattnaik PART VII. ANIMAL RIGHTS – LITERARY REPRESENTATIONS
31. J. M. Coetzee: A Voice for the Voiceless
347
Tanuja Kumar Nayak
32. Re-thinking the Non-human Animal in Select Poems of Ted Hughes: An Approach from Animal Studies Perspective
358
Krishanu Maiti PART VIII. ECOFEMINISM
33. The Role of Gyna Sapiens in the Contemporary Society 373 Daya Dissanayake
34. Spatialising the Black Body: An Ecofeminist Reading of Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Home Jiban Jyoti Kakoti
385
Contents
35. Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code: An Ecofeministic Appraisal
17
396
Biswanath Das
36. Poetry of Shruti Das: A Comparative Study in Ecofeminism
406
Dr. Namita Laxmi Jagaddeb
37. An Inequitable Justice: An Eco-feminist Analysis in Kamala Markandaya’s Nectar in a Sieve and Two Virgins Sibani Gantayet
38. Woman and Nature: An Ecofeminist Reading of Sarah Joseph’s Selected Novels
420 420
432
Nitesh Narnolia
List of Contributors
440
Part I. Eco-Consciousness in Literature and Praxis
1 Wasteland, Forest, and Emplacement: The Promise (and Peril) of Narration Alan Johnson
I In Aravind Adiga’s 2008 novel The White Tiger, the protagonist Balram, narrating a confession of sorts in the form of letters to the premier of China, is obsessed with chandeliers. From the start, he describes his own “huge” chandelier, “just like the ones... in the films of the 1970s,” as having “a personality of its own” (5). He hangs this huge item, absurdly, in his tiny 150square-foot office as a symbol of both how far he has come and of the “entrepreneur’s curse” of always wanting more (5). He has placed a “midget” fan above the candelabra so that its “small blades chop up the chandelier’s light and fling it across the room. Just like the strobe light at the best discos in Bangalore” (5). Whatever the merits or demerits of Adiga’s novel,1 I see the chandelier as a motif that wittily calls to mind conventional environmental and economic tropes and critiques them in fresh ways. This motif does so specifically by accentuating conceptions of waste which have a special pertinence to modernity. I will claim that Adiga’s novel is a timely example of what Lawrence Buell has called “toxic discourse,” a rhetorical
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approach to environmental crisis that romanticizes “betrayed Edens” and the poor in the context of apocalyptic and gothic landscapes. But as William Viney observes, and as I hope to show, waste is not just a spatial concept. It is equally a temporal one, in this case forcing us to ponder the natural and human costs of producing and owning such objects. Balram’s rags-toriches journey upends edenic as well as apocalyptic plot lines by exposing the human caprice at their heart, and by deconstructing the notion of waste. The structuring device of letters writing in the present to account for past actions, and addressed to the head of a non-western geopolitical player, undermines the conventional storyline of entrepreneurial globalization. The questions the novel begs are: Wasteful of what? And for whom? Waste is not simply a metaphor for an abject and abstract state of existential crisis. It is a very real space of physical inhabitance. That is to say, waste, and such related images as wasteland, jungle,2 and the wilds, represent an eco-materialist perspective that is rooted in real contexts, such as the false promise, for certain sections of society, of upward mobility in the urban “jungle.” A comparable example of waste and toxic discourse is Indra Sinha’s 2007 novel Animal’s People, which is set in the wake of the Bhopal chemical disaster. These novels play upon conventional tropes of wildness and civilization, waste and paradise, to expose their blind spots. I will discuss how these images amplify one another and inform Balram’s identification as a white tiger. Collectively, these images comment on the ways in which modern economics, especially as it functions in cities that Balram calls “rooster coops,” ascribes personhood to corporations while withholding it from many social groups. The dominant economics model does this, paradoxically, while extolling individual self-reliance
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and entrepreneurial enterprise. As Pablo Mukherjee observes in his discussion of the Bhopal catastrophe, our conceptions of human rights and personhood are directly implicated in our perceptions of the natural environment (147). Debates about human and non-human animal rights compel us to think hard about how we conceive of “being, belonging and collectivity” (146). On an ideological level, novels like those by Adiga and Sinha emphasize that we cannot treat nature, as modern industry continues to do, as an entity that exists beyond the social (147; also see Gottlieb 526). For Balram, the possession of a chandelier grants him the corporate personhood that he believes matters most in this world. Yet his frequent comments on Urdu poetry reveal his doubts about what exactly it is that “matters.” Balram’s ruminations and the book’s narrative structure compel readers to question conventional notions of waste and profit. For this reason, the chandelier is also, in more narrative terms, an apt metaphor for Balram’s own confessional storytelling. The chandelier reminds us in this way that ecological and economic paradigms are themselves composed of powerful plot lines. II Balram returns again and again to chandeliers, insistently reminding us of both his prized acquisition and his unrealized dreams. The chandelier is a finite aspirational object as well as a metonym for the “Light” that Balram believes can dispel what he calls the “Darkness” into which he was born, by which he means his nondescript home village. In his view, Light is his inborn ability – his White Tiger-ness – to not only survive, but thrive in what he likes to call the “Rooster Coop” of modern urban competition. It is the antidote to Darkness. Darkness here represents a host of metaphors in a long literary lineage that include terms like jungle, desert, wilderness,
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and waste, and it is in the form of waste, as we will see, that Balram’s evasions and economic aspirations coalesce. For Balram, the darkness he wants to end is the village life he escaped, an environment that he sarcastically “your typical Indian village paradise” (16). He thus inverts customary pastoral and wilderness literary images – although, as I will argue, this inversion reflects the ambivalence that is built into these familiar tropes. Julia Kristeva’s essay on the abject, which is anything that induces horror and “disturbs” social boundaries, explains how this ambivalence functions psychologically. Her exemplum is the human corpse, which “literalizes the breakdown of the distinction between subject and object that is crucial for the establishment of identity” (Felluga). The corpse, she writes, “is waste, transitional matter, mixture, it is above all the opposite of the spiritual, of the symbolic, and of divine law” (109). Following Mary Douglas, Kristeva notes that society, being uncomfortable with transitional states, slots whatever is deemed wasteful into the categories of “Prohibition and Law” (16). Kristeva sees writers as, on one hand, so “fascinated by the abject” that they “project” themselves into its spatial correlatives, which, as in Adiga’s novel, include the Darkness and the urban jungle. Not surprisingly, however, these wastes are necessary for their opposites – Light, life, personal enrichment – to exist. They mirror one another. Indeed, in the case of the jungle, wasteland sometimes transforms into the moral and pure, as it does in the Ramayana, functioning as what Robert Pogue Harrison calls a “window of the soul” (150; 261). Such images are, to return to Kristeva, “both the abject’s judge and accomplice,” or “a crossing over of the dichotomous categories of Pure and Impure, Prohibition and Sin” (16). This is why,
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although Balram sarcastically calls his village a rural “paradise,” he nourishes his own utopian dream. Paradoxically, then, waste and waste land are also “scene[s] of contemplation, meditation and unforeseen light,” as Viney puts it (Viney). This helps explain Balram’s pseudo-mystical experience of looking into the eyes of the Delhi Zoo’s white tiger, his namesake. So proud has Balram been of this title, given to him as a boy in his village to describe his innate savviness, that in his letters he adds the title “The White Tiger/Of Bangalore” (276). His communion with a non-human animal is suggestive of a liminal state between the two. When he sees the white tiger in its cage, he tells us – or rather, he tells the Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao – that it is a “creature that gets born only once every generation in the jungle.” He sees that the tiger’s incessant pacing is “the only way he could tolerate his cage” (237). Then, abruptly, the tiger “turned its face to my face,” and its “eyes met my eyes, like my master’s eyes have met mine so often in the mirror of the car.” And “All at once, the tiger vanished,” and he senses a “tingling” and feels “light”. He hears a woman cry, “He’s going to faint!” and “trie[s] to shout at her: ‘It’s not true: I’m not fainting!’ I tried to show them all I was fine, but my feet were slipping... Something was digging its way toward me, and then claws tore out of mud and dug into my flesh and pulled me down into the dark earth. My last thought, before everything went dark, was that... now I understood why lovers come to the zoo” (238). His protégé Dharam recounts “Uncle” Balram’s words after regaining consciousness by dictating it in a letter to Balram’s grandmother back in his village. Balram had said, “‘I can’t live the rest of my life in a cage, Granny’” (239).
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This moment of intimacy between Balram and the white tiger is not simply an epiphany about the desperate conditions of the urban jungle – or rooster coop, or cage. It is also a transpersonal moment in which human and non-human animals converge and borders dissolve. Here we see the link between the chandelier that both extinguishes darkness and signifies material and social arrival, and all its supposed opposites. What had seemed wasteful in every sense proves to be symbolically essential, reflecting our human habit of simultaneously idealizing and denigrating the non-human world. Indeed, Adiga, as I’ve said, shows the two worlds to be one. Like the Delhi Zoo episode, Balram on another occasion sees a driverless cart being pulled by a single buffalo in the “butcher’s quarter” of Delhi. He suddenly sees reflected in the dead buffaloes in the cart the fate of his own village family. “I swear,” he declares, “the buffalo that was pulling the cart turned its face to me, and said in a voice not unlike my father’s: ‘Your brother Kishan was beaten to death. Happy?’” In Balram’s mind, the buffalo then says simply, “‘Shame!’” and walks on, its dead cargo seeming to him to be “the faces of my own family” (219). As we will see, however, a characteristic ambivalence qualifies Balram’s concern for his family’s fate, which he will claim is irrelevant to his personal ambition. Sundhya Walther astutely reads such words as expressive of the novel’s liberal “postcolonial humanism” (579), given the novel’s focus on modernity’s underclass. As Walther points out, this focus on human plight is in tension with the narrative’s moments of “interspecies identification” (Walther 580), such as Balram’s encounters with the buffalo and tiger. Walther reads these as instances of “becoming-animal,” in the DeleuzeGuattari sense, by which she means that Balram at these moments “dissolves” his identity into non-human animals (580)
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and thereby destabilizes the notion of the unified self, briefly offering the possibility of existential escape. Walther contrasts these scenes with the narrative’s use of conventional metaphors of poverty and social exile as “animalized” states (580), such as the symbolism of Balram’s father squashing a lizard that has scared his son, leading Balram to say, “It was no different from me; it was terrified” (25). Walther views this as the familiar humanist device of personifying non-human animals, so that Balram is said to “share” with the lizard the “conditions of oppression” (580). Here, the lizard simply re-emphasizes Balram’s separate humanity, just as when he later expresses his wish to be rid of lizards by switching on his chandelier light. Walther’s reading, however, leaves intact the characteristic dualism of tropes like human-animal and paradise-waste. The outcome of Balram’s encounters would likely be different if he these animals had not been caged or enslaved. In my reading, Balram does not alternate between poles so much as hold them in his mind at the same time. His economic ambition coexists with his empathy for the servant class. This accounts for the equal weight he ascribes to the chandelier’s aesthetic and utilitarian values. In any case, Balram does not stay long in the transpersonal moments with the tiger and the buffalo. Rather than lead to more humane behavior, as one would expect, these experiences make Balram more determined than ever to take the place of his boss, Ashok. After murdering Ashok and taking his money, Balram says he “changed from a hunted criminal into a solid pillar of Bangalorean society” (250). He retains his desire to be distinct from the “jungle” around him, but ironically also wants to “fit in” (30, 255). “See,” he explains in his letter, “men and women in Bangalore live like the animals in the forest do,” and are therefore essentially “animals” (255). He is determined to be
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“different.” Using the animal nicknames he has ascribed to everyone around him, his conscience eating at him, he declares: “I had to be different; don’t you see? I can’t live the way the Wild Boar and the Bufallo and the Raven lived, and probably still live, back in Laxmangarh” (his village). “I am,” he concludes, wishing to convince himself, “in the Light now” (269). He is determined not to waste another moment, solidifying his early desire to not “waste my time” (91). His ceaseless use of terms for clear-sightedness – “see,” “light” – reflect this sense of pressing time. Adiga’s use of ambivalent tropes thus indicate that while Balram knows what it is to be treated as a non-human animal, he nevertheless aspires to what he imagines are the poetic heights of modern human-ness. At certain moments – his felt communication with a water buffalo, his spiritual transaction with the zoo tiger – Balram perceives, as no one else in the novel does, the artifice of the distinction between the worlds of nature and society. Society is, in ways both ironic and profound, nature. He perceives, and his own narrative illustrates, “the human artifice that lies at the heart of even the most ‘natural’ of narratives,” as William Cronon says of writings about nature (1367). The identity between nature and society means, however, that conventional tropes, or typologies, fail to apply in the way we expect. Neither the social nor the natural is the romanticized paradise that Ashok, for example, imagines their common ancestral village to be. His cosmopolitan outlook could be that of any city-dweller on the planet. Ashok’s perception is prompted by an exchange with Balram whose context importantly illustrates my points. Balram has driven Ashok and his wife, Pinky, to the village, so that Ashok can see his birthplace (68). While there, Balram rejects his own family’s
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pressure to marry, and, wanting to escape, describes his swim in a pond in almost lyrical words. He swims “past lotuses and water lilies, past the water buffalo, past tadpoles and fish and giant boulders fallen from the fort” (74). Balram then abruptly shifts to the present, when he is lying under the chandelier in his tiny Bangalore room, writing his letter to the Chinese premier. Balram, as he does frequently in the narrative, spews venomous resentment at the urban world that idealizes villages by ignoring their pain. Watching the chandelier’s blades, Balram imagines the “little” devil “spitting at God again and again” (75; original emphasis). The bitter interlude is a striking contrast to the earlier lyricism, just as it is to the poetry of Iqbal, whose depiction of the Devil serves as Balram’s hero. What is noteworthy here is the leitmotif of the chandelier, which is a touchstone for all of Balram’s descriptions. One interpretation of the chandelier’s “black blades... slic[ing] the light” is clearly that Balram’s stylized Light and Darkness are intermixed, and indeed rely on each other for meaning. A richer reading emerges if we consider the placement of this scene. Immediately after this interlude in the fictive present, Balram resumes his narration of the village episode, describing how Ashok is fascinated by Balram’s automatic gesture of touching his eye as they pass a temple. Seeing the impression this makes on his passengers, Balram repeats the gesture – but without a temple in sight. “What’s that for, driver?” Ashok asks. “I don’t any temples around.” Balram, as always, adapts: “Er... we drove past a sacred tree, sir. I was offering my respects.” This prompts Ashok to say to Pinky, “Did you hear that? They worship nature. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” (78). For the rest of the drive back to Delhi, Balram successively touches every part of his upper body, with the expected result that Ashok and Pinky “were convinced I was the most religious servant on earth” (78).
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The alternating tones of dark comedy and deep bitterness that characterize this early episode, which is also the first time Balram meets his boss, resonate throughout the novel. It is here, too, that Balram learns of Ashok’s father’s love of chandeliers – at a time when, not coincidentally, he becomes aware that, after the passing of his father, his older brother “had become, all of a sudden, my father” (71, 73). When we read, by the end of the novel, that Balram “look[s] up to my chandelier for inspiration” (249), the image’s accretive associations have made it far more meaningful than at the start of the book. Like the intermixing of levity and gravity, Balram has come to see the “black blades” of his small room fan as being capable of affecting (“slic[ing]”) the much larger chandelier (75). The tiny fan and grandiose candelabra together echo his mother’s resistance, even in death, to the “black mud” of the Ganga (14-15), at least as his young mind interprets it. This leads the adult Balram to complain in his letter that the Ganga “brings darkness to India” (12), just as one of its branches brings the commerce of boats “from the world outside” to his village (15). For Balram, the river and the village’s bazaar, with its oozing “sewage,” represent, with religious practices, “the kinds of gods... foisted on us” (15-16). He then sarcastically states, “Your Excellency, I am proud to inform you that Laxmangarh is your typical Indian village paradise” (16). We can see how waste in all its senses – bodily and monetary, temporal and spatial – is subsumed in Balram’s various allusions to “earth.” He effectively summarizes this when he describes how, during the return visit to his village, he climbs up to a hill fort and is able to take in the whole village. “My little Laxmangarh. I saw the temple tower, the market, the glistening line of sewage, the landlords’ mansions – and my own house, with that dark little cloud outside – the water buffalo. It looked like the most beautiful sight on earth” (36). He then
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confesses that the view compels him to spit, “again and again,” over the wall. He also curtly confesses, “Eight months later, I slit Mr. Ashok’s throat” (36). In his description of his boss’s murder, Balram presents us with the most arresting application of “waste,” one that ties together his mother’s funerary rites and the constellated images of abjection. On a rainy night, on a deserted stretch of road, Balram sees “soggy black mud everywhere.” He notices “a large clump of bushes to one side – and a stretch of wasteland beyond” (242). There is, notably, little “light inside the car” in which Ashok sits (242). Pretending to need help with a flat tire, Balram lures Ashok out of the car and to his death. After he has “rammed [a] bottle down” on Ashok’s skull, which “in the blackness” is “just a black ball” (244), the “stunned body fell into the mud” (245). Balram poses a common sense question to his epistolary reader, which is, of course, a question to himself: “Why didn’t I gag him and leave him in the bushes, stunned and unconscious... ?” He responds, “I’ve thought about it many a night, as I sit at my desk, looking at the chandelier” (245). Convincing himself (a little too tentatively, clearly) that “I was just getting my revenge in advance,” Balram places his “foot on the back of the crawling thing,” leaving it “flattened into the ground” (245). He views his act, on one hand, as a purely rational transaction, one that he must take care not to “waste” (247). But ironically, in animalizing Ashok, Balram reveals his humanity. Immediately after hiding the body, he describes going to the nearby train station, where he observes a homeless couple’s “baby boy” and gives him a rupee coin” (247). A more telling irony is that Balram, in earlier descriptions of his home region’s exploitation by coal companies, exposes the industry’s corruptive violation of the earth. He observes that the “glass and gold” buildings in the nearby city of Dhanbad are
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built with the profits of “coal pits” that extend “for miles and miles outside the town,” with “fires burning under the earth and sending smoke into the air” (44). Yet his “entrepreneur’s path” must, he declares, go through this modern “pollution” (44) – a self-justification for his violation of the earth with Ashok’s body. The confessional first-person mode means that Balram’s entire narrative is an attempt to account for this past personal violation. In viewing his past through the lens of his guilty conscience, he finds, to his chagrin, that he has much in common with the owners of Dhanbad’s glimmering buildings. Readers thus face the same ambivalent regard for Balram that he expresses towards the world. He accurately sees that the violence of pollution is reflected in, and directly tied to, the violence of oppression when, shortly after being hired as a driver, he witnesses a lowly rickshaw-puller who dares to vote on election day beaten to death by an aspiring politician and a policeman. “[T]hey kept stamping on him,” Balram writes, “until he had been stamped back into the earth” (85). Like his mother’s attempt at resistance, the rickshaw-puller’s low-caste, low-class status is no match for an earth corrupted by humans on a massive scale. Yet Balram views his own murderous act as, by comparison, mostly justified and insignificant, one he euphemistically describes as “an act of entrepreneurship” (9). In thus demanding that we contend with the moral dilemma concerning Balram, the novel demands that we face up to our own complicity in modern life’s violent extractive industries. We see another vital link between the violent enforcement of social borders and the ravaging of earth in the novel’s framing motif of predation. After earning his boyhood moniker “white tiger,” given him by a school inspector who declares, ‘That’s what you are, in this jungle” (30), Balram soon learns, as we have seen, the frightening implications of predatory
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competition. Far more than the widespread hunting of animals in colonial and princely India, which “altered the course of central India’s environmental history” and powerfully shaped the region’s “social and ecological transformation” (Rashkow 294), economic predation refashions both landscapes and lives. As Paul Robbins notes, the idea of wasteland has a long history in Europe, which the British imported to India. The assumption is that because land assumed to be waste is “owned by no one, it costs no one.” Such land is a seemingly “‘free’ undervalued good, waiting for capitalization” (Robbins 290). Citing Ramachandra Guha, Robbins notes that the British make this concept law with the 1978 Forest Act, “with the resulting loss of forest lands... to colonial exploitation” (290). Yet so-called “waste” land is often “productive pasture” and “sacred forests” for local populations (290). I don’t mean to suggest that Adiga has this history specifically in mind in his subversion of the wasteland trope. But tracing its genealogy is, I think, important if we are to understand its full range of associational significance. Modernist writers like T. S. Eliot and Samuel Beckett famously put it to effective use by linking it to modern existential crises. But wasteland as both an inhabitable landscape and a site for soulful renewal is, as we I’ve noted, an ancient one. In the western secular tradition that the Modernists espoused, a wasteland, whether a forest or desert, is redemptive only for the individual soul. In India, by contrast, the individual soul has traditionally been understood to be connected to a larger community, and also, at least in the past, to a wider earth. Balram’s personal guilt and collective sympathies, which are often at odds, distinguish his narration from the speakers in Eliot’s and Beckett’s works. In describing both his home village and his adoptive cities as jungles, given over to animal acts, Balram disavows the
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conventional idealizations of these spaces, as the Modernists do. Like Eliot’s isolating London streets, Balram complains of “all the roads look[ing] the same” in Delhi, so that “you just keep getting lost, and lost, and lost...” (99). Like Eliot, Balram emphasizes the abjection of modern urban life – “thin bodies, filthy faces,” and an “animal-like way” of surviving (99). The city reflects the soul. But Balram cannot imagine a better alternative. Unlike the narrator of Sinha’s Animal’s People, Balram’s self-styled entrepreneurial talent is strikingly uninterested in championing any collective entity, whether national, regional or religious. He seems to want to disavow even his family ties, and wants, in a sense, to treat the Chinese premier as a paternal surrogate. When at the end of the book he describes in his letter how he often feels as if he has “made it! I’ve broken out of the coop!” (original emphasis), it is, once again, the chandelier that invokes this spirit (275). But he admits that he cannot completely be free of the fear of capture. He concludes, nevertheless, that “even if all my chandeliers come crashing down to the floor... I’ll never say I made a mistake that night in Delhi when I slit my master’s throat” (276). It will have been worth it, he declares, to have known “what it means not to be a servant” (276). What drives him, as he says, is a desire “not to end up in a mound of indistinguishable bodies that will rot in the black mud of Mother Ganga” (273). He admits that his murder has “darkened my soul” (273), but claims to be no worse than “everyone who counts in this world,... including you, Mr. Jiabao” (273). Balram’s conception of identity, of being “a man” (274), is bound up, then, in the abjection he experiences and imagines. He believes that in this predatory world, one can only realistically hope to be a more efficient hunter, not the “hunted” (150).
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But for him, the natural forest does not simply mirror a dangerous urban jungle. To stay with these poles is to reproduce the dualistic logic that Kristeva describes with respect to abjection. Instead, the unnerving interpenetration of such conceptions, which Balram experiences in his epiphanic tiger encounter, breaks down language itself, and so its dualistic tendency. Balram ceases in this moment to be the person he imagines himself to be, a breakdown of the subject-object, inside-outside relationship that our social-symbolic being depends upon to maintain a semblance of agency. Like Hamm in Beckett’s Endgame, Balram awakens from his faint uncertain of just how far his dream-world conditions his waking world (see Harrison 150). As in the transformation of Kafka’s Gregor from man to insect, metaphor no longer applies in Balram’s world. The figurative role of the chandelier indicates this. If at first it appears to Balram to be the exemplum of all that is nonjungle, non-waste, and a sign of his freedom, the chandeliers he sees in Delhi “one day, tied to the branch of [a] big banyan tree,” ironically connects it precisely to the jungle (97). “I don’t understand,” he writes, “why other people don’t buy chandeliers all the time, and put them up everywhere. Free people don’t know the value of freedom, that’s the problem” (97). Here, Balram tellingly conflates monetary, aesthetic and moral values. For him, the chandelier is a perfectly legitimate sign of surplus value, an object made by the labor of the servant class he has strived to escape. As an object of beauty, it represents for Balram the opposite of the grotesque, which, as Peter Stallybrass and Allon White put it, “designates the marginal, the low” (23). It will not decay or be sucked into the earth the way a corpse does.
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Yet the chandelier is also a reminder, which Balram does not consciously admit though it is implicit in his defensiveness, of the hard-scrabble world that made it possible. His obsession with the servant-master paradigm and questions of paternity speak to his unspoken sense of obligation. He speaks frequently of fathers and mothers, “grannies” and children; views himself as a kind of orphan; and ends the book by saying he’s “ready to have children” (276). The chandelier’s monetary worth stands in stark contrast to his impoverished mother’s dead body, which evokes a mix of anxiety and affection. He is similarly equivocal about even its cultural worth. For him, its lustre is no more or less valuable than its use in “keep[ing]... lizards away from [his] room” when it is lit (97). In his mind, these various values coalesce. The chandelier, then, both symbolizes and literalizes Balram’s ambivalent view of the world. It is, on one level, an extravagant object of desire, while, on another level, a symbol of the disjunctions spawned by this desire, not least of which is the ironic contrast between the heavens and hells that structures conventional narratives. This ambivalence marks his treatment of the objects of modern life. If in one moment the “cell phone” represents how the “white-skinned man” has “wasted himself ” on fetishes (4), in another moment Balram boasts of his ownership of not only chandeliers, but also his “twenty-six Toyata Qualises” (274). These contradictory associations reflect Balram’s perception, which his boss either fails or chooses not to see, that the line between paradise and perdition disappears in the context of modernity. III It is safe to say, in conclusion, that Adiga’s novel contains far more than initially meets the eye. It asks us to think hard about
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the “entire cit[ies]” that are “masked in smoke, smog, powder, cement dust,” as Balram says of Bangalore (273). Its narrative structure is, like Balram’s prized chandelier, a “new kind of story” in which “one event connects to another,” and which, despite Balram’s acknowledged inability to “understand” these “mysterious” connections (95), reveals the not-so-mysterious links between exploitation and extravagance. It is also a novel that exposes how, as Viney says, “waste is... matter for whom time has run out” (3). In “provid[ing] a measure of our uses, our projects and our ambitions” (Viney 3), waste demands our serious attention. The tropes of wasteland and forest Adiga deploys comment on the ethical failure of a global economic model that treats nature purely as use-value. Where colonial and postcolonial forestry has sought to harvest trees for such use, wasteland – which has at times been designated “jungle” or “jungly” – is the necessary ideological corollary, a supposedly unproductive landscape in need of redemptive cultivation. This treatment of geography sits uneasily alongside ideas of forests as either sacred or as sources of terror, whether supernatural or human or animal. Balram’s ambivalent narration obliges us to strip conventional tropes like waste of their false dichotomies, in this case waste’s common oppositions of improvement, development, and conservation and their material attributes. With Balram, we can see instead how they are simultaneously symbolic and physical, and indivisible from human nature. NOTES 1.
Neel Mukherjee’s paperback cover blurb trumpets the novel as “savage and brilliant,” whereas Amitava Kumar, reviewing it in The Hindu (Nov. 2, 2008) labels it “cartoonish.”
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For more on representations of jungles and forests in Indian history and literary epic, see Philip Lutgendorf ’s revealing essay “City, Forest, and Cosmos.”
WORKS CITED Adiga, Aravind. The White Tiger. NY: Free Press, 2008. Print. Cronon, William. “A Place for Stories: Nature, History, and Narrative.” The Journal of American History 78:4 (March 1992): 1347-1376. Print. Felluga, Dino Franco. “Modules on Kristeva.” Introductory Guide to Criticism. www. cla. purdue. edu/english/theory/psychoanalysis/kristevadevelop. html. 22 October 2016. Gottlieb, Roger S. “Spiritual Deep Ecology and the Left: An Attempt at Reconciliation.” This Sacred Earth: Religion, Nature, Environment. Ed. Roger Gottlieb. New York: Routledge, 1996. 516-531. Print. Harrison, Robert Pogue. Forests: The Shadow of Civilization. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1992. Print. Kafka, Franz. The Metamorphosis. Trans. Susan Bernofsky. NY: W. W. Norton, 2016. Print. Kristeva, Julia. Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection. Trans. Leon S. Roudiez. NY: Columbia UP, 1982. Print. Lutgendorf, Philip. “City, Forest, and Cosmos: Ecological Perspectives of the Sanskrit Epics.” Hinduism and Ecology. Ed. Christopher Key Chapple and Mary Evelyn Tucker. Cambridge: Harvard, 2000. 269-89. Print. Mukherjee, Upamanyu Pablo. Postcolonial Environments: Nature, Culture and the Contemporary Indian Novel in English. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. Print. Rashkow, Ezra D. “Making Subaltern Shikaris: Histories of the Hunted in Colonial Central India.” South Asian History and Culture 5:3 (2014): 292313. Print. Robbins, Paul. “Carbon Colonies: From Local Use Value to Global Exchange in Climate Forestry.” Colonial and Post-Colonial Geographies of India. Ed. Saraswati Raju, et al. New Delhi: Sage, 2006. 279-297. Print. Stallybrass, Peter and Allon White. The Politics and Poetics of Transgression. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 1986. Print.
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Viney, William. “T. S. Eliot and the Textualities of the Discarded.” Textual Practice 28:6 (2014): 1057-75. Print. Walther, Sundhya. “Fables of the Tiger Economy: Species and Subalternity in Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger.” Modern Fiction Studies 60:3 (Fall 2014): 579-98. Print.
2 Eco-consciousness in the Vedic Age: A Reading of Ashwin Sanghi’s Krishna Key Dr. Preetha M. M
In an age of highly sophisticated technology there has not been a moment to pause and ponder on the mysteries of nature or observe the environment around in which all organisms, including man has to have perfect harmony, the disruption of which would be detrimental to the very existence of the universe. As man becomes more and more enslaved by technology, he forgets that traditional knowledge, including scientific knowledge existed before scientific discoveries were made and that the knowledge was used with utmost care, so as not to disrupt the natural equilibrium in the ecosystem. Berkes defines traditional ecological knowledge as: “a cumulative body of knowledge, practice and belief, evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment” (Ecological Applications 1252). Ashwin Sanghi’s The Krishna Key is a gruesome murder tale which takes the historian Ravi Mohan Saini through the submerged remains of Dwaraka to the icy heights of Mount
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Kailas and the sand washed ruins of Kalibangan in a quest to discover the cryptic location of Krishna’s most prized possession. It is this quest which reveals the astounding knowledge of the ancients, their deep awareness and understanding of the ecosystem at a time when technology had not developed to yield scientific discoveries. It becomes evident that the ideas of inter-dependence keep human beings bonded with nature, Vedas provide a median for the ethics of the environment. The Vedic vision of earth considers man to be a protector of natural resources who reload the assets of the earth rather than stealing it. Preservation, of Vedic way leads to a state of harmony with land, forest, waters and nature as a pious entity with all its mysteries. Harmony is reinstated if the link between creature and nature is constantly reinforced, in Vedas creature and nature are viewed as one biotic community the earth, therefore, is worthy of adoration. The Sarasvati civilization which came into existence more than five thousand years ago is said to be the greatest Vedic community on earth. Ecologically speaking, north India was the ideal place in the world for the development of a riverine civilization via agriculture. Bounded by the Himalayas in the north, and mountains on the west, East and South, this north Indian river plain is a specific geographical region and ecosystem, whose natural boundaries could easily serve to create and hold together a great civilization. It was also ideal for producing large populations that depend upon agriculture for their sustenance. The Rig Veda, the oldest book of the region is full of praise for the numerous great rivers of the region, the foremost of which in early times was the Sarasvati, which flowed east of the Yamuna into the Rann of Kachch, creating an unbroken set of fertile rivers from the Punjab to Bengal. According to Ashwin Sanghi, the mighty river referred to in the
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Vedas as flowing through the arid desert into the Arabian Sea is the river Sarasvati. The Yamuna and Sutlej were mere tributaries of this mighty river. The inhabitants of this development wrote the Vedas and Upanishads and all knowledge could be found along the banks of the Sarasvati. There is also the possibility of knowledge of nuclear energy and that the Brahmastra referred to in the Mahabharata could have been an atom bomb. The novel calls for a reinterpretation of the worship of shiv lingam in temples. Historians believe that the inhabitants of Sarasvati civilization were Shiv worshippers. But this phallic representation of Lord Shiv has the same structure as a nuclear reactor with the core reactor identical to the cylindrical structure of the lingam. It requires a regular supply of water to cool it down as it heats up during the process of generating energy. The coils around the main reactor helps to dispose of the water and similar coils could be found around the lingam too. Moreover, it is only in a Shiva temple that the water flowing from the lingam is not consumed as holy water since water from a nuclear reactor is charged water. It is for the same reason that no one crosses the spout of a lingam during pradakshina – the circumambulation of the lingam during worship. The devotees turn back as they approach the spout because the spout represents irradiated water. Hence the shiv lingam is not a representation of some god called shiv. It is an ancient symbol to represent a supreme force, an energy that our ancestors chose to call Shiv. This energy was the exact opposite of another form of energy called Vish. While Vish creates and preserves, Shiv destroys. The people of Sarasvati civilization knew about these different forms of energy and nuclear power was available to society during the Vedic age. Modern scientists believe that there are seven broad forms of energy – mechanical, heat, chemical, radiant, electrical, sound
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and nuclear. The novel points to how the ancient yogis knew this and also found a way to combine multiple sources of energy into a single one and that the meditation they practiced on the banks of the Sarasvati was an ancient technique to concentrate multiple energy forms into one. Just as how seven colours combine to form one universal light – white light, the seven frequencies of melody, when combined, produces the sound om – the universal sound. The Indian classical music as described in the Upanishads has seven notes of melody – sa, re, ga, ma, pa, dha and ni. These seven notes roughly correspond to the western do, re, me fa, sol, la and ti. Ravi Mohan Saini, in the novel, puts forward the hypothesis that the seven notes correspond to each of the seven chakras within the human body. The chakras, which are whorls of energy, become activated when the frequency of the note matches the frequency of the given chakras. Hence while meditating, the universal sound om is recited because it includes the frequencies of the seven notes that are needed to activate the seven chakras. Ravi Saini also expresses his opinion that if an opera singer could shatter a wine glass, it is possible that sound energy could move the massive stones required for constructing Stonehenge or the great pyramids of Giza. If this is possible then it means they had the ability to use sound energy to create massive explosions. Oppenheimer, the creator of the modern atomic bomb, when asked after the first test explosion about how he felt after having exploded the first atomic bomb on earth, is said to have replied that it was not probably the first atomic bomb, but the first atomic bomb in modern times. The Krishna Key refers to the Mausala Parva of the Mahabharatha, which describes the destructive powers of a terrible weapon in this way: The unknown weapon is radiant lightning, a devastating messenger of death, which turned all to ashes-a single projectile charged with all the power of the Universe. An incandescent column of smoke
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and flame as bright as a thousand suns rose in all its splendor, a perpendicular explosion with its billowing smoke clouds; the cloud of smoke rising after its first explosion formed into expanding round circles like the opening of giant parasols. The corpses were so burnt as to be unrecognizable. Hair and nails fell out, pottery broke without apparent cause, and birds turned white. In a very short time, food became poisonous. The lightning subsided and turned into fine ash (Krishna Key 122).
Several years prior to the discovery of radioactivity in Rajasthan, the archeologist professor A. Gorbovsky from the former Soviet Union discovered a human skull in the fields of Kurukshetra – the scene of epic battle between the Kauravas and Pandavas. Kurkude, in the novel elaborates on how Gorbovsky had taken the skull back to his own laboratory in the former Soviet Union and carbon-dated it. His findings revealed that the skull belonged to someone who had died around five thousand years ago and also that the skull continued to emit radiation. So when Mahabharatha spoke of a Brahmastra – the deadliest weapon known to mankind, there is every possibility that it is the atom bomb that is referred to. In ancient texts, science was conveyed in magical terms. A complex task of engineering-land reclamation has been described as “praying to the ocean to yield twelve yojanas of land.” The Harivamsa refers to land reclamation in order to build Dwaraka. Sayana, a 14th Century Indian scholar, in his commentary on a hymn in the Rig-veda says “with deep respect I bow to the sun who travels 2202 yojanas in half a nimesha.” A yojana is about nine American miles and a nimesha is 16/75th of a second. When converted, Sayana is simply stating the obviousthat sunlight travels at a hundred and eighty six thousand miles per second. It is astonishing that these ancient rishis knew this in the absence of any scientific instruments. In The Krishna Key Ravi Saini approaches Prof. Rajaram Kurkude, a nuclear
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physicist in his attempt to find the killer who was executing his gruesome and brilliantly thought out schemes in the name of God. Kurkude enlightens him on the Baudhayana Sulabhasutra, the manual of which describes in precise detail the building of a ‘smashaanachitha’ – a funeral altar. It is according to this that the great flat topped ‘Mastaba of Djoser’ has been built, which is a precursor to later pyramids. All construction needed geometry and it is the Vedas that gave the world geometry. The present English world geometry is derived from a Greek root which itself was derived from a Sanskrit word ‘jyamiti’. In Sanskrit ‘jya’ means an arc or curve and ‘miti’ means measurement. We were made to believe that Pythagoras gave us the famous theorem regarding the hypotenuse of a right angled triangle but the Baudhayana Sulabhasutra written 500 years before Pythagoras states that a rope stretched along the length of a diagonal line produces an area which the vertical and horizontal lines make together. The vedic seers conceptualised not only the Pythagorean theorem but also the decimal system, the concept of zero and infinity. The concept of the zero is a mathematical creation which is very potent for the general on go of intelligence and power. Even the binary system, common in computers now was originally developed through Vedic verse metres. An amazing feature of all ancient Indian mathematical literature, beginning with the sulabasutras is that they are composed entirely in verse. This tradition of composing terse sutras which could be easily memorized ensured that, inspite of the paucity and perishability of writing materials, some of the core knowledge got orally transmitted to successive generations. The rosary contains 108 prayer beads since the rosary represents the ecliptic-the path of the sun and moon across the sky. Yogis divide the ecliptic into twenty seven equal sections
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called nakshatras and each of these into four equal padas – or steps-marking the 108 steps that the sun and moon take through the skies. The ancient vedic knowledge points to the amazing fact that the distance between the earth and the sun is exactly 108 times the sun’s diameter. More incredible is the fact that the distance between the earth and the moon is 108 times the moon’s diameter. Finally the diameter of the sun is 108 times the earth’s diameter. Thus 108 becomes a sacred number and a representation of God since the ancient yogis were aware of this. When the individual digits of 108 are added, we get 9 which is a number representing wholeness. Moreover when 9 is multiplied by any number and the individual digits are added, the answer is always 9. For example, 15 multiplied by 9 is hundred and thirty five and when the individual digits 1,3 and 5 are added, we get 9. That is the reason why we have 9 nights of Navarathri and why we worship the Navagraha – the 9 planets. Ancient civilizations knew about stem cells which is evident from the Hindu ritual performed after childbirth where the midwife, after delivery would take the umbilical chord of the new born child and place a small portion of it in an airtight copper capsule, and this capsule, known as a Taviju Raksha, would be tied below the waist of the child until he grew up. The remainder of the umbilical chord would be placed in an earthen jar and buried underground. The modern scientists found that the stem cells from a child’s umbilical chord, if preserved using cryo-freezing would be a prudent step. In The Krishna Key, Devendra Chhedi, who was the world’s leading authority in SCNT-Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer, describes how the Vedic surgeons wrote about plastic surgery, dental surgery, caesarean sections and bone setting. Surgery – known as Shastrakarma in the Vedas-was pioneered in the Shushruta Samahita. Shushruta’s path breaking treatise describes rhinoplasty in which a mutilated
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nose can be reconstructed through plastic surgery. The Charaka Samhita authored by Charaka discusses physiology, etiology, embryology, digestion, metabolism, immunity and even genetics. Cheddi remarks that the ancients knew of genetic cloning as he expresses his doubt as to when Lord Rama fought with Ravana he may be fighting not with one demon with ten heads but actually ten people who had been genetically cloned from Ravana. In the eighth chapter of Devi Mahatmya from the Markandeya Puran, there is reference to a demon called Rakthabija. The word Rakthabija can be translated to ‘blood seed’. The story of Rakthabija is that each time a drop of his blood fell to the earth, a new duplicate of himself would emerge. Finally Goddess Durga succeeded in killing him by preventing his blood from reaching the ground. Mythology also tells that Brahma took birth from the umbilicus of Lord Vishnu. Krishna’s elder brother Balarama was transferred from Devaki’s womb to that of Rohini. It is possible that the Vedic people knew of the presence and significance of stem cells and about in vitro fertilization. Respect for other human beings as well as for nature along with a sense of sharing seems to pervade such societies where people lived in close proximity with the ecosystem. It becomes necessary that man should closely observe and understand the environment, reminding himself that he is part of it. The Krishna Key gives the message that the Syamantaka Stone is the same as the Philosopher’s Stone but in pursuit of this stone one tends to forget that the philosopher is more important than the stone and that alchemy is much more relevant in the spiritual sense. Every stone is a Syamantaka and when praying fervently to a stone idol we transform ourselves to better persons through our own positive vibrations and that is how alchemy takes place. Our thoughts, mind and spirit are also energy, and this energy,
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when harmonized is converted to reality since energy and matter are the same according to Einstein and the Upanishads. WORKS CITED Berkes, F; Colding, J; Folke, C. Ecological Applications, Vol. 10, No. 5. (Oct., 2000), pp. 1251-1262. Print. Glotfelty, Cheryll, and Harold Fromm, editors. The Ecocritcism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology. Georgia: U of Georgia P, 1996. Print. Kroeber, Karl. Ecological Literary Criticism: Romantic Imagining and the Biology of Mind. New York: Columbia UP, 1994. Print. Rueckert, William. “Literature and Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism.” Iowa Review 9. 1 (1978): 71-86. Web. Sanghi, Ashwin. The Krishna Key, Westland ltd: Chennai 2012. Print.
3 From Eco-sensibility to Ecofeminism Shruti Das
Ecofeminism, also called ecological feminism, is an offspring of the second wave of feminism that began in the 1960s and was diluting itself by the end of the nineties as is popularly believed. Martha Rampton, a Professor from Pacific University, in her essay, ‘Four Waves of Feminism’ notes that this wave of feminism was complex, diverse and inclusive of ideas. It believed in developing women only spaces and “the notion that women working together create a special dynamic that is not possible in mixed-groups, which would ultimately work for the betterment of the entire planet” (Oct. 25, 2015). She further says that women, owing to their long “subjugation” and biology, were thought by some to be “more humane, collaborative, inclusive, peaceful, nurturing, democratic, and holistic in their approach to problem solving than men” (Oct. 25, 2015). Kathryn Miles in the Encyclopaedia Britannica mentions that it was in this phase in 1974 that the French Feminist Francoise d’Eaubonne coined the term ‘Ecofeminism’. The term was coined to capture the sense that because of their biological connection to earth and lunar cycles, women were natural advocates of environmentalism. Today, Ecofeminism and theories connected with it have moved from sparkle to substance. My paper here will focus on the practical issues faced by the twenty-first century where we need to look beyond
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theory and involve ourselves in dynamics of restoring global harmony in the face of impending peril to Earth’s life. It is pertinent here to look over our shoulders at the feminist movement and to reiterate what the high priest of the movement, Simone de Beauvoir, states in this connection in the The Second Sex. She says, Man seeks in woman the Other as Nature and as his fellow being. But we know what ambivalent feelings nature inspires in man. He exploits her, but she crushes him, he is born of her and dies in her; and she is the source of his being and the realm that he subjugates to his will; Nature is a vein of gross material in which the soul is imprisoned, and she is the supreme reality; she is contingence and Idea, the finite and the whole; she is what opposes the Spirit, and the Spirit itself. (Simone de Beauvoir The Second Sex, 144)
Woman and nature are both incessant reminders of man’s mortality. SENSIBILITY When we think of ecology we think of “nature”: what is it, and what is our relationship to it? The word “nature” in our vocabulary implies our assumption of a fundamental separation or intentional distinction from it. Nature is a human idea, something transcendental in material mask. It expresses the binary – culture /nature. In that, it signifies all that is noncivilized. It is a label for those places that man perceives as being qualitatively apart from “civilized” places. It is the “Other”. “Nature” becomes, on one level, a passive habitat, meaningless in and of itself: it means the trees, the ocean, the mountains, the sunlight, etc., but never has a meaning of its own. It is open to exploitation at the will and whim of humans, since the present society is built on the premise that humanity must dominate
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nature for its development. Susan Griffin graphically describes the perilous situation. She says, We who are born into this civilization have inherited a habit of mind. We are divided against ourselves. We no longer feel ourselves to be a part of this earth.... We grow used to ignoring the evidence of our own experience, what we hear or see, what we feel in our own bodies.... In some places the sky is perpetually gray, and the air is filled with putrid smell. Forests we loved as children disappear. The waters we once swam are forbidden to us now because they are poisoned. We remember that there was a sweet taste to fruit, that there used to be more birds. But we do not read these perceptions as signs of our own peril. (7).
We live in such delusion that we pretend ignorance of these facts and need environmentalists and ecologists to remind us of the impending peril. Griffin rightly says that we have given ourselves up long ago and seem to be living in a fool’s paradise. In the lust for power over others we do not know of our own existence. “Now, if we are dying by increments, we have ceased to be aware of this death” (7). By displacing Natives and indigenous people from their original homes in order to grab the natural resources of those places, which has been going on for centuries, result in annihilation of cultures of the world, rendering people homeless and hungry and creating a revengeful attitude, whereby, violence and terrorism are born. This may sound poetic but there are plentiful cases in point. As a case in point the displacement of Dongria Kondhs, natives of the Hills of Niyamgiri in Odisha, for mining Bauxite in the area by the Industrial giant Vedanta, can be cited. Survival International has documented, in their website, the struggle for survival and justice by the natives of these Hills. The Niyamgiri hills, in Odisha, are Bauxite-capped and soak up the monsoon’s rain, giving rise to more than a hundred perennial streams and rivers, including the Vamshadhara River. These
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streams provide the water that is vital for the communities who live in the hills, and provide critical drinking and irrigation water for those in the plains, for whom drought and starvation have now become commonplace. The Vamshadhara provides drinking and irrigation water to millions of people in the states of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Over centuries, the Dongria Kondhs have helped to maintain the rich biodiversity of their forests, which is home to tigers, leopards, giant squirrels and sloth bears. The Dongria Kondh have no over-arching political or religious leader; clans and villages have their own leaders and individuals with specific ceremonial functions, including the beju and bejuni, male and female priests. The Dongria believe that animals, plants, mountains and other specific sites and streams have a life-force or soul, jela, which comes from the mother goddess. For them there is no distinction between the self and the Other. They live in perfect harmony with their ecological environment. The ravaging of their mountains for bauxite would result in gross health and environmental hazards. As another example, we could look at the desertification in Kenya caused by random deforestation which could be eventually reversed by the Green Belt Movement caused by a group of poor women led by Wangari Maathai in 1970, who later won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. The Green Belt Movement focused on planting trees, environmental conservation and women’s rights. Maathai suggested to the rural women that they plant trees for firewood and to stop soil erosion. This action grew into a nationwide movement to safeguard the environment, defend human rights and fight government injustice. The goals of the Green Belt Movement were well defined. It had four basic goals: 1. To strengthen and expand the Green Belt Movement in Kenya.
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2. To share its programme with other countries across the world. 3. To empower women and girls and nurture their leadership and entrepreneurial skills. 4. To advocate internationally for the environment, good governance, equality and peace. In a similar vein, Womenaid International points out that the Green Belt Movement promoted a positive self-image of women and advocated their equality in all fields enabling them to change their own environment and make their own decisions. In their article ‘Restoration in Kenya’ Womenaid International clearly identify their objectives: The most direct objective, however, involves the programme’s impact on the environment. The Green Belt Movement aims to create an understanding of the relationship between the environment and other issues such as food production and health. Education serves a critical role. Children gain exposure through Green Belt projects at their schools; small farmers learn to appreciate the connections between forestry, soil conservation and their own needs for wood. http://www. womenaid. org/press/info/ development/greenbeltproject. html.
Health and education are two of the major issues that contribute to the wholesome development of a people. The Movement’s sustained effort under Maathai made Kenya a changed place. Former Vice President of America, Al Gore, also a Peace Prize recipient for his environmental work, said in a statement, “Wangari overcame incredible obstacles to devote her life to service – service to her children, to her constituents, to the women, and indeed all the people of Kenya – and to the world as a whole.” (Jeffrey Gettleman 26 Sept. 2011) As noted in the Wangari Maathai page in the Wikipedia, Professor Maathai’s seminal contribution in this field, as an initiator of The Green Belt Movement, made her the first African woman
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to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for ‘sustainable development, democracy and peace’. In her Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Dr. Maathai said the inspiration for her work came from growing up in rural Kenya. She reminisced about a stream running next to her home – a stream that has since dried up – and drinking fresh, clear water. “In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness,” she said, “to reach a higher moral ground. A time when we have to shed our fear and give hope to each other. That time is now.” Jeffrey Gettleman 26 Sept. 2011.
Ecological science concerns itself with the interrelationship between all kinds of life forms. Ecologists, who had concerned themselves with non-human nature, have woken up to the problematic of human domination of nature, whereby, both human and non-human are heading towards annihilation. In the wake of global warming there is a demand for reviewing the power equations and for reconstructing human society in harmony with the natural environment. It is a happy event that the world is finally waking up to this crucial issue of control, domination and power over nature. Leaders from 150 countries have met at a UN Conference in Paris to sign a universal climate pact, that is to continue from the 30th of November to the 11th of December 2015, to reach the first Universal climate pact. According to the news published in the Times of India, on December 1st, 2015, “The goal of the climate talks is to limit average global warming to no more than two degree Celsius (3. 6 degrees Farenheight), over pre-Industrial Revolution levels by curbing fossil fuel emissions blamed for climate change’ (1, col 6). We further read that, in a bid towards sensitization, 325,000 people in 175 countries have participated in rallies on the 30th of November, protesting and demanding curb on carbon pollution, which is responsible for global warming and extinction of many
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species of life form from earth. This is reminiscent of movements in India lead by women to protect the environment, the flora and the fauna, from exploitation; namely, the Chipko or tree hugging movement in Gopeswar, in UP, in order to protest against the felling of the oak forest; the Appiko movement in the Western Ghat regions Karnataka and the Girnar movement in Gujarat and Goa which have been successful. Since pre-Industrial Revolution times land and nature has been dominated and exploited for reasons of economy and power giving rise to unchecked scientific exploration and technological exploitation. There has been celebration of lifetaking and devaluation of life-giving which can be equated with hatred of nature. [Woman] became the embodiment of the biological function, the image of nature, the subjugation of which constituted that civilization’s title to fame. For millennia men dreamed of acquiring absolute mastery over nature, of converting the cosmos into one immense hunting ground. It was to this that the idea of man was geared in a male-dominated society. This was the significance of reason, his prouded boast. (Horkheimer and Adorno, 248)
SENSE Ecofeminism derives from reflection on the human person in connection with Nature when we are suffering from a “growing isolation imposed on us by economic liberalism and the transnational capitalist system” (Gebara 67). Unchecked scientific explorations, believe that science can solve any problem and technological exploitation has become emblematic of culture. Nature and those closely associated with nature, especially, woman and indigenous tribes, are considered to be different and ‘other’ from the dominant. The female, like nature, has been considered the ‘other’; a passive recipient of capitalistic human exploitation for centuries. They have been objectified
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and subordinated. Even Monotheism and anthropocentrism that characterize the major religions of the world have built up a hierarchy that only operates upon power-relations negating important and sensitive issues like empathy and harmony. Taking the cue from Simone de Beauvoir, Ynestra King (In Healing the Wounds 1989) rightly argues that the vehicles of culture man uses to achieve is in vain because transcendence over Nature and woman can never be total since the self is locked with the ‘Other’ in a relationship of dependence both materially and emotionally. Women emphasize personal relationships and their identity is formed in their interaction with others. Many theorists have clarified and explained the ecofeminist positions. d’Eaubonne coined the word “ecofeminism” in 1974, while, related ideas were already being discussed in a range of social sciences and humanities. It has been argued that the universal devaluation of women relative to men could be explained by assuming that women are seen as being closer to nature than men, while men are seen as being more intimately connected with the “higher” realm of culture. Other disciplines seriously engaged the connections between feminism and ecology only later. It was not until the 1990s, for instance, that literary critics began to examine in depth “‘the woman/nature analogy,’ defined by Warren as ‘the connections – historical, empirical, conceptual, theoretical, symbolic, and experiential – between the domination of women and the domination of nature’” (Carr 2000, 16). Here we must discuss industrialisation viv-a-vis destruction of Nature and people associated with it. CONCLUSION After the many ecological hazards, especially effects of global warming and the extinction of the many species of flora, fauna
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and indigenous tribes the world is finally acquiring an ecological sensibility, that Joanna Macy calls ‘Ecological Selfhood’ (201). The emerging ecological sense of self and self-interest has inspired people to think of themselves as a part of the wider ecology and as responsible for the protection of Earth. As Macy writes, “This ecological sense of selfhood combines the mystical and the pragmatic. Transcending separateness and fragmentation, in a shift... it generates an experience of interconnectedness with all life. This has in the past been relegated to the domain of mystics and poets” (202). At the moment when crisis threatens our planet there is a shift in the sense of self. Self is now considered in relation to the ‘other’ that till date was disregarded. The significant factors contributing to the new awareness are the psychological and spiritual pressures exerted by the dangers of mass annihilation, emergence of Ecological sensibility and fanaticism in nondualistic religions. Ecofeminist movement anchors itself on the same premises as ecological survival. Thereby, it necessitates empathy, deep reflection on our interrelatedness and timely action so that Earth survives for a longer period than the present prediction. It will be a fitting conclusion to cite from Anne Cameron’s essay, ‘First Mother and the Rainbow Children’, “We all have a right to live on this Earth. We have a right to be free and to live in balance with nature, a part of nature, not apart from nature. We have the right not to be separated from our Mother, and we have the duty and obligation not to have our Mother destroyed by patristic stupidity’ (58). An understanding that ecofeminism, in theory, is a metaphor for environmentalism to state certain issues pertaining to ‘nature’, ‘culture’, ‘sensibility’ and ‘ecofeminist sense’ will bring us closer to understanding ourselves. Awakening of ecological sensibility and inducting an eco-
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feminist sense can steer man away from obdurate domination of Nature and woman in the name of culture; thereby, constituting an eco-feminist ideology of harmony between Nature, woman, man and culture. WORKS CITED Cameron, Anne. “First Mother and the Rainbow Children” in Healing the Wounds: The Promise of Ecofeminism. Ed. Judith Plant. New Society Publishers: Philadelphia, 1989. Print Carr, Glynis. “Introduction”. In New Essays in Ecofeminist Literary Criticism. Ed. G. Carr. London and Toronto: Associated University Presses, 2000. Print. Climate Summit. Times of India 1 Dec. 2015, 1:6. Print. De Beauvoir, Simone. The Second Sex. Modern library: Random House, New York, 1968. Print. Gebara, Ivone. Longing for Running Water: Ecofeminism and Liberation. Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1999. Print. Gettleman, Jeffrey . “Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Dies at 71”, 26 September 2011. http://www. nytimes. com/2011/09/27/world /africa/wangari-maathai-nobel-peace-prizelaureate-dies-at-71. html. Web. Griffin, Susan. ‘Split Culture’ in Healing the Wounds: The Promise of Ecofeminism. Ed. Judith Plant. New Society Publishers: Philadelphia, 1989. Print. Horkheimer, Max and Theodor W. Adorno. Dialectic of Enlightenment. New York, Seabury Press, 1972. Print. http://www. nytimes. com/2011/09/27/world/africa/wangari-maathainobel-peace-prize-laureate-dies-at-71. html?_r=0 Web. Accessed 2. 12. 15. http://www. womenaid. org/press/info/development/greenbeltproject. html. Web. accessed 18. 7. 2016. King, Ynestra. “The Ecology of Feminism and the Feminism of Ecology” in Healing the Wounds: The Promise of Ecofeminism. Ed. Judith Plant. New Society Publishers: Philadelphia, 1989. Print.
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Macy, Joanna. “Awakening to the Ecological Self ’ in Healing the Wounds: The Promise of Ecofeminism. Ed. Judith Plant. New Society Publishers: Philadelphia, 1989. 201-211. Print. Rampton, Martha. “Four Waves of Feminism. Pacific University Center for Gender Studies.” 25 Oct. 2015. http://www. pacificu. edu/aboutus/news-events/four-waves-feminism Originally published in Pacific Magazine, Oregon. Fall 2008. Web. Accessed 10. 7. 2016. “Restoration in Kenya: The Green Belt Movement”. Womenaid International. Wangari Maathai https://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Wangari_Maathai Web. Accessed 1. 12. 15. “We’ll lose our soul. Niyamgiri is our soul” http://www. survivalinternational. org/tribes/dongria Web. Accessed. 1. 12. 2015.
4 Eco-consciousness in Swear Songs: A Study of Bharanippattukal Veena R. Nair & O. Arun Kumar
Language is a community in which one stands on a slippery base to hypothecate words and meanings. The unguent source domain provides a flow to language, a flow that can take any direction at any time. In certain discourses, the flow that is related to nature determines the nature of language. Here, nature becomes the source domain. In the context of dying nature, it is unpredictable to calculate how far the flow discloses language. But the usage – dying nature – is more anthropocentric than an ecocentric one. This usage does not help to read the fact that nature will sustain even if human race and all other organisms are eradicated from the face of earth. The politics of ecocriticism cannot be defined only in terms of protests in which nature is the prime subject. Conscious and unconscious domains of language that converge in various planes and their source and target domains are equal in the discourse of ecocriticism. The language arena of swear words is, in many aspects, different from conversational language and literary language. The swear words that oust suppressed emotions are the products of various covert emotions lurking in individual and
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social consciousness. But, the contexts are not rare in which such obscene words become part of rituals and thus get related to both conversational language and literary language. In the bawdy songs performed in the Bharani festival of Kodungallor, Kerala, language is treated as such. The swear songs, commonly known as Bharani pattukal (Bharani songs), sung as a homage to Goddess are also called Pacha pattukal, Thannara pattukal (thannaram is a group syllables recited for rhythm of song and has no specific meaning) and Theri pattukal (swear songs). Various historical facts have been provided by historians to doubt that Kodungallor was the ancient port city named Musiris and it was the capital city of Cera dynasty, Mahodayapuram. Albeit the structure of this ancient city is not vividly graphed yet, the centre of city was the abode of Srikurumba or Bhadrakali, widely known as Kodungallor Amma. This structure is closely related to the tradition of groves. The rareness of allowing a grove at the heart of city differentiates the culture of Kodungallor from other ancient cities. Life in such a space provides possibilities for an eco-consciousness that would be rooted up to the kernel pattern of social and individual life and would stretch it’s branches not just to the chores of people but to their occult emotion which are mainly expressed through obscene words. The paper analyses the eco-consciousness embedded in the language used in Barani and Theri songs. The obscene songs sung as homage by devotees to appease the Goddess who causes small pox are the celebrated overthrowing of suppressed emotions. For the believers, there is nothing obscene in these songs. To those who try to control their emotions, the singers scream, Tanārotannāro taka Tanāro tannāro Push the dick into the mouth of those fuckers who remain silent
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As we sing and dance thannaram songs. Tanārotannāro taka Tanāro tannāro. (trans. Self)
The themes of the songs vary from puranic stories to contemporary world. Not only the puranic stories such as the story of Devendran having a sexual intercourse with the wife of the sage, but Brahmins, kings, and politicians also become new swear words and come to pollute the grove. V. T. Induchudan is of the opinion that, sexual exhibitions are a part of Indian religious system. When the Maithuna sculptures are exhibited on the walls of temple of Konark and many other places, swear words have taken place in Kodungallor. Swear words can be related to Abhinava Gupta’s Rasatatvavada (philosophy of rasa). Here, Santa rasa is attained through lust and detachment as the result of expulsion of obscene words. In a subversive way, variety of subjects like nature, tantra, various deities and their history, geography, astronomy are mentioned in the songs. These aspects reveal the significance of these songs which are commonly known as Theri pattukal (swear songs). As swear songs are known as Bharani songs, they are also called Pacha pattukal (Pacha songs). The word, Pacha, literally means green. Rawness is the other meaning of Pacha and Pacha Malayalam means pure Malayalam. The slavish consciousness that coerce people to believe that sanskritised Malayalam is the standard one and pure Malayalam is uncultured. The same consciousness brands Malayalam names of sexual organs as swear words. For instance, the Sanskrit word, yoni provides a decent space for vagina, while the Malayalam word of the same, pooru, is considered an abusive word. This sort of perception is deep rooted in the consciousness of those who observe the Bharani rituals from outside. On the other side, these obscene songs are closely connected to the topography of Kodungallor.
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Though the stories that provide scope for sexual narrations such as the story of Sakuntala and the story of Ahalya, the core of Bharani rituals is Kannaki-Kovilan story1 that discloses the legend of Kodungallor grove and Bharani songs. There are references on the greatness of this song in the song itself. Crores of people gather from every corner of land People are coming to Kodungallor to see Amma (mother) Tanārotannāro taka Tanāro tannāro Offering ten carat of gold as homage and Singing songs are equal. (trans. own)
The Komaramngal (the oracles and the spokesmen of the Goddess) who sing that the Goddess prefers obscene songs to gold, inflict wounds on their forehead with their swords. The swords are more similar to sickle than to a sword. On the cut, they smear turmeric powder. Turmeric inside the wound can be related to the culture of having a grove at the centre of the town. Turmeric has the ability to compete with the colour and quality of gold. Tanārotannāro taka Tanāro tannāro There is no drum, no trumpet and no ritual procession but only thannaram The gods who dwell on chest, guard the Goddess. Tanārotannāro taka Tanāro tannāro How beautiful it is, to see Smearing with turmeric powder Tanārotannāro taka Tanāro tannāro We smear turmeric powder as wisdom to see Amma (mother Goddess). (trans. own)
The komaram, who encourages worshiping Goddess with the wisdom of turmeric powder, compare turmeric powder with
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gold not just for mere decorativeness of songs but to highlight a paradoxical state of human beings. Gold is the central theme of Kannaki-Kovilan story. Pandya King beheads Kovilan accusing that he has stolen Queen’s anklet. Before marring Kovilan, Kannaki likes Ayyappan. Though Ayyappan possess a forest, he is a bachelor who has decided not to marry. Also he sits in front of Malika Devi. Kali is not ready to accept this patriarchal pride of Ayyappan and manages to match horoscope to marry Kovilan who is quiet in nature. Dowry is given to Kali, but, Various things have been given as dowry But Kali is not satisfied. As she is given dowry, her rage increases. (trans. own)
In a ship, Kali sails with Kovilan to another port city, Kollam. The Bhoothagana (demons) of Kali accompany her and stay with her always. But as Kovilan could not control his desire, he asks Bhoothaganas to go from there if not wanted to get insulted. After chasing them, Kovilan approaches Kali who is sleeping and forgot his surroundings, Dabbed Kali’s head and face with hand, caressed breast and belly. (trans. own)
But Kali wakes up as his hand reaches her lower belly and informs him that she is having her menstrual cycle. Soon Kovilan loses all his wealth (the reason for this is not mentioned in the song). Kali gives him one of her anklets and Kovilan goes to Pandya kingdom to sell the anklet. There, he is killed by the King accusing theft. Knowing this, Kali goes to Pandya kingdom and after proving the truth that the anklet belongs to her, murders the King and despoils his country. The core of the story that provokes kings to believe that wealth does not belong to them but is gifted by Kali is fertile with ecological instincts.
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Even though she was married to Kovilan, she had to remain as a virgin. As she was not ready for extra marital relations, the devotees sing obscene songs to pacify her lust. Goddess likes obscene words, Will tell vividly, please listen. Kodungalloramma likes swear words most. …………………………………………… When the good story is told, Amma likes stories of lust. Tanārotannāro taka Tanāro tannāro. (trans. own)
In a broader plane, we can relate these songs and its content with tantric worship. Lines of Bharani songs uncover this relation too. Tanārotannāro taka Tanāro tannāro. The triangle has value Only if said in tantric. Performing puja on pachamakara Panchamakari, Devi. (trans. own)
In Tantra, fish, meat, Liquor, sexual intercourse and mudra are panchamakara (fiveessential substances used in a Tantric practice). In his book, Dr. Adarsh C. mentions about the fasting observed by devotees (komaramngal) before participating in Bharani ritual. Those who participate are not allowed for sexual intercourse while they are allowed to use other four substances – malsya (fish), mamsa (meat), madya (liquor) and mudra. The swear words convert the idea of sexual intercourse into verbal signs. Kovilan goes leaving the virgin Kali alone at home. Before that, Kali gives gruel to Kovilan. This part of the song delineates the fundamental concept of Bharani.
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Tanārotannāro taka Tanāro tannāro My husband, have gruel for hunger Have to travel long Tanārotannāro taka Tanāro tannāro Husband sat to have gruel Tanārotannāro taka Tanāro tannāro When he fetched a spoon In that he saw, stone, hair, uncooked rice Paddy, coal and insects. Tanārotannāro taka Tanāro tannāro He dropped spoon, Called his wife. Tanārotannāro taka Tanāro tannāro Why you gave this gruel? What all you have used to cook this! Tanārotannāro taka Tanāro tannāro. Husband, you have gruel if you want Have to travel long. Tanārotannāro taka Tanāro tannāro (trans. own)
But Kovilan is not that wise to recognize the knowledge that gruel is more important than gold. Here, Kovilan who travels through bad omens without understanding the true sense of stone, hair, paddy and coal in the gruel served by his virgin wife is the tragic hero. Other than this song that tells the legend, the elements of nature can be traced out in swear songs sung to soothe the virgin Goddess’ lust. Tanārotannāro Devi (Goddess) Tanārotannāro
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Amma, your children are here Sons of soil have come, Of the land, of the forest Amma, your children are here Tanāro tannāro Devi Tanāro tannāro Oh, Bhadrakali The one who stays the grove at Kodungallur Devi, Amme, Bhagavati Tanārotannāro taka Tanāro tannāro If you have to fuck Kodungallur Amma You’ll have to have a penis like a flagpost Tanārotannāro taka Tanāro tannāro As I don’t have a penis like a flagpost Borrowed one from Bhima If you don’t have a penis, don’t get disappointed A ship full reached at Kochi! Of variety, small, large, flowery! (Vijayakumar 37)
If the contexts are withdrawn, the source domain of swear words such as Pulayadimon (Pula means earth, pulayadimon means one who toils on earth), pullu (grass) is nature and they are swear words only for the elite class. But the source domain of the concept of ship that bring artificial penis to fuck the Mother Goddess (Amma) is the mechanic life situations. Body vomits unwanted elements to regain equilibrium. Like that Bharani swear songs regain the nexus of earth and human. Abundant signs of survival through ages are available in Bharanippattukal. But, usually the songs are sung only after thannaram (group of syllables maintaining the rhythm of songs). Thus, when thannaram is repeated with each line, they grow more important and rigid and starts to control the consciousness of those who try to make new songs and as the result new songs also get moulded into the particular rhythmic pattern. In brief,
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these thannaram are metres. When these metres become part of rituals, they acquire a sort of symbolic value. This can be read together with the symbolic value of cave drawings as they emerge as letters. These types of metres are not possible without including factors such as land, human, geography and culture. NOTE 1
Kannaki cult is the most popular mother cult in south India. The first written literary work that depicts the story of Kannaki and her husband Kovilan is the Tamil epic Silappatikaram (Tale of an Anklet). In Bharani songs, a version of the same story, Kannaki is named as Kali.
WORKS CITED Adarsh. C., Vibhavanakal Vinimayangal: Kodungallorinte Bhoomisastram. Kottayam: National Book Stall, 2013. Print.
Vyavaharika
Croft, William, D. Alan Cruse. Cognitive Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2004. Print. Girish, P. M. Arivum Bhashayum: Dhaishanika Bhashasastram – Amukham. Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Bhasha Institute, 2012. Print. Induchudan, V. T. The Secret Chamber. Thrichur: Cochin Devaswam Board, 1969. Print. Langacker, Ronald W. Cognitive Grammar: A Basic Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. 2008. Print. Rao, Ramachandra S. K. Srividya Kosha. Banglore: Kalpatharu Research Academy, 2000. Print. Suresh V. “Personal Interview”, 4 February, 2014. Vijayakumar, Seetha. “Kannagi’s Transformations: Silappatikaram’s Multilayered Schemata of Performance.” Diss. Jawaharlal Nehru University, 2015. Print.
5 Eco-sensitivity Coercion in Meghana Pant’s People of the Sun Chinmayee Sahu
“Nature never did betray The heart that Loved her” (122-123), Wordsworth announces in his timeless classic Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey. But as civilizations grew and expanded, the love towards nature got increasingly replaced with heedless exploitation. The inordinate use or, rather, overuse of nature makes nature get back at us with a sense of revenge. The depletion of ozone above the atmosphere and the shrinking of water below the ground are issues which pose grave threat to life itself. The large aquifers on our planet which are considered as perennial source of water to wells, springs, lakes and other large fresh-water bodies, are severely stressed. Many statesmen and environmentalists across the world have concurrently forewarned of a third world war to be fought for water. Nature will exact its revenge by pitting human beings against each other. Disrespect towards nature would invariably take us back in time. Nature will make savages out of civilized citizens unless communities get together to revive natures’ resources. The damage done to the environment is serious, but not incorrigible. The revival of nature needs a collective effort from the citizens of the world. As citizens of the world, we need to act upon the situation and not be indifferent. Damage to nature consistently
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gets us closer to doomsday. Environmental ethics needs to be governed by a sense of responsibility towards nature and not by fear. Environmental consciousness must result from respect towards nature and not from fright. Prof. Sabine Wilke, a former Vice-President of PAMLA (the Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association) says: I believe that analyzing, understanding, and finding solutions to environmental problems is one of the most important task facing our generation and that the study of literature and culture has a significant contribution to make in this endeavour, a contribution that has not yet been sufficiently acknowledged. (Wilke)
Many thinkers and writers often present the grave problem through their critiques. They force eco-consciousness into people’s psyche through their writings. Meghana Pant’s People of the Sun is a short story that concerns with the repercussion of misuse of nature; nature’s fury on humans; man rivaled against man; and villagers turning into barbarians out of refined human beings. My paper would discuss how Pant coerces sensitivity towards issues plaguing nature by discussing a situation that may not sound real now, but at the same time, cannot be ruled out as impossible in future. This paper analyses the writer’s method in sensitizing the most important problem of water scarcity that worries the whole world now. This story won Pant the Kumaon Literary Festival’s FON (Fellows of Nature) South Asia Short Story Award announced on 13th September 2016 on nature writing. The story is based in the village of Meghwadi in Maharashtra, India. In the past decade Maharashtra has witnessed an alarming number of farmer suicides due to drought. Ironically, ‘Meghwadi’ translates into “abode of clouds” in the regional language. Neither the government nor the common public has been able to help improve the situation.
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Priyanka Kakodkar a journalist, after a detailed field study lays bare some harsh facts in an online article published in April 2015: Nearly 90 lakh farmers in Maharashtra have been impacted by the drought that has devastated the ‘kharif ’ crop, official data shows. The figure is almost on a par with the population of Sweden. Maharashtra is already known for its farm crisis and reports the highest number of farmer’s suicides in the country. The drought – brought on by a delayed and inadequate monsoon – is set to deepen the distress for its cultivators. Data with the agriculture department shows that two-thirds of the state’s 1. 37 crore farmers have been affected by the drought which has impacted mainly the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions. These areas have historically been the most deprived in the state. (Kakodkar) The situation has not improved much. This year too reports say that nearly 28000 villages have been hit by acute drought. The efforts put by authorities and common people have been slow and sparse. In another article, Amruta Dongray another journalist terms the drought in Maharashtra as a ‘man-made’ drought: In 2011, the year preceding the drought, Maharashtra recorded an above-average rainfall and most of the dams were full (even today, Maharashtra has the highest number of dams in the country). In fact, a report by South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) in 2013 quoted the then State Agriculture Minister, who said, “The good distribution of rain has resulted in good quality of crops. The above-average rainfall has filled up nearly all dams, which will help replenish the soil in the run-up to the Rabi season.” Then why did the ‘worst’ of the droughts hit the State the very next year? (Dongray)
People of the Sun is a takeoff from this miserable condition. Pant forces eco-sensitivity in her readers by describing an inhuman solution offered by the protagonist Panchangam. In the story, Panchangam suggests the villagers to build trenches along the hill side to save water when it rains next. He advises
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them to build a ‘self – sustaining agricultural system’ devised by him. It would take months for them to build it and till then they would need food. Meghwadi has no food and no water; hence Panchangam makes them a bizarre proposition. He divides the villagers into three groups: one group comprising of the young men and women, and sturdy children to dig the trenches; the second group of old people to cook; and the third group, of infants and babies that would be cooked into a stew for the working young group to consume and derive their energy from! Nature, which by all communities, universally, is prefixed with the adjective ‘mother’, appears to be avenging its ‘children’. Mother Nature has become furious of its children and now, is making her children pay a price for exploiting it. The first aspect that the story drives into the minds of its readers is the plight of a mother. The story begins and ends with the predicament of Sharada’s character. Causing harm to one’s own child would be the last thought on a mother’s mind. In the beginning Sharada, a mother is represented as still emotionally holding on to her weak seven month old child. Panchangam offers her a potato in exchange of her baby. Pant illustrates the severity of the water shortage by describing that Sharada’s eyes do not give out tears while handing over her baby to Panchangam but there is only “a thick salty discharge that clung to her face.” Meghwadi or the ‘abode of clouds’ has squeezed away water from the people in such a way that even their tears have gone dry! She gives a longing look to her child before handing him over to Panchangam: She looked at her seven-month-old baby lying listless on the ground. He was running a fever, wilting away like everything around her. Her baby would not live, either way. None of them did. The others before him had all been mirages taken by this land before she could wean them off her milkless breasts. She hadn’t given this one a
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name. Things that lived briefly and quickly, like clouds and grass and dragonflies, didn’t need such identities. (Pant, 3)
In the above reference from the story, children are being referred to as ‘things’, like ‘clouds, grass and dragonflies’. Nature has reduced the civilized humans, proud of their civilization, into ‘things’ that ‘lived briefly and quickly’. Name is the first identity that gets attached to us immediately after birth. Pant coerces the fact deeply into the readers’ psyche that infants are now ‘things’ that would not require an identity as they would not survive long enough to humour an identity. Sharada is well aware that if not Panchangam, the baby would be ‘taken away by this land’. This same land which had sustained them for generations, was avenging its exploitation. Before Panchangam many social workers had made futile attempts trying to bring back greenery into the village. Their initial optimistic talk would very soon turn into pessimism regarding the village. They would scold the villagers at first, “for cutting their trees, drying their wells, using pesticides in their crops, the vicious cycle they’d created in their quest to plough their land…This is what happens when you don’t respect nature. You become ghosts in your ghost villages.” As soon as the social workers would inspect the land, they would be totally hopeless about bringing any change. But Panchangam was different. He was positive. He promised to bring them rain after inspecting the soil. Hence, after much contemplation, the villagers agree to his absurd plan as they do not have any other alternative for survival, “Death was more common here than life. ” Many villagers killed themselves and many simply died. At least one villager died every day. The surviving ones called “each dead villager a ‘raindrop’ believing this would reincarnate the villager as a raindrop, as water. For is not a dying man’s last wish
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his next life’s first fulfillment? But even after a few hundred deaths they didn’t get a single raindrop. ” Towards the end of the story we observe Sharada, who has spent a laborious first day along with the others of the group digging trenches to store water, settling down to have ‘the stew’ served to them in a bowl. For a moment she lets out an anxious sob supposing her baby to be in the stew. But she stops short, looks around at the hungry faces of other villagers and then gulps the stew. Pant presents a bloodcurdling thought of a mother devouring her own child: Sharada sat down under a tree. She brought the bowl to her lips. Her tongue got burnt, but she kept chewing with the hunger of a wild starving beast. Something hard got stuck between her teeth. She yanked it out of her mouth. It was a bone, like that of a baby’s little finger. She tossed it aside and said “Raindrop.” (Pant, 9)
‘Mother’ nature makes a human mother to destroy her child for her own survival. Civilized humans are turned into cannibals who feed on their own kind. The story drives the point that nature will take back from us whatever it has provided us for sustenance. The other important aspect that Pant highlights in this story is man rivaling against man in the conflict on survival. When Sharada cooks the potato given to her by Panchangam, the smell of the roasted potato makes the villagers go mad. They all run to Sharada’s house and threaten her with a sickle. She spits the half eaten potato from her mouth and they all jump over it and eat it. In their desperation to survive the villagers agreed to Panchangam’s insane idea of making a stew of the babies and feeding upon them to derive energy. The idea of environmental ethics is presented by Panchangam when he tells the villagers, “For centuries we took from nature, and now
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nature is forcing us to take from each other. We deserve this for not respecting her.” (Pant, 4) Prof. Simon C Estok1, a leading critic of ecocriticism says that ecocriticism is not simply the study of nature but it is a theory that is committed to effecting change by analyzing the function of the natural environment that contribute to material practices in material worlds. The environmental changes and damages seem to be irreversible in nature. The revival of environment will be a slow and long task with an imperative for urgency. Environmental problems affect all people across nations, creed, gender and race. Although the problems are global the crises affects all of us differently. Pant’s story People of the Sun is a distress call for the citizens to wake up to the horrors of manmade blunders. The story asserts environmental ethics through environmental consciousness. Nature has provided enough for our need, not though for our greed. The story impresses this thought upon its readers. The story in few words and with fewer characters coerces environmental ethics in the psyche of its readers. The gross idea of adults making a stew of their babies and devouring it, by suppressing their emotions, stays with the reader for a long time. The emotion that stays with the reader after reading the story is not that of sympathy, but of outrage at our lack of eco-consciousness. The story urges a universal approach as the plight holds true to many nations, communities and people. The story forces people to make a firm move from ‘ego’ to ‘eco’. 1
Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea’s oldest university. He seeks to theorize viable relationships between scholarship and activism, with ecocriticism and Shakespeare being his primary areas of research and publishing.
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Kamala Markandaya (1924-2004)2 begins her short story The Flood with a statement that surmises Pant’s point very clearly: Nature is like a wild animal that you have trained to work for you. So long as you are vigilant and walk warily with thought and care, so long will it give you its aid, but look away for an instant heedless or forgetful, and it has you by the throat. (Ray, 110)
Nature fulfils our needs and caters to our relentless greed but we never think of replenishing it. Nature cannot be treated only as an endless provider. It has to be revived. When use turns into overuse then misuse leading to exploitation, the wrath that our environment unleashes upon us, reduces us into helpless ‘things’. Pant drills this idea into the readers’ thoughts effectively. WORKS CITED Dongray, Amruta. “The Real Reasons behind Maharashtra’s Man-made Drought.” Yourstory. com. N. p., 30 Apr. 2016. Web. Sept. -Oct. 2016. Estok, Simon C. “Simon C. Estok.” Simon C. Estok. Simon Estok, n. d. Web. 26 Oct. 2016. Various articles from the website. Kakodkar, Priyanka. “Drought Hits 90 Lakh Farmers in Maharashtra.” Ruralindiaonline. org. N. p., 23 Apr. 2015. Web. 21 Oct. 2016. Pant, Meghana. “Meghna Pant – Fellowsofnature. in.” Fellows of nature. N. p., n. d. Web. Sept. -Oct. 2016. Ray, D. K., and N. K. Rath, eds. Story Time. Second ed. Cuttack: Kitab Mahal, 1995. Print. “The Flood” by Kamala Markandaya Wilke, Sabine. “[Introduction]: Literature, Culture, and the Environment: A Cross-Disciplinary Conversation.” Pacific Coast Philology, vol. 46, no. 2, 2011, pp. 115–121. http://www. jstor. org/stable/41851020.
2
An eminent journalist and Indian writer in English who published several short stories in Indian newspapers and won many literary awards.
Part II. Wilderness and Crisis in Literature
6 Ecopoetics of Grazia Deledda: A Study through Reeds in the Wind Chittaranjan Misra
The Italian author and Nobel winner Grazia Deledda is known for the subtle blending of lyricism and realism in her novels and short stories. Reconciliation of man and nature despite innumerable sufferings is what is at the center of her writings. She was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for 1926 “for her idealistically inspired writings which with plastic clarity picture the life on her native island and with depth and sympathy deal with human problems in general”. Henrik Schück, the then President of the Nobel Foundation in his presentation speech has rightly observed “In Grazia Deledda’s novels more than in most other novels, man and nature form a single unity. One might almost say that the men are plants which germinate in the Sardinian soil itself. The majority of them are simple peasants with primitive sensibilities and modes of thought, but with something in them of the grandeur of the Sardinian natural setting.” (Web) Her most notable work “Reeds in the Wind” (1913) offers a poetic prose narrative that explores ecological relationship between the human and non-human constructing a sense of totality of the environment. The organic processes of life and their correspondence to the ancient belief systems and myths of Sardinia draw attention to Deledda’s
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ecopoetics. The way the rawness of emotions and harshness the characters face is not far from verism but are not intended at scientific objectivity. Ecopoetics explores the ways in which poets and writers reflect on and depict the relationship of people and the place they inhabit. All nature writings irrespective of their generic differences can be examined on this basis. Deledda’s writings present us with an ecological perspective and the organic interrelatedness of the human and the non-human. The very title of the book portrays the characters as reeds bending before the wind. Reeds and wind signify men and fate but both images are selected from the natural world. The rustling of the reeds, their blue and green colours, their dried state are described many times throughout the novel as metaphors for the changing moods and situations of the characters. The auditory image of the rustling of the reeds too serves the purpose of representing a psychological state of repose and serenity in the midst of harshness of life of the Sardinians. Against a pastoral setting the story of the four sisters, Ruth, Ester, Noemi, and Lia is narrated. After Lia’s elopement and the death of parents the sisters face a hard life even though they were a family of landowners. The three sisters are supported by their loyal servant Efix who in spite of his failing health help them survive for years. He continues to work without remuneration. The narrative highlights the journey of the servant Efix from guilt to penitence on psychological and literal planes. Efix is the link between past and future; through his movement in time and space we learn about the chronotopes of the novel. ‘Past is present, and the future will seemingly always be like the past’ says V. Louise Katainen in a review of the novel while commenting on the enduring traditions of Sardinia that act equally as a trap and a treasure. The unchanging landscape is the
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backdrop against which seasons and human actions run in consonance in a cyclic manner. Katainen adds: ‘In Deledda’s Sardinia, life goes on in eternal cycles dominated by nature’s seasons. Deledda’s principal stylistic tool is the simile, which she employs abundantly. The human world is compared to things of nature: the land, vegetation, birds, and animals. Contrariwise, the natural world is anthropomorphized, so that it becomes as alive and as knowing as the people who populate it. Thus, the division between the human and the natural worlds is blurred; the two melt together to produce a pantheistic whole. What Deledda is attempting to convey by joining the worlds of nature and human society is that for the characters of this powerful novel both the natural and the human are indispensable and inseparable parts of their known universe.’ (Web) Deledda’s vision in the novel is ecocentric and not anthropocentric. The valley between two rows of white hills together with the distant Blue Mountains to the west and the blue sea to the east are compared as a ‘cradle billowing with green veils and blue ribbons, with the river murmuring monotonously like a sleepy child.’ (Reeds in the Wind. 1) Time and space are configured through age-old beliefs and myths of the rural folk that forbid any individual intervention. A spirit of resignation keeps the natural rhythm of passing of time and sequence of events undisturbed. The night is for ghosts, evil spirits, dragon and nocturnal animals: ‘has no right to disturb it with his presence, just as the spirits have respected him during the sun’s course; therefore it’s time to retire and close one’s eyes under the protection of guardian angels.’ (3) Man’s claims over nature are not at war with that of others. To sleep at night is to rest with God. It’s like contributing to the silence of the night in which ‘the reeds whisper the prayer of the sleeping earth.’ (10) Earth is the “Eco” (Greek oikos) the dwelling place for all living
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creatures, all the earthlings. Jonathan Skinner in his editorial statement has said: ‘Eco’ here signals – no more no less – the house we share with several millions other species, our planet Earth. ‘Poetics’ is used as poesis or making, not necessarily to emphasize the critical over the creative act (nor vice versa). Thus: ecopoetics, a house making. (Skinner: 5-8) Deledda subscribes to the idea of nature as a divinely ordained scheme in her version of the pastoral. The characters seem to make sense of their habitat through a corporeal knowledge. They refer to the body and the natural phenomena appear to them as organically shaped. This sensory apprehension animates the inanimate objects around them with new meanings. The river looks like the greenish veins of the earth. The landscape is transformed as an organic whole when Efix watches his hut and the farm looking back from the heights of the hills. The little white villages with a bell tower rising out of the center look like the pistil of a flower. An empty blue window from the castle ruins at the crest of the hill like within ‘the eye of the past looks upon the melancholy panorama reddened by the rising sun.’ (11) The little (grey and round) church looks ‘like a big upside-down nest in the middle of the wide, grassy countryside.’ (29) Hunger, poverty, malaria, drought, burden of debt do not diminish the beauty of the landscape. The ‘melancholy beauty of the panorama’ assures the dwellers with a mysterious strength. They learn from nature how ‘everything grows old and everything is renewed, like the year.’ (25), and how ‘there is always a rainbow after a storm.’ (31) Every year there is a festival in the church of Rimedio and the magic of dance and music enhances the sweetness of the place and the excitement of the people. The cyclic imagination has a consolatory aspect that mitigates all sense of lack. ‘The souls of the old live again in the young.’ (22) Don Zame’s soul returns as
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Giacinto (the son of Lia) to Galte. The white bones of the dead ‘lay like margaritas on the green weeds’ (15) of the ancient cemetery. The style of the narrative corroborates the idea of ‘Deep Ecology’ which recognizes the intrinsic value of nature – ‘a return to a monistic, primal identification of humans and the ecosphere.’ (Garrard: 24) The inhabitants do not suffer from anxiety of a crisis or Apocalypse. The mercy of God seems to be behind their continual struggle against frequent floods and malarial deaths. The place of the village usurer Zia Kallina who lends money to the nobles, the relatives of Barons and ordinary people at excessive rates of interest is a destination for many in times of difficulty. Deledda compares her place with ‘Noah’s Ark’, ironically as a symbol of God’s mercy. Just as Noah built the Ark at God’s bidding to save his family and animals from impending disaster Zia fenced her courtyard by a hedge of prickly pears. In the courtyard ‘sleepy chickens pecking under their wings, happy kittens running beside rosy piglets, white and bluish doves, a donkey tied to a post, and swooping swallows gave the courtyard the appearance of Noah’s Ark.’ (24) Though ‘Noah’s Ark’ is generally considered to be a source of anthropocentrism Deledda does not seem to view human life as central but as a part of the ecosphere. Deledda’s characters share fatalism and are helpless to resist providence. Tragic destinies guide them through their frailties and passion to survive. Dolores Turchi in her introductory remark writes: ‘Reeds in the Wind is novel where tragic events are consumed in silence. Desperate secrets torment the characters until death. Scrabbling for the merest existence never ends, pride does not yield even in the face of necessity, guilt is silently expiated and can be forgiven only by voluntary submission and harsh mortification to the Divine Judge, the
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only one Sardinians truly accept and respect.’ (Intro, vii) Providence and random whims of nature appear to be identical for the Sardinians. The agrarian culture and order of estate are offered not as an antagonism to nature. In other words the people through their culture do not construct nature. Nature seems to be a dominant presence affecting life and not reduced to a concept. Yet Deledda does not disguise the inequalities and injustices in her aestheticization of nature and use of pathetic fallacies. The three sisters condemned to living indoors in their ruined castle and the servant Efix in his hut near the farm perpetuates the rich-poor hierarchy but all are equally subjected to a tragic destiny that operates outside this power structure. The servant becomes the guardian and the mistresses live as his dependants. The ethical choice of the servant to sacrifice for the noble family is more than mere loyalty. ‘Like moss to a rock’ (76) Efix was stuck to the family. The human relationship transcends the master-servant bonding and is naturalized as an organic relatedness. He is the person who facilitates Lia’s escape with her lover and welcomes Lia’s son Giacinto to the village and the castle in spite of the hesitation of his aunts. Efix and Giacinto continue to meet and part at different junctures of the plot but they have an intuitive understanding of each other. Giacinto knows that Efix is the murderer of his father and Efix knows how Giacinto has disgraced his aunts by incurring huge amount of loan forging Zia Ester’s signature that would reduce them to begging. They share their sins and prepare for atonement in their own ways. When the farm was sold to Don Predu, Efix felt like leaving the place even though he was raised to the status of a share cropper. He had the realization that ‘he was the worm inside the fruit, the termite that gnawed at the family’s destiny.’ (134) He had to leave before everything around him crumbled down. The
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topography of the region too had corresponds to his journey: ‘Down there he had left the place of his sin, up there, toward the mountain, was the place of his penitence.’ (138) The setting of the novel is Galte (Galtelli which is a small town in the region of Baronia). Deledda does not incorporate the scenes of the larger towns or industrial sites. She devotes a very short space to Nuroro which was at a short distance. She refers to the town and the Mill inside it as a distant scene: ‘High above was the panting Mill, a masculine palpitation in contrast to the feminine call of a church bell ringing for vespers.’ (139140) Deledda does not subvert the feminization of nature and bare the politics of progress but seems to have privileged the idea of human kindness against all dualisms. The palpitating Mill ‘seemed like a beating heart, a new heart that rejuvenated the ancient wild land.’ (146) Giacinto while trying to hang himself is saved by a small dwarf-like man in Nuroro as a human act of sympathy. Efix volunteers to be the companion of a blind beggar as an act of kindness in his nomadic journey as a beggar. The expiation becomes complete when he returns to his homeland to die in the noble house in a dignified manner. There are references to war in Libya and talks about America and the emigrants. War adds value to the land and the produce of the Sardinian island. But life continues fraught with follies with the passing of time. The native land is the best place to dwell. The idea of migrating is a temptation, it’s like opposing providence. Nearby townsmen view America disparagingly: ‘At the distance it looks like a lamb ready for shearing. Go near and it eats you like a dog.’ (74) Through the ‘rhetoric of animality’ the lure of the new world is discredited and Deledda’s ecopoetics exalts the native land as the ultimate habitat. WORKS CITED
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Deledda, Grazia. Reeds in the Wind. New York: Italica Press. 1999. Print. Garrard, Greg. Ecocriticism. London & New York: Routledge. 2012. Indian Reprint 2013. Katainen, V. Louise. World Literature Today. Winter 2001. http://www. italicapress. com/index098. html Schück, Henrik. Award Ceremony Speech, 1927. http://www. nobelprize. org/ nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1926/press. html Skinner, Jonathan. “Editorial Statement”, Ecopoetics 1. 2001.
7 Eco-centric Dimension in Thoreau’s Walden Dr. T. Eswar Rao
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was an outstanding and influential American nature writer, philosopher, naturalist, the pioneer of modern environmentalism and environmental scientist. Walden is Thoreau’s masterpiece and one of America’s indispensible books. It is a work of monumental pre-eminence and the most central text in ecocritical canon. Many ecocritics have named Thoreau as the environmental prophet or the founding father of environmental thought in America. Thoreau was one of the earliest and strongest critics of anthropocentrism. Recognition of intrinsic value of nature is the central theme of Walden. Thoreau shows us how to lead flourishing lives while still treating environment with respect. In 1985, Walden ranked the first among the “ten books forming American characters” according to the magazine of American Heritage. It has also been regarded as “the Green Bible” in American literary history of environmental movement. This paper intends to analyse the geneses and gist of ecological ethic thoughts embodied in Walden. It also highlights Thoreau’s conception of self-culture through the lens of ecological ethics. Thoreau believes that nature is endowed with intrinsic value and human should respect the rights of nature.
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In Thoreau’s opinion, human is an equal member of nature, and the traditional anthropocentric conception of human’s dominance over nature is the root reason of human’s abuse of nature which thus results in both alienation and antagonism between human and nature. Without the harmonious relationship between human and nature, human will have no chance to enjoy the prosperity and development of the whole ecosphere. Besides, human will have no chance to achieve self-culture either. Thoreau advocates a life of morality which attaches importance to the principles of voluntary simplicity, eco-centric equality and higher laws. These principles constitute the cornerstone of modern ecologic ethics, which contribute to the spiritual growth of individuals and the sustainable development of ecosphere. Thoreau writes as an ethicist. Walden provides a fully developed and inspiring environmental virtue ethics, which links environmental protection to human happiness. Thoreau intends to make the theoretical survey of the ecological ethics, self-realization and bio-centric equality and ecological holism. By recognising nature’s value, we enrich our own lives. By restraining our physical consumption, we are more likely to lead healthy and enjoyable lives. We can set examples for future generations. A thorough study of Walden motivates us to devote ourselves to higher pursuits than money-making. As a rapidly changing theoretical approach, ecocriticism grows out of the traditional approach to literature, in which the critic explores the local or global, the material or physical, or the historical or natural history in the context of a work of art. Such approaches can be interdisciplinary, invoking knowledge of environmental studies, the natural sciences, and cultural and social studies. While ecocriticism had its official beginnings as a discipline in the 1990s, important critical essays that fall into the ecocritical mould appeared as early as the 1800s, many of them
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responding to works by writers such as Thoreau and Emerson. Two important books of criticism from the mid‐twentieth century include Henry Nash Smith’s Virgin Land: The American West as Symbol and Myth (1950) and Leo Marx’s The Machine in the Garden (1964). Such pioneering works show that ecologically oriented criticism is not a new phenomenon but, like the literature it analyses, is a response to the urgent issues of the day. As critics have pointed out, one of the reasons that ecocriticism continues to grow as a discipline is the continued global environmental crisis. Ecocriticism aims to show how the work of writers concerned about the environment can play some part in solving real and pressing ecological concerns. While ecocritics study literature written throughout history and analyse its relationship to the environment, most scholarship has focused on American and British literature from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Some critics have argued that the American tradition of nature writing stems from Thoreau’s masterpiece. Another landmark American nonfiction work about nature was Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nature (1836). Henry David Thoreau whose Walden is described as the “cornerstone of American ecological literature” (Oberhelman 311). Based on a thorough study of Walden, this paper eloquently challenges the notion that nonhuman nature is subordinate to human nature, a belief that is rapidly becoming out-dated. In his work, Thoreau observes all around him with a keen eye and a philosophical spirit, describing the ordinary but remarkable creatures and happenings he encounters in the natural world and discussing the meaning of living in harmony with nature and one’s soul. In the section “Higher Laws”, Walden represents a more searching, sustained attempt to specify a non-anthropocentric ethics. This section of Walden presents a detailed account of
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hunting, fishing and meat eating. Thoreau equates a true humanity with greater sympathy for all nature’s creatures and with a deep appreciation of their existence. Thoreau’s ecological ethic thoughts embodied in Walden consists of three core principles: voluntary simplicity, eco-centric equality and higher laws. These principles work together to promote the conception that human should abandon the idea of being a master or conqueror over nature, if humans want to lead a meaningful and colourful life on earth. Finally Walden aims at analysing Thoreau’s life-long pursuit of self-culture from four perspectives of self-knowledge, self-exploration, selfdevelopment and self-realization. Walden opens with the announcement that Thoreau spent two years at Walden Pond living a simple life without support of any kind. The book is separated into specific chapters that each focus on specific themes. At the beginning, Thoreau recollects thoughts of places he stayed at before selecting Walden Pond, and quotes Roman Philosopher Cato’s advice “consider buying a farm very carefully before signing the papers”. His possibilities included a nearby Hollowell farm (where the “wife” unexpectedly decided she wanted to keep the farm). Thoreau takes to the woods dreaming of an existence free of obligations and full of leisure. He announces that he resides far from social relationships that mail represents (post office) and the majority of the chapter focuses on his thoughts while constructing and living in his new home at Walden. Thoreau discusses the benefits of classical literature, preferably in the original Greek or Latin, and bemoans the lack of sophistication in Concord evident in the popularity of unsophisticated literature. He also loved to read books by world travellers. He yearns for a time when each New England village supports “wise men” to educate and thereby ennoble the population.
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In nature, Thoreau reflects on the feeling of solitude. He explains how loneliness can occur even amid companions if one’s heart is not open to them. Thoreau meditates on the pleasures of escaping society and the petty things that society entails (gossip, fights, etc). He also reflects on his new companion, an old settler who arrives nearby and an old woman with great memory. Thoreau repeatedly reflects on the benefits of nature and of his deep communion with it and states that the only medicine he needs is a draught of morning air. Thoreau talks about how he enjoys companionship (despite his love for solitude) and always leaves three chairs ready for visitors. He focuses on the coming and going of visitors, and how he has more visitors in Walden than he did in the city. He receives visits from those living or working nearby and gives special attention to a French Canadian born woodsman named Alec Therien. Unlike Thoreau, Therien cannot read or write and is described as leading an “animal life”. He compares Therien to Walden Pond itself. Thoreau then reflects on the women and children who seem to enjoy the pond more than men and how men are limited because their lives are taken up. Walden also reflects on Thoreau’s planting and his enjoyment of this new job/hobby. He touches upon the joys of his environment, the sights and sounds of nature, but also on the military sounds nearby and his cultivation of crops (including how he spends just under fifteen dollars on this). In autumn, Thoreau discusses the countryside and writes down his observations about the geography of Walden Pond and its neighbours: Flint’s Pond (or Sandy Pond), White Pond, and Goose Pond. Although Flint’s is the largest, Thoreau’s favourites are Walden and White ponds, which he describes as lovelier than diamonds. While on an afternoon ramble in the woods, Thoreau gets caught in a rainstorm and takes shelter in the dirty, dismal
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hut of John Field, a penniless but hard-working Irish farmhand, and his wife and children. Thoreau urges Field to live a simple but independent and fulfilling life in the woods, thereby freeing himself of employers and creditors. But the Irishman won’t give up his aspirations of luxury and the quest for the American dream. In Walden, Thoreau discusses whether hunting wild animals and eating meat is necessary. He concludes that the primitive, carnal sensuality of humans drives them to kill and eat animals, and that a person who transcends this propensity is superior to those who cannot. In addition to vegetarianism, he lauds chastity, work, and teetotalism. He also recognizes that Native Americans need to hunt and kill moose for survival in “The Maine Woods”, and ate moose on a trip to Maine while he was living at Walden. Brute Neighbours is a simplified version of one of Thoreau’s conversations with William Ellery Channing, who sometimes accompanied Thoreau on fishing trips when Channing had come up from Concord. The conversation is about a hermit (himself) and a poet (Channing) and how the poet is absorbed in the clouds while the hermit is occupied with the more practical task of getting fish for dinner and how in the end, the poet regrets his failure to catch fish. Thoreau also mentions interaction with a mouse that he lives with, the scene in which an ant battles a smaller ant, and his frequent encounters with cats. Thoreau relates the stories of people who formerly lived in the vicinity of Walden Pond. Then he talks about a few of the visitors he receives during the winter: a farmer, a woodchopper, and his best friend, the poet Ellery Channing. Thoreau amuses himself by watching wildlife during the winter. He relates his observations of owls, hares, red squirrels, mice, and various birds as they hunt, sing, and eat the scraps and corn he put out
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for them. He also describes a fox hunt that passes by. Thoreau describes Walden Pond as it appears during the winter. He claims to have sounded its depths and located an underground outlet. Then he recounts how hundred labourers came to cut great blocks of ice from the pond, the ice to be shipped to the Carolinas. As spring arrives, Walden and the other ponds melt with powerful thundering and rumbling. Thoreau enjoys watching the thaw, and grows ecstatic as he witnesses the green rebirth of nature. He watches the geese winging their way north, and a hawk playing by itself in the sky. As nature is reborn, the narrator implies, so is he. At the end he criticizes conformity: “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away”, by doing so, men may find happiness and self-fulfilment. “By questioning humanity’s place in the social, economic, natural, and metaphysical order of things, Thoreau ushered in a rethinking of humanity’s role in the natural world, which nurtured the environmental movement” (Specq and et al. 4). Walden is indeed an eloquent statement about the democracy of all life-forms. Hence life in all its manifestations has inherent dignity and is unique, irreplaceable and worthy of respect. WORKS CITED “An Ecocritical Study of Henry Thoreau’s Walden.” China Papers. N. p., 26 Jan. 2010. Web. 14 Oct. 2016. Oberhelman, D. D. (2013). Encyclopedia of the environment in American literature. Reference Reviews, 27 (7), 34-35. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com/docview/1449818319?accountid=175705 Randy, Alfred. “Aug. 9, 1854: Thoreau Warns, ‘The Railroad Rides on Us’.” Wired. com. Conde Nast Digital, 9 Aug. 2010. Web. 14 Oct. 2016.
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Specq, Francois, Laura Dassow. Walls, and Michel Granger, eds. Thoreauvian Modernities: Transatlantic Conversations on an American Icon. 1st ed. Athens: U of Georgia, 2013. Print. Thoreau, Henry David. Walden, Civil Disobedience, and Other Writings. Ed. William Rossi. 3rd ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 2008. Print. Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. Ed. J. Lyndon Shanley. 1st ed. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2004. Print.
8 Rethinking Nature: Wilderness in Arun Joshi’s The Strange Case of Billy Biswas N. Lakshmi & G. Chenna Reddy
The Strange Case of Billy Biswas is a scathing attack on the materialistic civilized society and an exaltation of the past ancient culture wherein lies the panacea for the ills of modern society. Billy Biswas, the protagonist of Arun Joshi’s second novel, The Strange Case of Billy Biswas faces the problem of the barren, modern sophisticated society and seeks to achieve inner peace in the lap of Nature. The novel reflects the spirit of Rousseau, Thoreau, Gandhi and Wordsworth of the concept of ‘return to Nature’ and wilderness. Billy has a dislike for the elite class and its character. To him all the people around him are “hung on this peg of money” and are nothing more than a “heap of tinsel”. Billy hails “from upper-crust of Indian society”. His father practiced law at Allahabad and Delhi, and had been the Indian ambassador to a European country. While he is in America, his father is a judge in the Supreme Court. Gaining a Doctoral degree in anthropology, Billy becomes a lecturer at Delhi University. Despite having such a background, he is ill at ease in the socalled civilized society, and is rather interested in exploring his
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inner being. Even in his family, he feels alone and alienated like Camus’s outsiders. This exploitation of his real/inner being makes him estranged and alienated. He has two Indian friends in New York. Romi meets Billy while desperately searching for a room. Billy offers to share his apartment with Romi, which is situated in one of the worst slums of New York City. It is very surprising for Romi to find the upper class Billy living in Harlem, a black ghetto in white America, which is “much too civilized for him”. Though Billy was born into an aristocratic family, he dislikes organized life of civilized society. Billy’s case is a strange case as his personality is split between the primitive and the civilized. For Billy the modern civilization is degenerate, shallow and self-centered. Billy returns to India and experiences only a change of scene. Soon, he marries Meena Chatterjee who is “quite usually pretty in a western sort of way”, loquacious and hallow. But this hurried marriage, as he later realizes, is a blunder. Meena’s money-centric outlook leads to the marital fiasco. A look at Billy’s hatred toward civilized world can be had from the letters that he wrote to Tuula Lindgreen, his Swedish girlfriend. He takes his students to anthropological expeditions to the various parts of India. Once he takes his students on an anthropological expedition to the tribal areas of the Satpura Hills in Madhya Pradesh and becomes enamored of the idyllic surroundings and its inhabitants. A great change overtakes him when he reaches Dhunia’s (the chief ’s) hut and sees Bilasia, his daughter. He gets totally enamored of Bilasia’s sensuality. She enlivens Billy’s soul that has been deadened by Meena Biswas and Rima Kaul. Unlike Meena and Rima, Bilasia is not sophisticated and shallow. She is an integral part of the rhythmic life of Nature. She is the right woman to satisfy his soul. There is a conflict between his
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present identity in the civilized world and his soul’s longing for ‘Return to Nature’. All the phenomena of nature – flora and fauna – seem to be waiting for him and calling him to join them – “Come to our primitive world that will sooner or later overcome the works of man. Come. We have waited for you … come, come, come. … Come now, come. Take us until you have had your fill. It is we who are the inheritors of the cosmic night”. Bilasia and the wilderness of Maikala Hills attract the protagonist Billy Biswas more than the artificial and sophisticated atmosphere of Delhi. Real peach, pleasure and perfection can be found in the natural and primitive atmosphere rather than in the din and bustle of big cities of Delhi. The novel actually opens as a case of fictional discourse which epitomizes man’s longing for ‘Return to Nature’ against the technological verifiable constituents of present modern society. Joshi seems to be tremendously concerned with pretentiousness, hypocrisy and snobbery of the modern civilized society and gives a message that simplicity, quietness; tranquility and spirituality of natural primitive life are the only means of achieving sublime living. The contrast between the two worlds of the West and the East highlights the contrast between their socio-cultural settings. The magnetic, mysterious power of the universe brought Billy to hills of Bilasia where he felt free to express his own individual self – unhampered by those ties, which were limiting him. He is driven to death by the mad, absurd world when he tries to retrieve his soul. His exploration of the real inner being makes him an existentialist being, estranged and alienated. He never feels himself at home because one thing was clear to him that he was not a man of this civilised society and that his real destination
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was some other place. Romi, his room partner at Harlem in America, opines that Billy was a man of such extra ordinary obsession. But what even he fails to understand is his real identity and thus the question still persists with Billy – Who am I? Though he was born and brought up in the aristocratic lifestyle, yet his dislikes the organised life-style. It aggravates his problem of identity instead of resolving. It is a puzzle to the common reader until it is analysed psychologically. His active preparation for Anthropology, though disliked by his father, is a proof enough of his quest of identity, to overcome the conflict of identity and to understand the unresolved beingness. Hence he frankly admits: All I want to do in the life is to visit the places they describe, meet the people who live there, find out about the aboriginals of the world (Joshi, The Strange Case 14). A glance at his library reflects rethinking about nature and that peace was not only filled with the books of knowledge but also of his passionate engagement with his subject. A close look gives the impression that he is fond of the primitive world. But to one’s surprise, the protagonist Billy Biswas was searching for his self in the wilderness of nature and the primitive world. When he is only fourteen and visits Bhubaneshwar, he notices the landscape of the city. His visit to Konark shows his fascination of sculpture and understands that truly imagination is appreciated only by the Adivasis. The knowledge of truth is embedded with the tribal behind – dark inscrutable faces. His visits to the tribal village with the chauffeur prove to be a turning point in the life of Billy Biswas as he is, for the first time, overwhelmed by erotic energy in the tone and tune of the folk music while dancing and celebrating life. The image of the landscape of Bhubaneshwar that he carries itself depicts his inquisitiveness. The curiosity invariably leads to discoveries and innovations. It implies that Billy was
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rational. But more curious the fact that such notions are a mature mind. On the contrary, he was not product only of nature. One naturally tends to think that the contradiction is planted to insinuate that Billy was mature beyond his years. Secondly, while at Konark, he tells the reality which only the great thinkers and the philosophers could comprehend. But the protagonist could understand it despite his being only fourteen years old one wonder as to how he could be a visionary or a thinker or a philosopher at last, such but not the least to be analysed is his perception about the tribal and how close he was to the life of tribal reality. With Bilasia a new sense of beingness starts emerging within and outside him. He felt that he could find there right meaning of life, that he had not found anywhere else. The American society could have provided him all the charm and what a common man aspires throughout life. But in America he was an alien. The cosmetic city of Delhi could have made him settle with beautiful women and elite society. The post of lectureship in the department of Anthropology of the University of Delhi could have given him a new identity but it could not. Meena could have provided him congenial bliss, with a future happy family, but everything was in vain. It was not merely a coincidence that he could not do all that because he was destined for something else, and that he was not created for the comforts of life in the developed modern-world because he was born with an instinct for the primitive world. His going to Satpura and then to Maikala Hills was also not accidental. Rather it was pre-determined. He finds a meaning to his life there where, in modern sense, everything was literally absent. There were neither the gizmos of the city, nor the well-furnished corridors, nor the city of joy, nor the best-decorated world of less women but still what was unique for Billy was the originality
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in every sphere of life in Maikala and at the tribal Bilasia’s hut. The love that emerged in the eye of Billy for the first time was only and only for Bilasia and it seemed that it was the love at first site. The amalgamation of the two separate identities which were longing so far for the unification takes place and they become whole the complete whole for the first time. On contact, he finds in himself that bit of himself that he had searched all his life and without which his life was nothing more than the poor reflection of a million others. Bilasia was his missing self and the union with her makes him complete. Here Arun Joshi is suggesting that a new identity of Billy was emerging in the union of male and female – the ultimate embodiment of the human spirit, as laid down in the Hindu philosophy of Sankhya, according to which the completeness of the human being takes place only when there is the union of the prakriti – the female and purush – the male. Bilasia is Prakriti and Billy is the Purush. Prakriti is the Shakti of Purush that Bilasia was to Billy. Bilasia plays the pivotal role in defining the identity of Billy. She (Bilasia) is not merely the symbol of beauty and charm, but she symbolises the nature that has emerged from the primitive society, so to say. The question of the soul was even more important than family and friends because it is through one’s own identity that relations are born. If the very existence of the self is under question, all relations are bound to tumble like house of cards. The second part of the novel starts with a new vision. Ten years changed the entire world. Civilised world is unaware of the life of Billy and his whereabouts. Billy has settled in the hills of Maikal with Bilasia as his future and Dhunia – the village headman as his master. Billy has found the identity of the king and priest in the tribal village, far from the urbanised but
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dehumanised world. On the other hand, Romi after the completion of his studies has joined the administrative services and becomes the District collector. On his field trip to the hills, he finds Billy and this finding brings a new turn in the novel. Billy has completely changed. He was found by Romi in the loin cloth – typical of the way primitive lives in the jungle. On having a meeting with Romi, Billy narrates his vision of the primitive world and the urge of the life for the tribal people and how he has gone for a new meaning to the life. Meanwhile, Billy keeps visiting Romi and he treats the wife of Romi, Situ – who was suffering from Migraine with some herbs. Here Billy takes the promise from Romi that he will not disclose the whereabouts of Billy to anyone else, but Romi was not a man to keep his commitments and discloses the reality of the whereabouts of Billy to Situ, when forced by Situ to disclose the same. The discloser of the whereabouts of Billy to Situ by Romi brings tragedy to the life of Billy. The long awaited peace and serenity, which was found by Billy after so much suffering and misery, was again in peril. The civilized world’s interventions into the primitive society have always led to the destruction of the primitive world, its ethos and culture. The classical example of which can found in the fact of the colonisation having destroyed the third world in past. The colonised nations had lost their identity, culture, folklore, music and the history. Today, when the developed nations are celebrating the concept of the post-modern society, the subalterns have to find their identity and the history leading to the rewriting of the history. The tribals, cherish many secrets of Nature, their ethnoscience, ethno-medicine, strange folklores, astrological acumen, and above all the inexplicable supernatural healing techniques. The words, “I came a thousand miles to see your face, O
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mountain. A thousand miles did I come to see your face” declare a strong note in the very beginning of The Strange Case of Billy Biswas, signifying nature in a state uncontaminated by civilization where, In a balanced, harmonious, steady-state nature, indigenous people reproduced balance and harmony. Arun Joshi reminds us symbolically through Dhunia that thousands of years ago when the forest and the hills were under the adivasis nature abiding rule, the regions bloomed in all glory. Biswas’s arrival as rain in the parched land brought a healthier look, because he identifies himself as one among them, sharing their ideals and caring for their well-being with a compassionate empathy with no other hidden motive. Romi has a glimpse of the all-pervasive spiritual force in a dilapidated temple into which Biswas ushered him in. The Collector narrates: “Then something distracted me…All of a sudden, I had the feeling that we were not alone that there was another presence besides us... It seemed neither good nor evil but terribly old. Beware, it seemed to say. There are things that the like of you may never know. There are circles within circles and worlds within worlds. Beware where you enter”. Joshi is sure that “If anyone had a clue to it, it was only the adivasis who carried about their knowledge in silence locked, behind their dark inscrutable faces”. The eco-worshipping Adivasis, and nomads are always friendly with all the animals of their forest. The animals understand them and share a congenial relationship with them since they are never marauded in the name of safari to get their skin, tusk, nails, teeth and meat by the people surrounding them. Dhuni’s story of Biswas Bhai going into the jungle and speaking to the tiger, to send it away gives the proof: “We came to know of his powers only when he sent the tiger away. A tiger had been roaming the jungle for a week killing our cattle. Biswas Bhai went into the jungle and
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spoke to the tiger, and the tiger went away”. God is found by the tribals everywhere on earth, in Kala Pahar, a running stream, a very old banyan tree and so on. The folklore narrated by Joshi brings out the above-mentioned supreme truth. CONCLUSION There are laws that govern the universe out of which man has a lot to learn. Dhunia states that there is no point in questioning, “why man dies or why at night the stars come out”. So one has to rethink environment’s role in the life of mankind as unquestioningly natural environment with its entire constituents whether man or animal or vegetation or hills or streams and shrubs holds the strength of the spirit to sustain mankind on earth. WORKS CITED Joshi, Arun. The Strange Case of Billy Biswas. New Ed., New Delhi: Orient PaperBacks, 2008. Print. Dwivedi, Vachaspati. “Redemption through Knowledge: The Strange Case of Billy Biswas”, The Fictional Art of Arun Joshi: An Existential Perspective. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers and Distributors (Pvt) Ltd, 2004. Print. Kumar, Shankar. “The Primitive World versus the civilized world in The Strange Case of Billy Biswas”, The Novels of Arun Joshi. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers and Distributors (Pvt) Ltd, 2003. Print. Nayak, Renuka, L. “Relevance of Arun Joshi’s The Strange Case of Billy Biswas in the Present Context”, SSM Research Analysis & Evaluation. 2. 24 (Sept 2011): 1-4. Panaveli, Abraham. Patrick White’s Voss and Arun Joshi’s The Strange Case of Billy Biswas: A Metaphysical Journey into the Self, Language in India. 13. 10 (Oct 2013): 51-58. Oct. 2013. Web. 5 Oct. 2013. . Supriya. ”Responding to the Primitive Force: Arun Joshi’s The Strange Case of Billy Biswas”, The Criterion. 4. 3 (June 2013): 1-7.
9 Ecological Crisis in Ruskin Bond’s Selected Short Stories Annie Jane C Mawkhiew
Without ecological crisis or environmental crisis there might be no “environmental imagination”. Our understanding of the environmental crisis has come through the disruption of nature by agriculture, industrialisation, and urbanisation and with the coming of science and technology. Historian Lynn White in his essay entitled “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis” argues that: “the environmental crisis is fundamentally a matter of the beliefs and values that direct science and technology; he censures the Judeo-Christian religion for its anthropocentric arrogance and dominating attitude toward nature”. In philosophy, various fields like environmental ethics, deep ecology, ecocriticism and social ecology have emerged in an effort to understand the root causes of environmental degradation. Ecology is the science, which deals with the relationships and interactions between living organisms and their environment. The term “ecology” (Okologie) was coined in 1866 by the German Scientist Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919). Ecology is a science strongly connected to a history of verbal expression. In the medicinal rites of early people, shamans sang, chanted, and danced stories to heal disease or prevent disaster,
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which they saw as states of disharmony or imbalance in nature. Deep ecological deals with the underlying roots of the environmental crisis. With the coming of industrialisation and urbanisation the whole environment have been disturbed. The pollution, especially in meteropolitan cities is one of the problems facing today. Most of the rivers are being polluted to such extent that neither the holy water is drinkable nor consumable in any other form. The situation is alarming so therefore we must conserve our environment with all weapons at our command. Deep ecology is an ecological and environmental philosophy that promotes the inherent worth of living beings regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs, plus a radical restructuring of modern human societies in accordance with such ideas. Deep ecology argues that the natural world is a subtle balance of complex inter-relationships in which the existence of organisms is dependent on the existence of others within ecosystems. Human interference with or destruction of the natural world poses a threat therefore not only to humans but to all organisms constituting the natural order. Deep ecology believes that the living environment should be respected and should have the legal rights to live and flourish. It describes itself as “deep” since it regards itself as looking more deeply into the actual reality of human’s relationship with the natural world... Deep ecology takes a more holistic view of the world human beings live in and seeks to apply to life the understanding that the separate parts of the ecosystem (including humans) function as a whole. This philosophy provides a foundation for the environmental, ecology and green movements and has fostered a new system of environmental ethics advocating wilderness preservation, human population control and simple living.
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Deep ecology represents the psychologization of environmental mental philosophy. Devall and Sessions assert that, “if we harm the rest of Nature then we are harming ourselves. There are no boundaries and everything is interrelated” (68). In the words of the environmental activist John Seed, said that: “I am protecting the rain forest” develops into “I am part of the rain forest protecting myself.” I am that part of the rain forest recently emerged into thinking... [T]he change is a spiritual one thinking like mountain, sometimes referred to as Deep Ecology (Devall and Sessions 199).
Discovering the truth of ecology is a lot more difficult than it’s popularizes have led us to believe both because of the observing effects of hyper reality and for two additional reasons as well: (1) Nature is complex (2) nature is thoroughly implicated in culture and culture is thoroughly implicated in nature. With reference to the topic mentioned above I hereby bring forward the relationship between nature and religion. Environment/ nature is the key concern of the modern world. Conservation of nature has become a primary task for each and every human being in this contemporary world. Nature is the principal source of inspiration and spiritual enlightenment. It shares a deep bond with religion. Some religions consider nature as a sacred phenomenon. According to M. H Abrams: “The common view in such traditions... envisions the natural world as a living, sacred thing, in which each individual feels intimately bonded to a particular physical ‘place’, and where human beings live interdependence and reciprocity with other living things” (2012: 99).
Even the Vedas believed in nature and most of their teachings are tributes to nature. Hindus worship the sun and the moon, trees and animals, the weather conditions and the
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seasons, the power of thunder and lightening, rain, rivers and the seas. They prayed to these powers and called them the heirs of the Gods. Every religion creates an awareness program to protect the environment from degradation by planting more trees. There is a belief amongst religions that nature was created by God and therefore should be protected. The feeling of superiority and domination by human beings is the major cause for the environmental degradation. Everyone should realize the essentiality of nature in his/her life and should always contribute to its protection. Human beings should develop a sense of respect and regard for the natural world. The focus given to nature in literature can be perceived in the literary theory known as ‘ecocriticism. Ecocriticism is the mode of literary criticism that aims to study the connection between Ecology and Literature and also the connection between religion and nature. Glotfelty defines thus: “Ecocriticism is the study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment”. Ecocritics try to study a literary text from the point of view of the environmentalists, and the fear of the impending threat to the world. Ecocritics have an important role to play in the protection of the environment. Ecocritics encourage to think seriously about the relationship of humans to nature, about the ethical and aesthetic dilemmas posed by the environmental crisis, and about how language and literature transmit Values with profound ecological implications. Ecocriticism takes as its subject the interconnections between nature and culture, specifically the cultural artifacts language and literature. As a critical stance, it has one foot in literature and the other on land, as a theoretical discourse, it negotiates between the human and the non-human. Most of ecocritical work shares a common motivation: the troubling awareness that we have reached the age of environmental limits,
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a time when the consequences of human actions are damaging the planet’s basic life support systems. This awareness sparks a sincere desire to contribute to environmental restoration, with the capability as students of literature. As historian Donald Worster explains, We are facing a global crisis today, not because of how ecosystems function but rather because of how our ethical systems functions. Getting through the crisis requires understanding our impact on nature as precisely as possible, but even more, it requires understanding those ethical systems and using that understanding to reform them. Historians, along with literary scholars, anthropologists, and philosophers, cannot do the reforming, of course, but they can help with the understanding. (8)
William Rucckert in his essay “Literature and Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism” underlines the urgency of balance in the interaction between humans and nature: “We are violating the laws of nature, and the retribution from the biosphere will be no more terrible than away inflicted on humans by gods. In ecology man’s tragic flaw is his anthropocentric... (as opposed to biocentric) vision and his compulsion to conquer... exploit every natural thing” (113). This paper is an attempt for presenting the sources of ecological crisis as envisaged by Ruskin Bond in his selected short stories, and also the creative solutions he offers to protect and preserve nature as a whole. Ruskin Bond is one of the most popular environmentalist, naturalist and contemporary short story writer of recent times. He resides in Mussoorie, at the foothills of the Himalayas where most of his works reflects the life and his childhood days in the hill stations. Ruskin bond’s short stories reflect his concern for the depletion of the environment which also shows his insatiable love for nature, the mountains and the flora and fauna
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of the Himalayas. The region is blessed with an abundance of natural beauty, flora and fauna. Bond is always anxious about the depletion of the natural environment and the cost of urbanization and commerce. His concern and anxiety are reflected in his short stories like “Dust on the Mountains” where the issues arise of ruthless indiscriminate exploitation of nature. In this story he narrates how money-mongers lure hill simpletons. The story also unravels the sordid picture of ‘green’ massacre. He brings into notice the reasons for less rainfall. He shows that tress are under great peril due to human carelessness. In “The Coral Tree” Bonds paints a sensitive picture by teaching a child how to plant and nurture a tree. In “No Room for a Leopard” Bond talks about deforestation and the pathetic condition of animals after deforestation. A trust worthy Leopard is killed by hunters in very heartless manners. In an interview with Anita Aggarwal, he says, “Problems of deforestation, pollution, and environmental decay of wildlife have been the subject matter of most of my stories and essays”. He also differentiates how children look at nature which is very different from the adult’s gaze. Children’s love towards nature comes naturally. Therefore, his short stories mostly reflect his concern and his effort to preserve the environment through tree plantation which highlights the memorable presence of his grandfather as an ardent environmentalist. His stories are based on his own experience with nature where he considers nature to be friendly and leaves a feeling of warmth and security in the hearts of readers. In conclusion, Ruskin Bond’s short stories encourage individuals to uproot themselves and make right preparations to preserve nature and should have a big responsibility for these changes. Ecological issues are also seen as problems that can be solved without taking social inequities into account, and is often
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implied by a certain kind of conservationism. Also, if religious groups around the world can join hands with popular movements, they may be able to provide momentum for the world to move forward on drastically emissions without sacrificing considerations of equity. WORKS CITED: Aggarwal, Amita. “Interview with Bond”. Mussoorie: October 2, 1998. Web Bond, Ruskin. Dust on the Mountain: Collected Short Stories. Delhi: Penguin India, 2009. Print. Devall, Bill and George Sessions. Deep Ecology: Living as If Nature Mattered. Salt Lake City, UT: Peregrine Smith. 1985. Glotfelty, Cheryl and Fromm Harold. The Eco-Criticism Reader. Ed. Cheryl Glotfelty and Harold Fromm. The University of Georgia: Press Athens and London. 1996. Print. Rueckert W. Literature and Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocritics, in the Ecocriticism Reader: Landmark in Literary Ecology, eds. Cheryl Glotfelty and Harold Famm. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1996. Print.
10 Culture and Nature in Selected Poems of Shruti Das: An Ecocritical Study Samita Mishra
Shruti Das’s poems at their strongest are expressive of the interconnectedness of the non-human world of nature and the human world of lovers waiting, dreaming and stealing a blissful moment together in the face of stifling social and cultural conventions. The world of seas, mountains, waves, moonbeam, clouds, rain, mist, and flowers is present throughout as conducive to the lovers’ sentiments. The outer world of nature is a tangible presence in the poems, not a reflection of the inner world. The poems disprove the theories of the social, linguistic and psychological constructions of the external world. There is no privileging of the inside over the outside as psychoanalytic literary theory, with its pet notion of the submerged unconscious shaping our vision and activities, would make us believe. The poems are not uniformly celebratory of nature. They are also on occasions minatory admonishing us against suicidal attempts of domination over nature. A romantic yearning for nature is sometimes coupled with a lover’s daring to overcome all cultural restraints, all stifling social conventions. “Midnight Sea” (27) expresses a woman’s eager wait for the lover’s voice from a distant “Calcutta, Cairo,
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may be Congo” so that life transforms into a beautiful moonlit night full of shining waves in an endless sea. The inexhaustible joys of their hours of togetherness are suggested by activities that appear endless: counting “silver moonbeams/on a midnight sea” or letting the plentiful sands on the seashore “slip through fingers”. In these moments society and its many conventions appear like a nausenting disease or the irritable sound of a disgusting wolf: “baying wolf ”, “smirky cough, hiccups or rasping breath”. The repulsiveness of the adjectives suggest a Shelley-like unease with all meaningless social interruptions. These interruptions perhaps account for the “roving mind” of the poem’s beginning, a mind pierced by a sharp shaft of remembrance, disturbed by memories of a distant adolescence. Childhood and adolescence passed merrily without any awareness of the sharp tooth of the waiting social wolf. Childhood burnt like an incense stick spreading its sweet smell all around. Adolescence and the emotions associated with it are also “bottled” and preserved like an essence. But the lover’s voice takes her over the lost years of innocence which she longed to return to. The lover’s voice transports her to a new realm full of silver moonbeams. The “rasping breath” of the cultural wolves now transforms into the rasping breath of the singer shrill with excess of joy. Nature in the shape of the full moon night and the midnight sea is a storehouse of joy which opens out when the eagerly waited lover’s voice rings in her ears and “the dogs and baying wolves/backed away to some alley in my backyard”. Nature is not always so bright. Sometimes it takes a shape that shuts out most of its lovely forms. “Indian Rain” (36) presents one such occasion when nature is unwelcome. Rain pours out in such profusion in India during the long monsoon that it is impossible to come out. The continuity of rain over
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several months makes everyone crave for its abatement and even cessation. The rain outside “chills” the inside. The inside/ outside dichotomy disappears. The tangible reality of the wet outside affects the inside. Shruti Das here draws attention to the significance of the natural world in itself not as a metaphor of the mind as many commentators on the storm scene in King Lear make us believe the storm to be a metaphor of the turmoil in Lear’s mind. As a result the long-standing Western cultural tradition of anthropocentrism which reduced nature to a mere setting for the enactment of the human drama is offset and, in Peter Barry’s words: “what had seemed mere setting is brought in from the critical margins to the critical centre” (259). The “Indian” of the title foregrounds the “spatio-physical embeddedness” which Lawrence Buell considers to be “more intractably constitutive of personal and social identity … than ideology is” (24). The lilies and the bees are tired of the rain, the butterflies turn into chrysalis. The narrator is confined to her nest waiting for the rain to stop so that she can “dry my wet cravings”. This links her up with the butterflies who wait to “dry their pretty wings”. Not only does the rain shut out the beautiful in nature, it also “smudges the rainbow on the rug”. But the distemper in nature is short lived. The rainy clouds will give way to a crystal sky and the narrator hopes the rainbow will come out. The colour outside will spread to her inside. The unease with the rain and the joy over the crystal sky and the rainbow both confirm the connection between nature and the human spirit. The deluge of water in Indian Rain is as much a tangible reality as the inordinate rise of the mercury in the Indian summer. “Wrong Number” addresses such a situation. The summer afternoon “groaned with empty vessels and leaking taps” and “gaping soils”. Exhausted bodies reject cushioned
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beds and prefer sprawling on the cool floor. The chirping of the birds, nature’s eternal choristers, fail to amuse in such exhaustion. But the “dry thoughts” and “the gentle sleep” are disturbed by a knock at the door and the “screaming telephone”. The implication behind this humorous description of the interruptions in sleep is loud and clear: society’s and culture’s abrasive intrusions into nature. Nature and the human spirit are often so deeply interfused that both become one in a harmonious moment of bliss. In fact, Kathleen R. Wallace and Karla Ambruster in the Introduction to Beyond Nature Writing point out that understanding nature and culture as interwoven rather than as separate sides of a dualistic construct is the central conceptual challenges of ecocriticism. We find such interweaving in the poem “With the Jasmine” (59). The poet “swells in the fragrance of the Jasmine”. The jasmine “caress” her with their white petals; the bees sing their sweet songs for her. But “the soft scented passion flowers” blush red/with stories of my passionate dream”. This exchange between nature and the poet is made possible by no sensual appreciation of nature, by no Wordsworthian mighty world of the eye and ear but by “listen (ing) keenly, with my heart”. The love-lorn Orsino, in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night retired to “sweet beds of flowers” because “Love thoughts lie rich when canopied with bowers” (I. i41). In Shruti Das’s poem the songs of the koel playing among mango blossoms and the caress of the jasmine revive memories of a lost love and she holds the image of the lover tightly upon her chest. The suspicion of a love lost is aroused in the last two lines when the poet “listens” eagerly with her “heart” for “some forgotten footsteps/to cross the fragrance of the jasmine”. The fragrance of the jasmine and the sweet songs of the koel, however, bring up the image of the lover and the poet is able to utter words she could not speak
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before and a “bashful smile” radiates her face. The poem, therefore, serves as a reminder of the interconnectedness of nature and women in the ecofeminist tradition. The poem “Pledge by Fire” (37) marks the epitome of Shruti Das’s love for nature and suffocation with meaningless rituals in a male dominated universe. The poem ends with the bold declaration: “I will wed the rituals/and stretch into a honey moon/over snow, stars and sand dunes”. This declaration comes after the poet’s honest plea for equality –”till your steps should match mine” – fails to find a proper response. She waits eagerly with “nerves and anticipation” refusing to circle the fires for the ritual wedding to be solemnized until her man agrees to her modest request. There is a hardly veiled desperation in the lines”Will you refuse my honest address? Will you be chained by dutiful bonds”? But he lacks the courage to break free from “dutiful bonds”, from the cultural fetters that have perpetuated the subordination of women. The poet is obstinate if husband and wife do not walk side by side, then the whole institution of marriage is a meaningless ritual. So she makes the outrageous declaration – “I will wed the rituals”. The companionship of the “snow, stars and sand dunes” cannot be denied her, it will be a “honeymoon” which will stretch into eternity. The closeness between nature and woman is also discernible in the poem “Dusk and Cattle dust” (8). The cattledust settles over ruddy roads. Some of the dust settle on the woman’s “unkempt grey hair”. With the cattle dust as the common feature an analogy is thus established between the ruddy roads and the grey hair. The point of similarity is their disheveled state. But the difference between them is equally significant. The ruddy roads lead to a “horizon full of mirthful cranes”. The woman’s hair, in contrast, lets off memories she “clenched tight” all these years. She also laughs, but this laughter
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is defeatistic. Her life has been a steady decline into obscurity. Her teeth dropped off one by one, her beauty was folded in “layers of precious wrinkles” and her life was really a death, folded in a “distant bier”. The mention of “the high street on which the woman’s teeth dropped off arouses the suspicion that perhaps the woman is none other than nature herself who has mutely suffered her steady decline with a weak laughter as civilization marched on and the cranes, unaware, moved mirthfully in half circles. This awareness of the beautiful nature and the layers of wrinkles, wrinkles of culture that fold nature’s beauty, go together. In the abstract world of theories that dominate literary and cultural discourse in present times Shruti Das’s poems have a refreshing emphasis on the material reality of nature for ecocritical analysis. The poem “Of Mountains” (12) is a passionate statement on the demolition of nature in the name of culture and civilization. In an ironical twist of the traditional focus on the heart of human beings and the relative heartlessness of rocks and mountains, the poem begins with the accusation that man (“you”) blasts “the heart of the mountains”. The violent raids on nature, the breaking, tearing, shredding and crushing of mountains are feelingly described: “when you tear them/jagged into big chips and small chips/and shards of stone. The beautiful world has become a dreary desert; the mountains cry in molten tears, the streams are drying, the green paddy fields shake in fear and disgust; mice, rabbits and baby birds run away. All these for men, greedy men. “Mephistopheles’s pets”, who have turned into dinosaurs “gnawing at each other/ demanding the Helen of Troy”. Man ruins nature out of jealousy. He cannot reach upto the mountain, so he pulls it down. He is jealous of its magnificence. He forgets that nature had been for centuries man’s shelter “I
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could tell you stories/ of your grandfather and grandmother/ they came running to me/from the beasts, from the gale/ and from your lust”. In his greed for wealth and lust for power man is destroying the very lap that could comfort him in his distress. Nature is stoically silent as man tears her skin and digs deeper for wealth. The mountain’s statement, “The kind wind sucked away my blood,” is the bitter truth of a paradoxical condition when the sucking of blood is an act of kindness because it will prevent the body from bleeding further. A baleful picture emerges; a picture of man’s growing jealousy and avarice and nature’s inability to sustain life any longer. “I am too old/too tired/to help you cross bridges/and take all those wheels on my back.” We notice here echoes of Ruskin’s anxiety about the environmental consequences of assuming that our dominion over nature has no limits. John Ruskin, Peter Barry reminds us, was “the first major British writer to record a sense that nature’s power of recovery might not be infinite, and that modern forms of production and consumption have the potential to inflict fatal environmental damage” (262). We also notice similarities here with the nineteenth century American novelist James Fenimore Cooper’s concerns expressed through Natty Bompo in The Pioneers. Time and again Natty bemoans the wasty ways of the Templeton residents when they clear out forests, devastate the fish of the local lake, and spray bullets into flocks of migrating passenger pigeons (336,356). WORKS CITED Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory. New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Guwahati: Viva Books, 2010. Print Buell, Lawrence. Writing for an Endangered World. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001. Print.
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Cooper, James Fenimore. The Pioneers or Sources of Susquehanna: A Descriptive Tale. Eds. James Franklin Beard, Lance Schachterie and Kenneth M. Anderson, Jr. Albany: SUNY UP, 1980. Print. Das, Shruti. Lidless Eyes. Partridge India. Print. Wallace Kathleen R and Karla Ambruster. Beyond Nature Writing. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2001. Print.
Part III. Climate Change Representations
11 Climate Change and its Impact in Barbara Kingsolver’s Novel Flight Behavior Sr. Innyasamma Gade
Barbara Kingsolver was born on April 8, 1955. After graduate school, a position as a science writer for the University of Arizona soon led her into feature writing for journals and newspapers. Her numerous articles have appeared in a variety of publications, including The Nation, the New York Times, and Smithsonian, and many of them are included in the collection, High Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now or Never. In 1986 she won an Arizona Press Club award for outstanding feature writing, and in 1995, after the publication of High Tide in Tucson, Kingsolver was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from her alma mater, DePauw University. Barbara also works as an environmental activist and human-rights advocate. CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS IMPACT The only constant thing in life is change. The problem is that change is often difficult, sometimes heart-wrenching, and more commonly these days, devastating. Kingsolver’s Flight Behavior is a novel about climate change. Theodore C. Sorensen says, “Global warming is for real. Every scientist knows that now, and
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we are on our way to the destruction of every species on earth, if we don’t pay attention and reverse our course”. Flight Behavior (2012), a wonderful book set in the fictional Appalachian town of Feather town, Tennessee. The flight of the title refers not only to the arrival of hordes of butterflies, but flights of various sorts undertaken by her characters. The novel Flight Behaviour deals with the possible effects of global warming on the Monarch butterflies and the significance of growing awareness of climate change impact on people’s life. In this novel Kingsolver shows how environmental awareness significantly changed protagonist’s life positively. Dellarobia Turnbow is the central character. She is well observant but poorly educated young mother living in the rural community of Feather town, Tennessee. It is the story of Dellarobia; a mother of two children she loves, and who are central to who she sees herself to be, a daughter-in-law to people who sneer and sideline her seemingly at every opportunity and with whom she thus feels unable to communicate beyond the basic, and a wife who longs to be something more than just the partner to someone else and yet she seeks that new identity contradictory in an empty affair. The story’s protagonist, Dellarobia Turnbow, situates her as a simple small-town Tennessee girl whose choices have all been made for her. She dithers indecisively in an indifferent marriage brought about by a youthful mistake. She is the young mother of two small children, she is the young wife of one childlike husband, and she is the obedient young daughter-in-law of one tyrannical matriarch. She is the product of a town whose schoolchildren see the prospect of college as ‘irrelevant’. Things happen to Dellarobia, she doesn’t make things happen. It takes a force of nature, a mountain of fire, a displaced population of monarch butterflies to bring the opportunity of real change into
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her life. At the end of a gloomy, relentlessly rainy summer and autumn she finds herself at the limits of her endurance. In the novel’s opening pages she strikes out recklessly, thrilled and terrified, having agreed for the first time to an actual tryst with another man. Dellarobia is on her way up the mountain to a secluded hunting shed when she is stopped in her tracks by what she believes to be a miracle: an entire forested valley alights with cold orange flame. She flees back to her life, keeping her strange secret, but soon learns her father-in-law plans to clear-cut the forest for urgently-needed cash. In an impossible bind, Dellarobia finds a way to convince her husband and father-in-law to survey the forest before it is logged, without revealing her secret or why she discovered it. When the family treks up the mountain the truth is revealed, and the revelation is less miraculous – and more disturbingly unnatural – than she could have guessed. Dellarobia realised the fact that “when you clear-cut a mountain it can cause a landslide” (p. 234). And due to climate change monarch butterflies’ age-old migration patterns have been disrupted. The direct criticism of hazardous effect of logging industry on climate change can be traced in the novel. The spectacular and freakish eruption of nature summons Dr. Ovid Byron, a charismatic scientist who arrives at the farm intent on investigation. Dellarobia and her five-year-old son Preston are enthralled by the exotic entomologist and his work. But others in the community, including farmers who have lost crops to the weather’s new extremes, are less receptive to his talk of global climate change and its repercussions for natural systems and human affairs. Everyone in the neighborhood and beyond, from religious fundamentalists to environmentalists and the ratings-conscious media, brings a point of view and a penchant for shaping the evidence to suit an agenda. The ordeal
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quickly grows beyond the boundaries of family, community and nation, carving its lasting effects on Dellarobia, forcing her to examine everything she has ever trusted as truth. Never having seen anything so spectacular as this orange rapture in the valley, the people of Feathertown are inclined to think of it as a “burning bush,” a miracle sent by God to light up their threadbare lives. But beauty can be deceptive: the butterflies are climate refugees. They have abandoned their flight path from Canada to their usual winter habitat, a sunny hillside in Mexico where they have been overwintering safely for generations but which has been ravaged by logging and landslides. Their mysterious flight behavior is a symptom of an overheated Earth, calving glaciers, and a disintegrating Arctic. Dellarobia tells her former husband, Cub, that “a lot of things are messed up” because of climate change. “Weather is the Lord’s business,” he replies. And yet it is Cub who puts up a fight when his father wants to log the forest hollow in which the butterflies have taken shelter. Because the family is split over what to do, it takes the matter to the local pastor; ultimately, the hollow is saved from the logger’s chainsaw not by the college protesters, but by the pastor’s counsel that these are the “Lord’s trees,” and to saw them for money is greedy and wicked. The Green Church movement is one of the rare places where the environmental conversation is successfully reaching across these difficult cultural divides. ” Dr. Ovid Byron, a scientist specializing in butterflies, arrives in town. What he teaches Dellarobia is terrifying: that the butterflies’ presence is anything but a positive occurrence. Indeed, their presence in those Tennessee hills is simply one more indication of a damaged and dying world. He begins to teach her about global climate change, or “global warming”, which she automatically dismisses as rubbish because she has
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been taught to think that way by her community. In essence, what he teaches her is that the world is coming to an end – not the quick, explosive, flashy end that she has seen in Michael Bay movies but the slow, encroaching end of a frog in boiling water, unaware that the end is very near. At first, she vehemently refuses to believe it, but Byron is used to that response. “People can only see things they already recognize,” he tells her. “They’ll see it if they know it. (p. 282)” The possible reason given for this increase is “the so-called global warming “pause”-the misleading idea that global warming has slowed down or stopped over the past 15 years or so. This claim was used by climate skeptics, to great effect, in their quest to undermine the release of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report in September 2013 – precisely during the time period that is in question in the latest study.” Simply put, the end of the world is incomprehensible to most people, so they write it off as impossibility. They deny the facts because they need to deny the facts in order to get through the day. As Dellarobia explains, getting through the day, for her, means “meeting the bus on time... getting the kids to eat supper, getting teeth brushed. No cavities the next time. Little hopes, you know? There’s just not room at our house for the end of the world.” (p. 283) Denial, unfortunately, is no longer an option for Dellarobia. She has had her eyes and mind opened. It unfortunately comes with a cost. She can no longer look at science and faith in the same way. In one of the more thoughtful, terrifying, and human conversations in the novel, Kingsolver, via Dellarobia, explains why denial has become a necessary defense mechanism for many people. Dellarobia’s environmental consciousness makes her save those dying butterflies by shipping them to a warmer place. “That is a concern of conscience,” he tells her. “Not of
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biology. Science doesn’t tell us what we should do. It only tells us what is.” (p. 442). Dellarobia wonders when he explains her about diminishing coral reefs and dying insects and he expresses his sadness “What was the use of saving a world that has no soul left in it. Continents without butterflies and sea without coral reefs” (p. 438). These lines highlight the people’s anthropocentric attitude towards nature. Species extinction from the earth can drastically change the biodiversity of the ecosystem. In deep ecological principle richness and biodiversity are valuable in themselves and humans have no right to reduce this diversity. Prof. Ovid enlarges Dellarobia’s vision of the world. She sympathizes with those dying butterflies and is willing to protect these endangered species. Monarch butterflies, distracted from their migratory route for unknown reasons, have settled for some time over the farm. Dr. Ovid sets up a lab to discover clues that might tell them why they came to that place. And Dellarobia’s participation in that research team of scientists led by him is an act of self-awareness and responsibility towards natural surroundings. As Byron explains, “Even the most recalcitrant climate scientists agree now, the place is heating up. Unless some other outcome is written on the subject line of his paycheck” (366). Byron’s explanation is backed up by a recent NASA study, which states, “Ninety-seven percent of climate scientists agree that climate-warming trends over the past century are very likely due to human activities, and most of the leading scientific organizations worldwide have issued public statements endorsing this position”. Tina Ultner, a CNN reporter who originally broke the story of the butterflies on national news, confronts Byron. The exchange is brilliant:
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Tina said, “Scientists tell us they can’t predict the exact effects of global warming.” “Correct. We tell you that, because we are more honest than other people. We know evidence will keep coming in. It does not mean we ignore the subject until further notice. We brush our teeth, for instance, even though we do not know exactly how many cavities we may be avoiding”.
Here Dellarobia also relates to herself with the predicament of these vulnerable creatures and she undergoes the journey of grief of a mother becoming more aware of the impacts of climate change and its consequences in future. The beautiful part of Kingsolver’s novel is that, despite the knowledge that one’s world is ending; it is human nature to keep hope alive, even when there is none. Kingsolver cleverly counterpoints the nature events that define the story with the experiences of her characters. Dellarobia searches for the right place to be just as the butterflies do. There are parallels to the butterflies’ experience of having their homes washed away in floods. And, like the beautiful invaders, Dellarobia must undergo a metamorphosis, gathering sustenance where she can find it, in order to wend her way to the next stage in her life. To reclaim one’s place in the natural world, one must understand one’s vital role in the ecosystem. At the end she comes to know about the real problem of the world is lack of proper respect or concern towards natural surroundings. She consciously chose to face the challenges and stood by her decision to continue further studies and continue her lab work. Thus her environmental consciousness brings a positive change in her life. Dellarobia’s personal development creates a selfidentity within her which freed her from the clutches of the patriarchal system in society.
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In short, Flight Behavior succeeds so emphatically because Dellarobia is every human, and every corner of her world becomes accessible through her. While the author’s warning of impending climate-driven calamity is blatantly obvious throughout the novel, it is Dellarobia who translates complicated global scientific concepts into local, familiar terms that she and the reader can fully appreciate. It is Dellarobia who much more subtly demonstrates that in the shadow of the global changes that occupy our collective mind, small changes also occur all around us: children grow up, people we have underestimated surprise us, relationships strengthen or break down, people’s lives change direction, faith is lost or found. It is Dellarobia who shows us that appearances can be deceiving. It is Dellarobia we want to see success. And it is Dellarobia we miss when the story is ended. CONCLUSION Kingsolver has written one of the more thoughtful novels about the scientific, financial and psychological intricacies of climate change. And her ability to put these silent, breathtakingly beautiful butterflies at the center of this calamitous and noisy debate is nothing short of brilliant. “Flight Behavior” is just trying to illuminate the mysterious interplay of the natural world and our own conflicted hearts. Kingsolver’s time honoured talent for yoking the struggle and turmoil of man with the flux and beauty of nature is vividly drawn. She builds the final, dramatic scene of the chapter to a man/nature composition that is at once distilled and dynamic, serene and dramatic. Abundant, also, are Biblical allusions that reflect the community’s ethos. The clash of family, science, religion, media, politics, and environment takes Dellarobia on a quest beyond the emotional and intellectual borders she has
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known all her life, on a journey of discovery and transformation. Like a butterfly out of the cocoon, she must follow the path of her future. Kingsolver leaves us with the most important question of all: what was the use of saving a world that had no soul left in it? The interconnectedness of all nature’s creatures – and our true place in our own lives and in the lives of the universe – is a message that lives on in this reader’s mind long after the last page is closed. WORKS CITED Gaard, Greta Claire. Ecofeminism: Women, Animals, Nature. Philadelphia: Temple UP, (1993), Print. Kingsolver, Barbara. Flight Behavior. New York: Harper Perennial, (2012). Print. Taylor, Paul W. The Ethics of Respect for Nature. Environmental Ethics. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, (1986), Print. Vaughan, Llewellyn. “Eco-spirituality: Towards a Values-based Economic Structure.” The Guardian. 17May 2013. Web 11 March, 2015. (http://www. motherjones. com/blue-marbl... ) Retrieved on 23. 09. 2016 (http://climate. nasa. gov/scientific-co... ) Retrieved on 30. 09. 2016
12 “Not a drop of water, nor a blade of grass:” Reading Haruki Murakami’s Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage as a Postmodern Ecological Text Minakshi Prasad Mishra
When Cheryl Glotfelty defined ecocriticism as a connective tool between literary aesthetics and the physical environment, it gave rise to a great tide of ecocritical readings of contemporary literary works. Many works of literary art from the past and contemporary times were looked upon from an ecocritical viewpoint. However, Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami offers new challenges to an ecologically conscious reader in his 2013 novel Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (henceforth Tsukuru Tazaki). A very subtle and ingenious user of environment as a subtext in his literary creations is the very popular and much decorated Haruki Murakami. In his Kafkaesque literary landscapes, Murakami reiterates the queer emptiness of human life in the face of a decaying physical, mental and psychological landscape. A sense of loss and a general atmosphere of paleness, one that resonates the growing global concerns regarding the planet’s environment, prevail in Tsukuru Tazaki. This paper focuses on the use of postmodern narrative
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techniques in Tsukuru Tazaki to attempt an ecocritical reading of the said text. The intention is to establish a connection between everyday life and environmental concerns through Murakami’s literary imagination in Tsukuru Tazaki. For the said purpose, this paper shall draw from the theories of postmodernism and ecocriticism. Harumi Murakami’s first book of fiction titled Hear the Wind Sing appeared in the year 1979. He shot into international prominence in 1987 with his very popular book Norwegian Wood. This work was followed by more works of fiction and nonfiction such as The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Kafka on the Shore, Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche, After the Quake: Stories, and 1Q84. Hailed as a master craftsman of postmodern language in his textual productions, Murakami has won many literary awards and recognitions for his astoundingly imaginative fiction and equally gripping nonfiction. Murakami’s literary landscape deals with themes as wide and varied as our contemporary postmodern world. Murakami’s impact on the readers of his work is such that they wait with baited breath the release of his new books, sometimes for weeks in queue in front of bookstores in Japan and even in the United States; such is the admiration for this author in his home country and abroad. Death looms large over Murakami’s fictional landscape. In his often eerie, Kafkaesque portrayal of Japan and its cities, the author offers the reading audience a voice of concern, intermingled with sadness for the isolated existence of human life in the postmodern times. As Mathew Strecher rightly points out in his article “The 10 best Haruki Murakami Books”: “His heroes routinely journey into a metaphysical realm – the unconscious, the dreamscape, the land of the dead – to examine directly their memories of people and objects they have lost.”
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(Strechern. n.pag.) Fragmented memories, bizarre hallucinations, a definite fluidity in the narrative in terms of overlapping dreams and realities, a deep and strange sense of loss continually experienced by the central characters, fantasy intermingling with science fiction, the sheer banality of sexual encounters, are some of the recurring themes in Murakami’s fictional art. These collective experiences addressed in Murakami’s writings resonate with the postmodern condition of humankind irrespective of their race, creed, gender or nationality. Many of these themes are likely to unsettle the usual reader of popular fiction seeking quick solutions and straightforward plots in a text. Yet, Murakami has been a phenomenal success in Japan and the United States owing to his novels. On the contrary, Murakami’s fictional work is every so often categorized as glossy, garrulous, and frothy by many Japanese and international critics. He is repeatedly criticized as one writing for the American audience rather than the Japanese. His works of fiction have often been dismissed as nothing more than garbage. Dreux Richard In his article “Why Haruki Murakami should not receive the Nobel Prize for Literature” in Japan Today mentions: Murakami, rightly dubbed “a pornographer of depression,” produces stylized stultifications of the spirit, as rich in lassitude as they are in quaffable prose. Many of Japan’s foremost literary critics (Kojin Karatani and Yoichi Komori included) have faulted Murakami’s writing for its shallow, self-indulgent gloss on history and trauma. (Richard, n. pag).
In such a scenario, this paper intends to study Murakami’s fictional art, with reference to his 2013 novel Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (Henceforth Tsukuru Tazaki) from a completely new perspective, i. e., an ecocritical perspective. Murakami has touched upon the themes of climate
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change, environmental safety, and human survival in many of his fictions and non-fictions. However, this aspect of Murakami’s fiction has not yet been fully tapped by the literary critic. This paper is an unpretentious attempt to investigate and present the traces of ecological concern in the text Tsukuru Tazaki. For those uninitiated to the movement called ecocriticism, Cheryl Glotfelty in her position paper on ecocriticism presented in the 1994 Western Literature Association Meeting defines it thus: Simply defined, ecocriticism is the study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment. Just as feminist criticism examines language and literature from a gender-conscious perspective, and Marxist criticism brings an awareness of modes of production and economic class to its reading of texts, ecocriticism takes an earth-centred approach to literary studies. (Glotfeltyn. n. pag.)
Coming back to the text under discussion, Tsukuru Tazaki is the story of the protagonist by the same name. Tsukuru was friends with four other children, two boys and two girls, in school. They all belonged to “suburban, upper-middle-class families” whose parents were “baby boomers” and spent great amounts of money on their education (Murakami 5). Tsukuru was the colorless one among the group. To quote from the text: “The two boys’ last names were Akamatsu – which means ‘red pine’ – and Oumi – blue sea; the girls’ family names were Shirane – ‘White root’ – and Kurono – ‘black field.’ Tazaki was the only last name that did not have a color in its meaning. From the very beginning this fact made him feel a little bit left out” (Murakami 6). If experimented from an ecocritical perspective, the aforementioned paragraph indisputably gains layers of meaning
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as in a characteristic postmodern piece of writing. Firstly, it refers to the seeking for and the failure of Tsukuru in getting a sense of community through an interpretation of the family names of his core group of friends. Secondly, it refers to the lack of a ‘natural element’ in Tsukuru that would make him feel at home and not ‘left out’ as he admits he did, unlike his friends who are connected to nature through their family names. Tazaki means ‘many pennisulas.’ What does this signify for the character in the text? It probably means that Tsukuru’s balances in life and his relationships with people inside and outside his circle will be determined not by natural colour but by some ‘artificial’ element. Two pages later in the text, Tsukuru declares his penchant for train stations, not flowers, trees, or mountains, not even people, but train stations. Interestingly, he himself thinks it is ‘weird’ (Murakami 11) but nevertheless proclaims his love for train stations in no uncertain terms. To quote from the text: He loved to watch as the trains passed by the station, or slowed down as they pulled up to the platform. He could picture the passengers coming and going, the announcements on the speaker system, the ringing of the signal as a train was about to depart, the station employees briskly going about their duties. (Murakami 11)
Murakami comments on the hollowness of the cityscape through Tsukuru’s experience of Tokyo. The author associates the emptiness Tsukuru feels day in and day out in Tokyo with climate change and a potentially dangerous role reversal between the human and the animal worlds. The author seems to suggest that the so-called technological progress, after all, may not be any help when we run out of natural resources such as water, sunlight, land, and greenery. As Tsukuru reaches middle age, his memory of a sudden, unceremonious expulsion from his group of five friends becomes more and more acutely vivid. He struggles to come to terms with this profound sense of loss by
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staying more and more in his workplace Tokyo and avoiding visits to his home town Nagoya. In Tokyo, however, Tsukuru felt ‘at death’s door,’ ‘on the rim of a dark abyss’ (Murakami 33). An apocalyptic landscape is much closer to reality that we incline to imagine, if we underplay climate change, is what Murakami seems to emphasize in this particular passage depicting Tokyo in the text: All around him, for as far as he could see, lay a rough land strewn with rocks, with not a drop of water, nor a blade of grass. Colorless, with no light to speak of. No sun, no moon or stars. No sense of direction, either. At a set time, a mysterious twilight and a bottomless darkness merely exchanged places. A remote border on the edges of consciousness. At the same time, it was a place of strange abundance. At twilight birds with razor-sharp beaks came to relentlessly scoop out his flesh. But as darkness covered the land, the birds would fly off somewhere, and that land would silently fill in the gaps in his flesh with something else, some other indeterminate material. (Murakami 33)
This sterility in the physical landscape of Tokyo also resonates in the changing body of Tsukuru as he continues to live “on the verge of death” with an “old man’s body” (Murakami 36). There are many instances in the text that hint at the ‘non-living’ qualities of Tsukuru, signifying the barrenness of both the city as well as Tsukuru himself and leading the reader to wonder if Tsukuru is more nonhuman than human, some kind of a robot. As Tsukuru would tell the reader, Tsukuru Tazaki, but it wasn’t actually him. It was merely a container that, for the sake of convenience, was labeled with the same name – but its contents had been replaced… (32) And what stood here now, breathing, was a brand-new Tsukuru Tazaki, one whose substance had been totally replaced (Murakami 42).
The use of the term ‘brand-new’ is unusual for a human and commonplace for a material object such as a car or a house. The author, through the use of the word ‘brand new’ for his
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central character in Tsukuru Tazaki thus seems to underline the mechanical lives led in this ecologically devastating postmodern era. This also ensures that Tsukuru does not become a caricature of postmodern life conditions. As Amanda Lewis rightly warns: By showing again and again that the personal takes literary precedence over the political, Murakami responds to his critics, identifies the origins of his former apathy, and suggests that reducing any population to an “essence” or a “model” is not only foolish but dangerous. (Lewisn. n. pag.)
One of the primary concerns of eco-activists around the world has been to make people aware of the increasing possibility of a barren earth because of human beings’ reckless consumption of its resources. The theme of sterility and infertility thus runs throughout the text to bring home this point. In one of his most intimate encounters with Sara, the older woman whom he dates and connects to at a certain level, Sara being the one who encourages him to find an answer to his sudden expulsion from his group of friends and thus survive an untimely demise, Tsukuru fails to penetrate the woman, his penis becoming as lifeless as the city while he is still in bed with her. While Sara offers hope for continuity of life, Tsukuru’s inability to penetrate her at a vital time reinforces the bleakness of an infertile future. In an earlier relationship that Tsukuru had with another woman who was already betrothed to her ‘childhood sweetheart’ when she ‘lived’ with Tsukuru, a different aspect of infertility was underscored in the text. Tsukuru could ‘come freely inside her’ because ‘she was on the pill,’ (Murakami 108) thus ensuring that nothing could be ‘made’ or ‘created’ by their sexual encounter. Shiro, Tsukuru’s childhood friend who dies a mutilated and mysterious death also experiences this pertinent infertility. Tsukuru’s vast sense of loss somehow originates from Shiro’s death, an event he was not even aware happened a long time back. While the author does not tell the
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reader the exact cause or occurrence of her anomalous death, he does drop a broad hint in her abortion resulting from a pregnancy that was equally odd. When Tsukuru comes to know from Eri, the other girl in the group of five friends, of Shiro’s rape, which Shiro accused Tsukuru committed, the consequent pregnancy and abortion, the emptiness that he had felt all through his life while is at last addressed. Shiro dies because she could never kill a living thing. Shiro is thus likened to mother earth who would eventually die a terrible, inexplicable death if we humans do not find the reasons behind her distress and check them right away. Furthermore, in his inability to ‘create’ Tsukuru is thus equated to the barren landscape of the city in particular and the world in general. Murakami cleverly negates the generic perception of material progress as an act of creation through the portrayal of Tsukuru’s father. Toshio Tazaki, Tsukuru’s father, bore a name that meant ‘man who profits,’ and had “gone from poverty to a distinguished career, had devoted himself to the real estate business and ridden the era of high growth in Japan to brilliant success, then suffered from lung cancer and died at age sixty four” (Murakami 50). But he was a man who was “far removed from anything having to do with making things” (Murakami 48). In the portrayal of Toshio who as a real estate businessman creates ‘nothing’, Murakami highlights the futility of material progress, a symbol of which is the construction of tall buildings scattered all over cities around the globe, including Tokyo. To quote Urshula K. Heise from her article titled “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Ecocriticism” in this context: Environmentalism and ecocriticism aim their critique of modernity at its presumption to know the natural world scientifically, to manipulate it technologically and exploit it economically, and thereby ultimately to create a human sphere apart from it in a historical process that is usually labelled ‘progress.’ … Such domination
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empties human life of the significance it has derived from living in and with nature and alienates individuals and communities from their rootedness in place. (Keise 507)
Toshio’s somewhat early death owing to ‘lung cancer’ reinforces the prices humans have to pay for so-called material prosperity. Paradoxically, Japan has a reputation of having a mostly elderly population with hundreds of thousands of octogenarians and centenarians. However, as has been discussed earlier in this paper, Murakami concerns himself more with the globe than just Japan. Another important theme that reverberates in the text is the peculiar trend of technology gripping our everyday lives. While Tsukuru would like to believe that he might have a future with Sara, they do not even know each other’s whereabouts at a given point of time, owing to our over-dependence on technology to communicate. To quote from the text: “Five days after they’d talked in the bar in Ebisu, Tsukuru emailed Sara from his computer, inviting her to dinner. Her reply came from Singapore. I’ll be back in Japan in two days,’ she wrote” (Murakami 79). In another instance from the text, Murakami comments on the contemporary trend of taking photographs of every single person we meet and occasions we celebrate. It is as if our life is no more than a series of photographs. When Tsukuru boards the plane for Finland to meet Eri and find answers to his unsettled feelings, he thinks of the pointlessness of photographs. To quote from the text: “He didn’t even take a camera. What good were photos? What he was seeking was an actual person, and actual words.” (Murakami 197) It is in finally understanding the uselessness of material progress and making peace with his inner self that Tsukuru comes home to himself, that he regains his fertility. As Eri tells him:
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Let’s say you are an empty vessel. So what? What’s wrong with that? You’re still a wonderful, attractive vessel. … So why not be a completely beautiful vessel? The kind people want to entrust with precious belongings. (Murakami 260)
Now that he will be able to hold things in himself, win peoples’ trust, and ‘build’ ‘fantastic stations,’ Tsukuru will no more feel colorless. He is now a ‘wonderful, colorful person’ (Murakami 264). Looking at the text from an ecocritical perspective, one realizes that Murakami very subtly reiterates the fragility of human existence in an era when climate change is no more limited to scholarly conference and scientific debates. Not much unlike Tsukuru Tazaki who fights the demons in his mindscape and outside it, all of us live in ever growing cities and towns where the resources are scanty and population is burgeoning. Like Tsukuru, one commutes to work by bikes, buses, cars, trains and such like. Like Tsukuru who loses his father to cancer, one has experienced a loved one fight cancer and sometime lose the battle. At times, one has looked at the cityscape and silently brooded over the signs of ‘progress’ evident in that new building in the neighbourhood. The hollowness that Tsukuru experiences in the text has been a part and parcel of the contemporary human existence. This is the magnificence of Murakami’s fictional art as he successfully connects global environmental concerns with everyday life. WORKS CITED Heise, Urshula K. “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Ecocriticism.” PMLA 121. 2 (2006):503-516. Web. 15 September 2016. Glotfelty, Cheryll. “What is Ecocriticism?” Defining Ecocritical Theory and Practice: Sixteen Position Papers from the 1994 Western Literature Association Meeting. Salt Lake City, 1994. Web. 21 October 2016.
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Lewis, Amanda. “The Essence of the Japanese Mind: Haruki Murakami and the Nobel Prize.” 18 October 2013. Web. 30 October 2016. Murakami, Haruki. After the Quake: Stories. Translated by Jay Rubin. London: Vintage, 2003. Print ......... Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. Translated by Philip Gabriel. London: Vintage, 2013. Print. ......... Hear the Wind Sing. Translated by Alfred Birbaum. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1979. Print. ......... Kafka on the Shore. London: Vintage, 2006. Print. ......... Norwegian Wood. Translated by Alfred Birnbaum, 1989; authorized 2nd trans. Jay Rubin. London: Vintage, 2000. Print. ......... The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Translated by Jay Rubin. London: Vintage, 1998. Print. ......... 1Q84. Translated by Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel. London and New York: Vintage, 2013. Print. ......... Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche (2003). Translated by Alfred Birbaum and Philip Gabriel. London: Vintage. 2001. Print. Richard, Dreux. “Why Haruki Murakami should not receive the Nobel Prize for Literature” in Japan Today. 10 October 2012. Web. 17 October 2016. Strecher, Mathew. “The 10 best Haruki Murakami Books.” In Publisher Weekly. 8 August 2014. Web. 10 September 2016.
13 Dire Consequences of the Fall of an Ecosystem: A Critique on Helon Habila’s Oil On Water Ramesh K. G., James Joseph & P. C. Roy
In one of the many versions of the speech attributed to the Red Indian tribal leader and warrior of the American Northwest, Chief Seattle, it is stated: This we know: the earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the Earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. (106-107)
In the wake of rising anthropocentrism, the tribal chief warns the white chief in Washington of the consequences of Euro-American’s malevolent intrusions into the web of life. The world view that Chief Seattle shares through his speech is apparently ecocentric. In the Anthropocene – the age of man – materialistic human beings lack this awareness. Perceiving this, the Norwegian Philosopher Arne Naess founded a philosophical school/movement called “deep ecology” in the early 1970s and distinguished it from the prevailing human-centered “shallow
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ecology”. In his text The Web of Life, Capra differentiates these two terms: Shallow ecology is anthropocentric, or human-centered. It views humans as above or outside of nature, as the source of all value, and ascribes only instrumental, or “use,” value to nature. Deep ecology does not separate humans – or anything else – from the natural environment. It sees the world not as a collection of isolated objects, but as a network of phenomena that are fundamentally interconnected and interdependent. Deep ecology recognizes the intrinsic value of all living beings and views humans as just one particular strand in the web of life. (7)
A paradigm shift from shallow ecology to deep ecology is the need of the hour. Nigerian writer Helon Habila’s third novel Oil on Water depicts how the neocolonial capitalistic Western invasion into the Niger Delta has devastated its unique ecosystem, and vivaciously pleads for a paradigm shift. The study is an attempt to analyse the dire consequences of the fall of the ecosystem of the Niger Delta. The Niger Delta, well-known for its astounding biodiversity, has no equal in West Africa as it is the most extensive lowland forest and aquatic ecosystem there. The Niger River has turned the area into a complex ecosystem with numerous streams, creeks and swamps. The region is gifted with fertile land, fish resources and surprisingly generous oil and gas deposits. However, these immense resource endowments act a curse upon the Delta and its people. The abundant oil and gas deposits have attracted European multinational companies into the Delta and their tie-up with the corrupt Nigerian political system has led to the disruption of the fragile ecosystem there. Once, the Delta was a dynamic and self-balancing ecosystem. But the unbridled and profiteering human invasion has upset the ecological balance of the Delta.
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Along with the environment of the Delta, the federal government of Nigeria neglects the natives of the Delta too. They have no right over the abundant natural resources of their land. The constitution has conferred all oil mineral rights upon the federal government and the National Assembly holds the power to make laws regarding the allocation of revenue from the natural resources. The income from the oil wells of Niger Delta constitutes about 80% of Nigeria’s total revenue. In spite of this immense oil wealth, the villages in the Delta are poverty stricken and underdeveloped. In his text Oil Thefts and Pipeline Vandalization in Nigeria, Patrick Edobor Igbinovia says: ... oil producing states of Nigeria have benefitted the least from oil wealth; the minority ethnic groups in the oil bearing Niger Delta receive less revenue from the government, and the federal government is mainly controlled and dominated by the major ethnic groups of Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo who gain more. The region... also experiences the highest flaring rate and devastation and ecological damage in the world. (33)
Moreover, frequent oil spillages and perpetual gas flares have polluted the land, water and air of the Delta putting the farming and fishing communities of the region in peril. Many communities of the Delta have abandoned their villages in search of better places. But some frustrated belligerent men of the Delta have opted for an armed resistance. As a result, the Niger Delta has witnessed the birth of militancy. The guerrillas of the region claim that they want to protect the environment of the Delta from the indifferent government and the greedy multinationals. In order to sustain the protest, the militants kidnap foreigners for ransom. The poor natives of the Delta are caught between the military and the militants. The Delta is often a war zone and fear is the constant companion of the natives. All these grave issues are portrayed in Helon Habila’s novel Oil on Water.
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Most of the action of the novel unfolds against the backdrop of the Niger Delta. When the novel opens, two journalists – the veteran Zaq, and young and diligent Rufus – are on a mission. They are travelling through the oil-rich regions of Niger Delta to ensure that the kidnapped wife of a big shot British oil engineer is alive, and to mediate negotiations, if necessary. Rufus is the first person narrator and major focalizer of the novel. His perspective sheds light on the predicaments of the Delta and its people. The readers witness the disturbing glimpses of the polluted Delta in the opening pages of the novel. Rufus says: “Soon we were in a dense mangrove swamp; the water underneath us had turned foul and sulphurous.... We followed a bend in the river and in front of us we saw dead birds draped over tree branches, their outstretched wings black and slick with oil; dead fishes bobbed white-bellied between tree roots” (9). The government and the multinationals are blinded by petrodollars. With the consent of the corrupt government, oil companies conquer villages and turn them into oil wells. They are not bothered about the pollution of the Delta and its repercussions. The rise of toxicity in the water and the diminishing stocks of fish in the river force the villagers to leave their original habitats. They wander through the Delta in search of uncontaminated places where fishing is possible. During their journey through the vast godforsaken Delta, Rufus and Zaq encounter many abandoned villages. Rufus says: The next village was almost a replica of the last: the same empty squat dwellings, the same ripe and flagrant stench, the barrenness, the oil slick, and the same indefinable sadness in the air, as if a community of ghosts were suspended above the punctured zinc roofs, unwilling to depart, yet powerless to return. In the village centre we found the communal well. Eager for a drink, I bent under the wet, mossy pivotal beam and peered into the well’s blackness, but a rank smell wafted from its hot depths and slapped my face; I reeled away, my head aching from the encounter. Something organic,
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perhaps human, lay dead and decomposing down there, its stench mixed with that unmistakable smell of the oil. (9)
Foreign oil companies squeeze the land of the indigenous people until they extract the last drop of the oil from it and make huge profit. The income from the oil wells of the Delta is the backbone of Nigerian economy. Without this income the nation can’t endure. However, the companies and the government do nothing to keep the Delta alive. In reality, they are trying to kill the goose that lays golden eggs. Addicted to the luxuries of the petrodollars, the corrupt politicians and the government of Nigeria stand not for the people of the Delta, but for the multinationals. Helon Habila illustrates this sad reality throughout his novel. One night, Chief Ibiram, the head of a village hosts Rufus and Zaq. On Zaq’s request, he narrates the story of his community’s descend from the paradise. Under the leadership of Chief Malabo, they had their golden days in a village close to Yellow Island. The village was their ancestral land where their fathers and their forefathers were buried. The land and the streams around them offered everything that they were in need of. Nothing was lacking and they were happy with their traditional occupations like hunting, farming and fishing. Then, the executives from the oil company started visiting their village. They were accompanied by some important politicians. They demanded the whole village in exchange of money. They had already lured the men of neighbouring villages by gifting cheap cars, televisions and DVD players. But Chief Malabo was a man of reason and he didn’t succumb to their persuasion. But, later, the soldiers arrested Chief Malabo on false charges and he died in their custody. The following week, even before Chief Malabo had been buried, the oil companies moved in. They came with a whole army, waving guns and looking like they meant business. They had a contract, they said,
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Chief Malabo had signed it in prison before he died, selling them all his family land, and that was where they’d start drilling, and whoever wanted to join him and sell his land would be paid handsomely, but the longer the people held out, the more the value of their land would fall. (40)
The villagers had no option and therefore they sold their land to the company. Some of them, including Chief Ibiram, didn’t take money from the company because selling land for money wasn’t part of their culture. After leaving their village, their paradise, they were forced to shift from place to place in search of peace. Chief Ibiram’s story accounts for the birth of militancy in the region. The landscape of the Delta is strewn with gas flares that spit orange fire relentlessly. During his days in the Delta, Rufus meets a doctor called Dr. Dagogo-Mark. He speaks in detail about the dangers of the gas flares. Five years ago, he was posted to a small village in the Delta. The villagers were ignorant about the ill-effects of the flare and therefore, when they got their mysterious orange fire at the edge of the village, they feasted for weeks. The orange fire was there throughout the night and hence candles and lamps were unnecessary. The villagers always gathered under the flare for various purposes and the flare soon became the village square. The doctor says: Well, I did my duty as their doctor. I told them of the dangers that accompany that quenchless flare, but they wouldn’t listen. And then a year later, when the livestock began to die, and the plants began to wither on their stalks, I took samples of the drinking water and in my lab I measured the level of toxins in it: it was rising, steadily. In one year it had grown to almost twice the safe level. Of course the people didn’t listen, they were still in thrall to the orange glare.... When people started dying, I took blood samples and recorded the toxins in them, and this time I sent my results to the government. They thanked me and dumped the results in some filing cabinet. More people died and I sent my results to NGOs and international
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organizations, which published them in international journals and urged the government to do something about the flares, but nothing happened. More people fell sick, a lot died.... Almost overnight I watched the whole village disappear, just like that. (93)
Thus, the government is apathetic to the plight of the inhabitants of the Delta. The frustrated doctor laments that the region needs more gravediggers than doctors. In order to multiply profit, multinationals use equipments and pipelines of cheap quality, and it causes frequent oil spillages and oil blowouts. Therefore, the land, water and air of the Niger Delta are polluted. This pollution has affected the traditional occupations of the region such as agriculture and farming. Thus, thousands of people have lost their livelihoods. In order to survive, many people engage in illegal oil bunkering and the nation loses about 180,000 barrels of oil per day. To steal oil, thieves vandalize pipelines. When Rufus meets the reputed British oil engineer Mr. James Floode, the latter complains that his company’s pipelines are vandalized daily. The company loses millions to repair it. But Rufus justifies the natives. He says that the pipelines have brought nothing but suffering to their lives. The pipelines leak into the rivers and wells, killing the fish and poisoning the farmland. He says: “These people endure the worst conditions of any oil-producing community on earth, the government knows it but doesn’t have the will to stop it, the oil companies know it, but because the government doesn’t care, they also don’t care. And you think the people are corrupt? No. They are just hungry, and tired” (108). However, oil bunkering and pipeline sabotage add very much to the pollution of the environment. In their text Where Vultures Feast: Shell, Human Rights, and Oil in the Niger Delta, Ike Okonta and Oronto Douglas state: “Oil is the stuff of contemporary Nigerian politics, and the Niger
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Delta is the field on which the vicious battle to control this money spinner is waged” (21). Communities of the Niger Delta have suffered severely on account of oil wars. Both the military and paramilitary forces are equally harmful. Due to their intense urge to survive, the natives pretend that they are deaf, dumb, and blind. The callous fight between the military and the guerrillas destroys the environment too. When they move through the Delta, the journalists witness a burning island. Rufus says: We passed the first island and as we approached the second one we saw a fire burning on the beach, right by the water. At first we took it for some kind of beacon signal meant for us, but as we got nearer and could see past the trees, more fires appeared and they were random and out of control. The whole island was aflame. (68)
This is the outcome of a fight between the military and the militants. Later, when the soldiers recognize that there are some rebels in the Irikefe Island, they shower the island with bullets and bombs. They care neither about the ordinary innocent citizens nor about the environment of the Delta. Budding Nigerian journalist Rufus’ journey through the devastated Niger Delta has been a journey of revelations. During his spell in the Delta he meets the natives, the soldiers, the militants and priests. He hears their perspectives, and he observes the miserable existence of the Delta and its people. Finally he meets the hostage, Isabel Floode, and interviews her. The militants send him back to Port Harcourt to convey their message to Isabel’s husband. He accomplishes his mission. However, after an eventful journey, when Rufus returns to Port Harcourt, he is alone. His mentor Zaq is no more with him. During their days in the Delta, Zaq gets affected by a disease somewhat similar to dengue fever. The doctor says: “Somewhere in these godforsaken waters, that’s where he must
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have picked it up. There’re plenty of bugs flourishing here” (90). The doctor knows no remedy for this unidentified disease and Zaq takes his last breath in the Delta. Thus, the novel makes it clear that the millions of people living in the Delta form a deprived class. They are the victims of greedy outsiders and it has been so for centuries. Ike Okonta and Oronto Douglas point out: It is generally assumed that the exploitation of the peoples of the Niger Delta and the devastation of their environment began when crude oil was discovered in the area by Royal Dutch Shell in 1956. The truth is that Europe’s plunder of the Delta, and indeed the entire environment, dates much further back, to 1444, when the Portuguese adventurer and former tax collector, Lancarote de Freitas, sailed to the West African coast and stole 235 men and women whom he later sold as slaves. De Freitas’s trip was to trigger the Atlantic slave trade, which, before it was displaced by the trade in palm oil in the 1840s, saw several million able-bodied young men and women taken from the Delta and its hinterland and shipped to the plantations of North America, South America, and the West Indies. (6)
Militancy and concomitant violence are the outcome of this persistent exploitation. Brutal military invasions into the delta can’t stop militancy. The government should sympathetically consider the predicament of the communities of the Delta and should develop sustainable solutions. Of course, militancy is the offshoot of the dissatisfaction of the natives of the Delta and this dissatisfaction in turn is the product of the hardships that they face due to the devastation of their environment. Keeping the Niger Delta clean, fertile and unpolluted is the best solution and then peace will ensue. WORKS CITED Capra, Fritjof. The Web of Life. New York: Doubleday Publishers, 1996. Print.
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Habila, Helon. Oil on Water. 2010. London: Penguin Books, 2011. Print. Igbinovia, Patrick Edobor. Oil Thefts and Pipeline Vandalization in Nigeria. Ibadan: Safari Books Ltd, 2014. Print. Okonta, Ike, and Oronto Douglas. Where Vultures Feast: Shell, Human Rights, and Oil in the Niger Delta. 2001. London: Verso, 2003. Print. Seattle, Chief. English in Social Dimensions: Prose Readings on Indian Constitution, Secularism and Sustainable Environment. Ed. Sekhar, Poornima. New Delhi: Macmillan, 2010. 104- 108. Print.
14 Environmental Scatology in Eni-Jologho Umuko’s The Scent of Crude Oil Ajumeze Henry Obi
Born in the city of Warri in 1955, Eni Jologho Umuko was a veteran stage director whose works beginning from the 1980s helped define and birth the consciousness of the second generation theatre identity in Nigeria. He holds a BA in English/Dramatic Arts from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and MA in Theatre Arts, University of Ibadan. Thereafter he returned to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where his famed directorial detail earned him a legendary status – a status that derives greatly from his exploration of ritual movements in indigenous performance paradigms. He taught at the University of Nsukka between 1986 and 1993 before requesting a transfer to Delta State University, so as to be “closer home and to help the new Performing Arts in my state University grow”*. This movement could be apprehended as indicative of a certain PanDelta consciousness which, upon resignation from the university in 2003, ultimately led him “into the murky waters of politics” in his home state of Delta. Two years after in 2005, Umuko left party politics to join Sullivan and Sullivan Consulting in Port Harcourt as Director of Communication where he was * Forward, The Scent of Crude Oil (2010): 9
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instrumental in the facilitation of the communication campaign for Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) by touring oil-producing communities with drama skits that targeted the Delta youths with policy directives on sustainable development of the oil-ravaged regions. The play, The Scent of Crude Oil, is a product of the playwright’s agitprop campaigns during this period. Set in Esidi, a fictional community in the waters and creeks of the Niger Delta – the play nonetheless makes significant references to the sprawling city of Warri, a commercial centre in the Delta State of Nigeria – a reference that enables the narrative reflects on the neighbouring towns and villages in a manner that makes categorical economic and social survival of inter-community relations. Writing in the essay, “Survival Strategies and Citizenship Claims: Youth and the Underground Oil Economy in Post-Amnesty Niger Delta”, Paul Ugor argues that post-Amnesty Niger Delta, regardless of an atmosphere of industrial peace, has changed nothing in the prolonged culture of economic and political marginalization of the region, rather perpetuating the system that reproduces persistent poverty, unemployment and chronic under-development (189). He suggests that this kind of condition has triggered a response from young people in which they invent alternative strategy of negotiating survival, by turning “to the same industry and local resources responsible for their abjection – crude oil – to find answers to the everyday social and economic hardships confronting them and their families.” (190). As Ugor informs, the youth involvement in underground economy has global and national implications. At the global level it fractures the Nigerian chain of crude oil supply at the international oil market, while its national effect portends a threat to the accrual of economic rent which the Nigerian state earns from the transnational oil
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corporation. Putting young people in the centre of struggles against egregious neglect by multinational oil companies in conjunction with the Nigerian state government, The Scent of Crude Oil interrogates these conditions in a way that invokes what Philip Glahn phrases as “simplification of Brechtian aesthetics into a reproduction of modernist binaries” (224). The play consolidates on the question of unemployment among the youths of the Niger Delta in the kind of carbon economy that is visited on the region since crude oil was discovered in the region at the town of Oloibiri in 1958, revolving around an eloquent character, Tafa, through whom the playwright insists on the moral capital of youth politics in the region. Typical of literatures of oil modernity Niger Delta, the play emphasizes the transformation of power from the chieftaincy systems to the politics of the youths, showing how the youths assume power by turning to militancy that is calibrated through recourse to the underground oil economy. In considering questions of power transformation, it is significant that the play opens with the election into the Youth Executive Council of Esidi Community on which basis the story offers insight into two categories of young people that accounts for their response to the condition of politico-economic neglect in the region. It is an election that, at the community level, sought to invest the youths with self-affirming responsibility in the campaign for positive development of the oil-producing communities. On the one hand, is the educated group of youths whose manifesto reflects the Saro-Wiwian non-violent strategy in engaging with the conflicts in the region. The group which includes Tafa, Sodinye and Amparo, all unemployed university graduates, presents a manifesto in which the God-given natural resources “will be equitably distributed among all Esidi people” (15).
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On the other hand, is the heady gang, comprising of Jugunu, Maku-maku, Aluta and Pelele, mostly school drop-outs, whose representation of terror points to the peculiar condition of youth restiveness across oil producing communities in Nigeria. Fielding Tafa and Maku-maku for the election, the groups illustrate a sense of dialectics in the Niger Delta question, of Tafa’s ideological manifesto of environmental sustainability and Maku-maku’s claim that “I don’t have manifesto”, representing a dramatic conflict between progressive forces and brute force of crude violent strategy. During the election which ends in a fiasco, Maku-maku’s claim of victory signifies the rein of violent exhibitionism in the Delta, and echoes Michael Watts description of the “militant armed with the ubiquitous Kalashnikov, the typewriter of the illiterate” (“Blood Oil” 62). Because in brandishing AK-47, pistol and shotgun, and firing shots into the air to scare the community of voters, the illiterate gang rigs the election to continue the reign of terror as the paradigm of youth politics. Thus, though Tafa’s group retreats to re-strategize, Jugunu, Maku-Maku, Alua and Pelele form a quartet of militancy and thuggery that reduces the community to a camp of oil bunkering, kidnapping and extortion. In fact, the axis of their underground activity oscillates between kidnapping of expatriate oil workers and bunkering of crude oil – what Ugor describes as “micro’ individual strivings in everyday life” (187) of young people in the Delta which they invent as a survival strategy. Considering oil bunkering as more dangerous, the group starts with kidnapping and hostage-taking, targeting “one white man” that works in an “oil servicing company”. Kidnapping appears an easy task in which the gang demands a ransom of 50 Million Naira; but after four days with no response from the company, in the course of which the hostage ekes a decent living of food and sex, the gang begins to question exercise.
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Given that membership of the gang is constitutive of the unschooled section of the youth group who are unable to handle the often complex and formal process of negotiating ransom payment, Tafa’s considered invitation into the scheme is premised on helping to draft a letter to the company of the hostage. But still smarting from the disruption of the election – what he calls “brazen robbery of my mandate by this gang of four” – Tafa finds a timely opportunity to extract vengeance from the gang. It soon becomes apparent that the non-response of the oil company is because Tafa has swapped the gang’s instruction; staging a smokescreen by posting a letter to the company in which he felicitated over an unrelated matter of scholarship, which beguiles the gang into an endless waiting game. Distressed about what they thought is the indifference of the oil company, the gang plots to kill the hostage to atone for their wasted resources – as Aluta puts it, “we go kpai this yeye oyibo man wey e dey use him position as hostage to sleep with our woman and our sister free of charge” (72). But while the gang is attending a town’s meeting with representatives of Shell Petroleum over community development, the hostage escapes to safety through the window. His appearance at the town hall presents a turning point in the narrative – it turns out that the captive, whose real name is Obobo, is a mullato son of an Esidi woman that eloped many years ago with an Italian expatriate oil worker, a hint at one of the conterminous social consequences into which Niger Delta women are drawn. But it significantly highlights the naivety of the gang in the course of which the three chiefs of the community found voice to excommunicate militants from the town. Disgraced and disempowered, the gang returns to the option of oil bunkering, another popular underground strategy in the economy of insurgency that involves mixing condensate
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fuel to produce kerosene for a growing black market. But news of this operation spreads to the community, prompting the plan to evacuate the townspeople to avert heavy consequences of pipeline fire disaster. While the community at large disagrees with the evacuation plan, pupils of the primary school are herded into a jetty to be moved to an orphanage in Warri as Tafa and the new youth leadership makes plan to alert the Joint Task Force. Information also leaks to the gang about the plot to arrest them in the middle of operation which prompts an immediate change of the original plot. As Maku-maku aptly explains it, “we go burst the pipe today and sell everything this night before we kpro. When dem Tafa come with JTF tomorrow night, dem no go see us arrest.” (100). But it turns out a long-drawn night of tragedy, not only for the crude oil bunkerers, but also the entire village because incessant gun shots from security operatives hit the pipelines, igniting flames of fire in the oil wells. Every living creature in the village – man and animal are roasted in the inferno. The survivors – who exited the village before the inferno – especially Tafa and his group – are now to embark on the task of rebuilding Esidi community. Dealing with the fraught issue of pipeline vandalisation in the Niger Delta, the play resonates with the histories of places and communities that are caught in fire disasters from crude oil spillages to which some of the characters constantly refer. In that sense, the story suffices as an enactment of the tragedy of place and communities that provide the spatial terms on which people understand their displacement and evacuation to other spaces of utopia and safety. It accords with what Kate Brown describes as the use of “particular place to explore the histories of communities and territories that have been silenced, broken, or contaminated” (2). In other words, the play deploys Esidi to understand other communities in the Niger Delta that have
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similar encounter with fire disaster, invoking the wreckage of those communities to present a cautionary tale of how oil bunkering can reduce a village to a charred pile of bodies. Looking at the history of place from the point of view of geographic particularity, Charles W. J. Withers writes that the modern world has become more hegemonised so that “One place is now much the same as another” (642). And drawing on Malpas and Sack, he argues that humans cannot construct anything without connection to place, without experiencing place, because meaning is primarily tied to phenomenon of place. According to him, “Place is primary because it is the experiential fact of our existence.” (645). The Esidi accident therefore offers a fictional resonance of the numerous fire disasters occurring across the Niger Delta, an experience of place that collapses the region into a homogenous petro-modern tragedy. From this point of view, what happened in Esidi speaks to the particularities of Jesse, Lagos and Ijala and Warri to the extent that the historisation of place becomes a way to capture the human dimension of the fire disasters. This is perhaps what Philip J. Ethington seems to suggest when he declares that “All human action takes and makes place” (465). What this reveals by extension is that accounts of the real life pipeline fire disasters – for example the much publicized Jesse fire outbreak in October 1998 – help one to understand the playwright’s imagination of the displacement of Esidi people and the youth politics that shapes the disaster. Aghovghovwia notes, for instance, that accounts of the Jesse fire disaster are fraught with conspiracy theories. On the one hand, what he describes as “the hypocrisy that underwrites the perspective from which the news is relayed” (163) by the western media that frames the incident as sabotage perpetrated by the Niger Delta youths. On the other hand, is the position that counters this claim which squares up the
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responsibility strictly on the corporate irresponsibility of the oil the companies in conjunction with the Nigerian government. In the play, one of the gang members, Aluta, lends credence to the politics implicit in the mainstream media reportage of fire disasters in the Niger Delta. His statement that “plenty fire accident we e dey happen for inside creeks here every day wey nobody announce or write for newspaper” hints at the culture of silence that attends environmental and human crisis related to petroleum exploration activities in the region. This kind of conspiratorial silence that makes truth invisible to the global community is comparable to the play’s dialectical fixation of youth politics in Esidi community. In creating a Brecthian dialecto-aesthetic delineation of Esidi youths into a binary category of development-craving, non-violent campaigners who are all university graduates and a violent gang of uneducated oil bunkerers, the play appears to silent an important voice in the Delta. It fails to account for the different shades of militarization in the region, and particularly undermines the process of what Temitope Orila describes as “kidnapability” – which is the cognitive sophistication with which white oil workers are othered and objectified by the militants in ways that highlight their phenotypical categories (4). Writing about MEND, one of the insurgent groups that operated between 2007 and 2009 in the Niger Delta, Morten Boas makes a similar argument by taking note of the shifting and overlapping roles of militarism: “[t]hey are conducting an armed political insurgency, but also operated as bandits – a rebellion in which the gun is mightier than the pen, but the latter still not completely dysfunctional as MEND also pays a great deal of attention to its verbal communication with the world” (66). Thus Umuko’s representation of Maku-maku and his gang – where they can neither write a letter to the oil company nor
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distinguish the identity of the hostage – suggests a way of fixing the truth in the Bakhtinian sense. In the Bakhtinian thinking, this paradigm of fixing truths by excluding other voices provokes a kind of violence to truth, where truth in this play seems to hold up the militants responsible for the inferno that consumed the town of Esidi. The confession of Palele, the only surviving member of the gang, supports this privileging of a “single language of truth” which collapses the different shades of the “military principalities” in the Delta. This strategy of exclusion is most resonant in spatial terms. It manifests in the tendency to exclude the camp in which the gang operates from the communal strictures of the narrative, that is from the social and political purvey of the Esidi village, a phenomenon that turns the camp into a typical space of exception. Once found culpable in the kidnap of Obobo, the community leader, Chief Huri-huri, not only strips the group of the status of youth leadership but also excommunicates them from the community. But on exiting the village, the gang returns to the camp from where they plot another act of insurgency – crude oil bunkering. Hence, though banned from the village by the local authority, the gang is able to operate from the camp in a manner that understands their relationship with the community in spatial terms. The camp becomes for the gang what Claudio Minca has described it, “a limbo, as an extraterritorial spatial container with a void at its core, a void in constant need of being filled” (76). Thus the youth of the Delta invent the camp as an operational base to fill a deep economic and political void of marginalization. It is therefore a site to which they are banished, and from where they plan insurgency, a certain paradox of power that marks the contradictions of living a life of exclusion and banishment. Taking a cue from Jean-Luc Nancy, Agamben discusses the idea of banishment and explains
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that it means “both exclusion from the community and the command” of authority. This explanation is relevant in how we understand the condition of Maku-maku’s group. As Agamben explains it, “[T]he relation of exception is a relation of ban. He who has been banned is not, in fact, simply set outside the law and made indifferent to it but rather abandoned by it,” (28-29). After the inferno, the atmosphere of the village designates a sense of urgency in the survivors and returnees to start the reconstruction of the town – an urgency that appears to underwrite the tragedy for which the reconstruction is needed. Tafa’s leadership enhances this mood of distance and indifference; “so let’s start digging while the women go about collecting the charred remains of our people. Mama, you must take heart and you, Mama Jugunu, this is not the end of the world”. The end of the play is significantly fraught with ideals of newness, of a new Delta that must rise from the debris of the old, contaminated epoch of militancy. The ugly reality of the old serves as a caution – a mass of debris of charred human and animal matter – against the imaginary of the new. Hence, when the survivors propose to “do a film about the old Esidi and the fire disaster”, it is to memorialize the tragic legacy in the interest of the new Delta. The new Delta promises a radical departure from the old, as Tafa intones, “our new Esidi shall be an oil city with positive scent of crude oil – peace, progress, development, harmony and prosperity”. The question remains as to how Umuko imagines a new Delta by fixing the reality of the military principalities that operate in the region within the rhetoric of a theatrical propaganda? The Scent of Crude Oil Umuko shows that the stench of crude oil is inescapable and percolates the life and politics of those who live in oil-endowed communities. We have a glimpse of the smell of crude oil through Papingo, one of a twin born
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in Esidi town, but whose brother is taken away by a missionary upon the death of their mother at childbirth. Papingo lives by the crisscross of SPDC pipelines between Esidi and Okidi. Both Papingo and his twin brother, Keni, who live in the city of Warri suffer social travails traceable to their condition of birth that is explainable in terms of metaphysical lineage. This condition makes Papingo and Keni strong breeds, a hereditary phenomenon that resonates with Soyinka’s dramatic suggestion, and whose birth process must consume the life of the mother. The strong breed tradition is associated with spiritual dirt and filth. In drawing from that tradition, Umuko offers a metaphysical paradigm of cleansing that speaks to the stench of crude oil. Through Papingo, the play reveals a disturbing description of the stinking smell of crude oil that pervades the landscape of the oil communities. As Papingo compares the smell of crude oil with rotten egg and fart – which the gang affirms while breaking the pipelines to steal fuel – which further draws attention to the physical nature of the liquid crude as it pumps in the hose, “like a big snake we e dey pass bush”, a connotation that opens the context of what Watts describes as the “discursive peculiarities of oil” (“Petroviolence”, 191) in which the motion of flow is compared to an object of fear and violence. The cleansing of Papingo and Keni by Tomrifa, the chief priest of Esidi, towards the end of the play is symbolic. It points at the ritual of purging the Niger Delta of spiritual filth that materializes in the physical wreckage of the landscapes through activities related to crude oil, drawing on the region’s traditional mode of addressing existential decays, yet affirming a multilayered problematic of oil modernity. It is a way of transposing the metaphor of polluted personhood into the strictures of the
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oil complex, invoking filth not merely as an individual myth but also as a collective reality of Nigeria’s political economy of oil. WORKS CITED Agamben, Giorgio: Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Barelife, trans. Daniel Heller Roazen. Stanford, CA.: Stanford University Press, 1998. Print. Aghoghowia, Philip Onoriode. “Ecocriticism and the Oil Encounter: Readings from the Niger Delta” Unpublished PhD Thesis: University of Stellenbosch, 2014. Boas, Morten. “Men Me: The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta and the Empowerment of Violence” Oil and Insurgency in the Niger Delta: Managing the Complex Politics of Petro-Violence. Eds. Cyril Obi and Siri Aas Rustad. Uppsala: Nordic Africa Institute/Zed Books, 2011. Print. Brown, Kate. Dispatches from Dystopia: Histories of Places Not Yet Forgotten. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2015. Print. Ethington, Philip J. “Placing the Past: ‘Groundwork’ for a Spatial Theory of History,” Rethinking History 11. (4) 2007: 465-493. Print. Glahn, Philip. Bertolt Brecht. Reaktion Books, 2014. Print. Minca, Claudio. “Geographies of the Camp.” Political Geography 49, 2015: 7483. Print. Oriola, Temitope. “The Delta Creeks, Women’s Engagement and Nigeria’s Oil Insurgency”. Brit. J. Criminol, 2012: 1-22 Ugor, Paul. “Survival Strategies and Citizenship Claims: Youth and the Underground Oil Economy in Post-Amnesty Niger Delta.” Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. 83 (2) 2013: 186–208 Umuko, Eni-Jologho. The Scent of Crude Oil. Ibadan: Kraft Books Ltd, 2010. Print. Watts, Michael. “Blood Oil: The Anatomy of a Petro-Insurgency in the Niger Delta, Nigeria.” Crude Domination: An Anthropology of Oil. Andrea Berhrends and Stephen P. Reyna, eds. New York: Berghan Books, 2011. Print. Withers, Charles W. J. “Place and the ‘Spatial Turn’ in Geography and in History.” Journal of the History of Ideas 70. (4) 2009: 637-58. Print.
Part IV. Location, Anthropocene and Deep Ecology
15 Creating a Sense of Place through Literature: A Bioregional Reading of Barungin (Smell the Wind) Aleena Manoharan
“Nature is not a place to visit, it is home….” – Gary Snyder, The Practice of the Wild
The recognition that present ecological crises are a result of man’s alienation from his land base has aroused keen anxieties among both eco-conscious activists and theoretically oriented scholars. In the latter case, attempts have been made to theorize environmental and ecological issues resulting in the blossoming of new ideas and concepts. The concept of bioregion was formed in order to address issues of nature-culture dichotomy and to re-establish man’s distorted relationship with the other entities in the ecological web. Bioregional thinkers and practitioners try to propagate the idea that human beings are an inseparable part of a places’ life and try to reconnect people with their roots in the land. This ensues as a part of the realization that place not only has a profound impact on the development of an individual but also shapes his identity and any attempt to frustrate this relationship can be suicidal. Etymologically a territorial term derived from the Greek “bios” (life) and Latin “regia” (territory), the concept of
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bioregion was widely popularised by Peter Berg who defined it as: The unique overall pattern of natural characteristics that are found in a specific place. The main features are generally found throughout a continuous geographic terrain and include a particular climate, local aspects of seasons, landforms, watersheds, soils and native plants and animals. People are also counted as an integral aspect of a place’s life as can been seen in the ecologically adaptive cultures of early inhabitants, and in the activities of present day reinhabitants who attempt to harmonise in a sustainable way with the place where they live. (“Bioregionalism”)
Though the first part of the definition evidently builds up the concept of the bioregion on the notion of the biome, which is a biotic community characterised by particular vegetation, fauna, soil types and climatic conditions, the second part stresses on the ecologically adaptive cultures of human beings. It may be said that the fundamental difference between a bioregion and any other natural classifications of regions is the essential human cultural element that is taken into consideration in the former. Berg’s definition of bioregion specifies it as a “specific place.” Since the integration of the human and the natural is the main concern behind the concept of bioregion, the latter is almost always of small size as placeness tends to thin out as scale and mobility expand. It is clear that bioregion ceases to be a mere backdrop for human survival. It is the place where human beings dwell by “following the necessities and pleasures of life as they are uniquely presented by a particular site, and evolving ways to ensure long-term occupancy of that site” (Berg and Dasmann 217). This process is termed by Berg and Dasmann as “living-inplace” (217). Thus the place, which is the bioregion, becomes home for its dwellers “where [they] live, with [their] human
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families, in [their] human communities, within [their] biotic communities” (Andruss et al. 33). The above deliberations on bioregion, point to some of its important characteristics such as naturalness, smallness of scale, particularity, natural boundaries, territoriality, intrinsic landhuman relationship, homestead, communitarian living, selfsufficiency and decentralised governance. In an attempt to reorganise land-human relationship, bioregionalists epitomise ancient cultural modes of primal people that were integrated with the natural environment. Indigenous Australian culture is no exception to this fact. For the Aborigines place was as much a reality as their own selves. They tended to order space in non-linear ways, so that their relationship with the environment was not hierarchical but associative (Dale 84). Place and self are, therefore, intimately related to each other and the conceptualization of space as place is an important part of rationalizing history and experience. It is interesting to note that Australian Aboriginal literature more than anything else renders itself to place-based or bioregional reading because the former is almost always region specific. This literature which started in its oral form contained long song cycles, shorter communal songs for entertainment, songs of love and mourning and the mythical time of the making of the earth. Much of the material in these literary forms also contained the right relationship that human beings must have with the land and its entities. Contemporary Aboriginal writings, which are a continuation and survival of this great legacy of oral literature reaffirms aboriginal’s bond with the land. Being post-colonial in its manifestations, Aboriginal literature also purports to critique issues such as loss of habitat and environmental deterioration caused due to
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European colonization of the continent. Loss of communitarian living is the main concern of this literature. But it should be noted that indigenous writing do not stop with just lamenting over losses that have been suffered and endured. By bringing in the Aborigines’ integrative relationship with the land, such writings serve an important purpose in preserving and promoting bioregional values of the Aboriginal society. Against the backdrop of such an understanding the present paper employs the concept of bioregion in analysing Jack Davis’ play Barungin (Smell the Wind) and argues that the Aboriginals of Australia have not lost their bioregional values despite more than two hundred years of colonization. As Justine Saunders observes, We have survived’ was the Aboriginal message to white Australians celebrating their bicentenary in 1988. It is a message that runs through all of Jack Davis’s work. He is saying that despite what has happened to our people since the dregs of Britain were first dumped on our land in 1788, we are still here” (vii).
Davis was an Aboriginal writer and playwright who belonged to the Bibbulmun group of the Nyoongah tribe in south-western Australia and his plays are a faithful record of the tribe and their relationship with the land. Barungin (Smell the Wind) which is the last in the sequence of Davis’s First-born trilogy takes on the story of the Wallitch family presented in his play The Dreamers. Using the medium of drama and the various possibilities of the genre, Davis has brought out the bioregional features in his play, which express “the unique and specific cultural heritages” (Casey 193). The play depicts the life of the tjuart people of the Nyoongah tribe who occupied the Swan Coastal Plain, one of the bioregions in southwest Australia. The very title of the play, Barungin (Smell the Wind) is significant because it helps us to understand the kind of relationship the
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Nyoongah people shared with the land. Granny Doll, the eldest Nyoongah of the Wallitch family, explains to her daughter, Meena, half-way through the play, the meaning of Barungin: Meena. ‘Barungin:’ what’s that mean, Mum? Granny Doll: It means ‘to smell the wind’ coz that wind used to talk to him and tell him where the kangaroo and the emus and the ducks were, and the rain and when people were around he learned about barungin from the old people from a long time back. But now the wind’s got too many smells: motor car, grog, smokes, you want meat now, you go to the supermarket. (Barungin 2. 3. 45)
As Vanathu Antoni observes, “…all land-based communities have had a very intimate sense of the earth’s smell and its subsequent dissemination into all the earth-borne elements and life forms” (60). Being intimately attached to the land, the Australian Aborigines too depended on this particular ability to sense their environment. Granny Doll explains how her grandfather learnt the art of smelling the wind from the older people of his tribe. She explains that the Aborigines were good at catching their game through their sense of smell. Smell here is not an abstract concept but a tangible feature that aids survival. Thus smell becomes an important aspect in understanding and perceiving the home region. The art of smelling the wind helped to transform the landscape of Australia into a rich and sustaining environment for its indigenous people. The ability to smell the wind or Barungin has always amazed the European settlers because where the whites could see only a barren land, the Aborigines could perceive many smells and see many signs that guaranteed them a “rich and varied experience in the land” (Hodge xi). The Aboriginal ability to smell the wind points to an important bioregional feature namely intrinsic land-human relationship. Such relationships were also guaranteed through totemic and spiritual affiliations which became crucial to the development and maintenance of personal and social identity.
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Aboriginal tribes rarely ventured into other places, not their own, due to such obligations, though occasional food quest and other cultural activities took them to different places. They, however, exhibited strong territorial nature and occupied specific territories which were politically autonomous units. The idea of occupying another’s land was strange to them. Robert’s casual remark in the play, “… You see my people had never left and given up their native land to go somewhere else… They couldn’t imagine anyone else doing it either” (Barungin 2. 5. 53), demonstrates the undesirability of such ventures taken up by European people. Each Aboriginal territory was the home region for the people residing within it. However, geographical violence and subsequent process of deterritorialisation that accompanied European settlement led to serious destruction of the natural home and often found the Aborigines taking refuge in reserve camps and government settlements allotted to them by their European masters. The Aborigines, however, maintained connections with the natural environment through their associations with the birds and animals found in the place. Such kinship bonds were designed as a strategy to normalise strangers and were instrumental in cementing a stable society by ordering respect towards the natural environment. The Wallitch family, who basically were the original inhabitants of the Swan Coastal Plain were forced to move to a camp settlement in Northam in the Avon Wheat Belt bioregion of south-western Australia. Though it is a mere reduction of the Aboriginal concept of home, the camp nevertheless becomes a home to its forced inhabitants. The Wallitch family takes up the process of reinhabitation in a foreign bioregion sharing bonds of kinship with the non-human entities of the land there. Aboriginal families were usually large consisting of not just the
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heterosexual couple, grandparents, uncles and aunts but also other living creatures found typically in the place where they lived. Granny Doll goes to explain how the Wallitch family got its name, which is again significant in understanding the relationship Aborigines share with the land. Meena. […] Where did our name come from then? Granny Doll.’Wallitch?’ Meena. Yeah. Granny Doll. ‘Walitj is the hawk,’ ‘the night hawk,’ and you know the Wallets? Well, they’re the same as us, only when old Grandfather Dave went to the war, then army fellas couldn’t say ‘Wallitch’, so they changed it to Wallet. Wetjalas killed our language, but that Walitj, the night hawk, he flies over the camp late at night and whistles – loud – and when some Nyoongah is gonna die, he always comes over and screams out. Up at Moore River, old camp, plenty of Walitj up there. That night hawk would fly over Grandad’s camp and whistle. The night he died – you were just a young fella Shane – that bird flew low over this house and… (Barungin 1. 7. 36).
Such enlarged perspective of home and family was critical in articulating the importance of communitarian living and developing deep rooted relationship with the land. The recognition that they are a part of a large family of life that included not just humans but other species as well has been instrumental in sustaining the Aboriginal environment for thousands of years. The night hawk, as explained in the above excerpt, is not a mere bird to the Nyoongah people. Its relationship with the Aborigines functions as a means to create identity, not just of the individual but of the society as well. Other important non-human entities that feature as a part of the Nyoongah family are the magpies and the gum trees found in the vicinity of the camp. The gum tree itself becomes
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a metaphor for the family as it houses the magpies and its younger ones. A system of communitarian living involving interdependence of the highest kind can be seen when Peegun describes the procedure for making the didgeridoo, an Aboriginal musical instrument. In olden times the didgeridoo was either made of hollow timber or soaking the bamboo in water. Sometimes the hollow was created by termites (Reed 53). Peegun explains this latter procedure in the following manner, Peegun: […] the didgeridoo is thousands of years old and people, wetjalas, often want to know how we get the hollow in the wood. Well, what we do we cut the limb off the tree and get a couple of female ants and away they go eatin’ away down the centre of the piece of wood. Then we get a couple of male mollida – that means ‘white ants’ – then we sent them after the female white ants. You know, the same old story. Jig-a-jig-a-jig… Anyway, sex must make ‘em hungry and in no time they’ll eat right through to the centre from one end to the other – a sorta jigsaw-jiggy-jigsaw and woolah, you have got yourself a didgeridoo… (Barungin 1. 3. 15)
Stories featuring these animals and birds were not uncommon in Aboriginal culture. Story telling was a cultural peculiarity in the sense that certain stories were narrated only in certain regions. Davis mentions one such story in the play about the crow and the magpie. Granny Doll narrates the story to the rest of the family in the following manner: Granny Doll: Well, this Koolbardi – that’s the magpie – and this Wahrdung – that’s the crow – they was brother, see. This was the time of kundum, dreams, see, and they was bi-i-ig strong men, and they had beautiful whi-i-te feathers. They used to fly around the lakes and the water before the wetjala drained of the swamps, and they was moordijt hunters, but they was cruel jealous about who was the best lookin’. So all the old fella got real sick an’ tierda listening to these two arguin’ day after day, night after night. So they called a meetin’ and they said to Wahrdung and Koolbardi, ‘Now look, you two, we’re sick and tired of you arguin all the time, so you go over there an’ fight it out an’ see who’s the best’. So that magpie and the crow they
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flew straight up in the air and they fought and fought, numbly, bulkily, numbly bulkily. [Granny Doll laughs and throws her arms about. ] Numbly round and round they went, but they didn’t know they were gittin’ closer to the ground, getting closer when suddenly – [Slamming her hands together] Tjoppuly, straight into this lake of bla-a-ack sticky mud. Little Doll. Yuck. Granny Doll. Anyway, Koolbardi was the first to git out. He crawled out of the mud and flopped down half covered in that bla-a-ack sticky mud and then after a long time Wahrdung came out the mud and flopped down beside him, and he was covered all over in that blac-c-ack sticky mud, and that’s how they are today, Unna Meena?... (Barungin 1. 7. 34-35)
This particular version of the story is one of the few surviving legends narrated in the southwest bioregions. It was passed on to Davis by his stepfather, Bert (Kurrahjt) Bennel in the early 1930s (Kullark/The Dreamers 145). Davis’s constant usage of Nyoongah language in the play is also another means of drawing our attention to the particularity of the Swan Coastal bioregion. To conclude, Davis’s play Barungin (Smell the Wind) and Aboriginal works in general offer much scope for place-based reading. However, it has been found that such critical discourses are relatively few (Cranston and Zeller 12) as much of these literary ventures are seen through the eyes of issues such as racism, language, degradation of Aboriginal society and the celebration of Aboriginality that draw heavily from disciplines such as psychology, philosophy and history (Manoharan 46). Ecocritical discourses on indigenous Australian literature not just help to enhance academic scholarship but also pave the way for people to better connect themselves with the land by emulating examples of deep rooted relationships between the self and the ‘other.’ As Lawrence Buell points out, “to connect
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the literature of place with the actual place that gave rise to the literature can deepen not only one’s sense of the book itself but one’s sense of what it means to be in communion with place” (qtd. in Cranston and Zeller 13). What does one gain from such an understanding? The realization that reconnection with the land is the only means to avert ecological crises becomes a major concern within the ecocritical framework and helps to engender anxiety in theoretically oriented scholars as it requires partnership or at least some degree of familiarity with the natural sciences, in which one must test one’s theories against physical reality. Bioregional studies therefore occupy a central position in understanding Aboriginal place-based culture. WORKS CITED Andruss, Van, Christopher Plant, Judith Plant and Eleanor Wright. Home! A Bioregional Reader. Philadelphia: New Society Publishers, 1990. Print. Antoni, Vanathu S. “Towards an Ontology of Earth Fragrance.” Indian Journal of Ecocriticism 1 (2008): 60-64. Print. Berg, Peter. Bioregionalism (A Definition). 25 April 2002. Web. 16 September 2008. Berg, Peter and Raymond F. Dasmann. “Reinhabiting California.” Reinhabiting a Separate Country: A Bioregional Anthology of Northern California. Ed. Peter Berg. California: Planet Drum Foundation, 1978. 217-220. Print. Casey, Maryrose. “Indigenous Australian Drama: Decolonising the Australian Stages.” Reading Down Under: Australian Literary Studies Reader. Ed. Amit Sarwal and Reema Sarwal. New Delhi: SSS Publications, 2009. Print. Cranston, C. A. and Robert Zeller, eds. Littoral Zone: Australian Contexts and their Writers. New York: Rodopi, 2007. Print. Dale, Liegh. “Changing Places: The Problem of Identity in the Poetry of Lionel Fogarty and MonganeSerote.” SPAN 24 (1987): 81-94. Print. Davis, Jack. Barungin: Smell the Wind. Sydney: Currency P, 1989. Print. ......... Kullark/ The Dreamers. Sydney: Currency P, 1982. Print. Hodge, Robert. “The Artist as Hunter.” Barungin: Smell the Wind. By Jack Davis. Sydney: Currency Press, 1989: xi-xv. Print.
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Manoharan, Aleena. “Bioregional Reading of Select Plays of Jack Davis.” Diss. U of Madras, 2010. Print. Reed, A. W. An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aboriginal Life. Illus. Ray Wenban and E. H. Papps. Sydney: A. H. & A. W. Reed, 1969. Print. Saunders, Justine. “Introduction.” Plays from Black Australia. Sydney: Currency Press, vii-xi. Print. Snyder, Gary. The Practice of the Wild. San Fransisco: North Point P, 1990. Print. Tucker, Mary Evelyn. “World Religions, the Earth Charter, and Sustainability.” Indian Journal of Ecocriticism 1 (2008): 30-39. Print.
16 Bonbibi and Cetology: The Confluence of the Mythic and the Scientific in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide Maitrayee Misra
Amitav Ghosh’s novel The Hungry Tide (2004), published quite coincidentally in the year of the Tsunami (26 December, 2004) in the Indian Ocean, is primarily set in the Sundarbans – the archipelago in the Ganges delta in the southernmost part of West Bengal. The abundance of ‘Heriteria Minor’ or Sundari trees has made this region literally the “beautiful forest” – the Sundarbans which holds the world’s largest mangrove forest with a variety of flora and fauna. Also known as the ‘Bhatirdesh’, this terrain has a ‘mutating’ and ‘unpredictable’ (HT 7) tidal eco-system that controls the biosphere as well as the life and cultural identity of the people living in that area. In this novel, Ghoshtells his readers that apart from the “kadaarbada – mud and mangrove” (HT 51) and the predators inhabiting the region, the cult of Bonbibi – the forest Goddess, shapes the religio-cultural life and the consciousness of the subaltern peasants of Sundarbans (for example, Fokir, Horen etc.). Alongside the introduction of this myth of Bonbibi, Ghosh craftily alloys the issue of modern science of cetology (study of the dolphins) through the fictional character of Piya (Piyali Roy), who manifests the current trends of research in
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environmental concerns. In this paper, I will attempt to explore how the two female entities in the narrative – the mythical Goddess and the real-life cetologist act as the agencies of ecological consciousness in their unique ways to their own target people. I would like to emphasize that the myth of Bonbibi as preserver and protector of the peasants of Sundarbans parallels the modern study of cetology in their common purpose of the conservation of the biome of the Sundarbans. Myth is a way of life (wave of life) which continues to flow over the generations mainly through oral transmission. The myths having religious dimension, usually have a long-lasting impression on the minds of common folk with distinctly sectarian identity. Whenever the spatial-geographical setting of the Sundarbans comes forward, the myth of Bonbibi comes to our mind which features the basic religio-cultural practice of the region. The word ‘Bonbibi’ is a hybrid coinage that straddles two linguistic zones: in Bangla, ‘Bon’ means forest and the later part ‘-bibi’ which means queen, has its etymological root in Urdu. As the Sundarbans finds its entity in the confluence of ‘land’ and ‘water’, ‘forest’ and the ‘rivers’, so the word “Bonbibi” exists at a crossroad of ‘Bangla’ and ‘Urdu’, even from the point of sectarian identity – at the confluence of the ‘Hindu’ and the ‘Islamic’ faiths. Moreover, there is a power-space equation in the formation of the mythical figure of Bonbibi: the deity or the queen is the icon of power who reigns over the space of the forest. But what about the numerous rivers and rivulets of Sundarbans which are spread all across the region like a cobweb? Does Bonbibi have her power over the watery space of those rivers, and if she has this, how does she execute power in her kingdom? One can find the answer to these questions from one of Kusum’s casual remarks, where she finds the dolphins as the messenger of Bonbibi: “I call them Bon Bibi’s messengers”
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(Ghosh Hungry Tide 235). What is ‘Orcaella Brevirostris’ to Piya, is “Bon Bibi’s messenger” to Kusum. To the people of Sundarbans, Bonbibi is the supreme goddess of the region, not merely confined to the forest space, as her domain extends to the marine space of the peninsula as well. As Fokir, the son of Kusum, also talks about the dolphins as the “messenger of Bonbibi” as he is carrying forward the myth of Bon Bibi from her mother, it becomes amazing to note how Ghosh blends the age-old gospel value of the myth of Bonbibi with the modern scientific research on the river-dolphins. Amitav Ghosh in his The Hungry Tideallots a full chapter entitled ‘The Glory of Bonbibi’, which is basically the name of a mythical folk-performance in the Sundarbans (Part-1: Chapter 17) to make the readers acquainted with the gospel of Bonbibi, and to show how the local people carry forward the myth of Bonbibi over the generations. In the narrative the urban characters come to know the myth from the ‘insiders’, the local, rural characters – Kanai comes to know from Kusum, Nirmal writes about the myth in his diary after receiving information from Horen and Piya encounters the myth through Fokir’s songs. Ghosh uses the peasant characters (Horen, Kusum and Fokir) as the representatives of the Sundarbans – community, to whom the gospel value of the myth of Bonbibi is of utmost religio-cultural importance. The locally produced text of the story of Bonbibi, edited by some Abdur Rahim and entitled Bonbibi Johuranama, is honoured like a scripture: the story quite is like this: following the instructions of the archangel Gabriel, Bonbibi and her brother Shah Jongoli set out from the far away city of Medina in Arabia to the tide country, where Dokkhin Rai, the demon king reigned. To make the place suitable for human habitat and free from the clutches of Dokkhin Rai, she had to fight with the demon king. After realizing that Bonbibi is
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winning over him, Dokkhin Rai surrenders to her. He claims that if the human beings are allowed the access of the mangrove forest, they will ruin it. Listening to his requests and being “merciful in victory” Bonbibi drew a line of demarcation and “[T]hus order was brought to the land of eighteen tides, with its two halves, the wild and the sown, being held in careful balance” (Ghosh 103). The entire myth stands upon this line of demarcation as the forest deity places itself right in between the line and becomes the “mediator between… village and forest, and between the world of humans and that of tigers” (Jalais 69). This imaginary line provides a message that those who out of “greed intruded to upset this order” will be punished and those who are righteous will be rewarded. The mythical consciousness that they “will not take more than what they need to survive” (Jalais69) saves the forest from being plundered of its resources, being taken “too much for granted” (Jalais 65). The myth of Bonbibi thus reflects the dependence of human beings on the forest as well as the necessity to conserve it. Alongside the depiction of the myth of Bonbibi, Ghosh introduces the modern scientific study of the dolphins, i. e. cetology to the rural setting of Sundarbans through Piya. Her research interest in cetology has been primarily nurtured at the American cetacean study centre. She is an experienced cetologist, who after working in countries like “Burma, northern Australia, the Philippines, coastal Thailand” (307) has come to India, specifically Sundarbans to work on the Irawaddy Dolphins, a particular species of river dolphins available in the rivers and rivulets of the Sundarbans. Through the fictional character of Piya, Ghosh makes his readers aware that natural conservation in Sundarbans is confined only in the crocodile and tiger reserve projects and very less has been thought about conserving the cetacean mammals, i. e. the ‘shushuk’ or the river
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dolphins. Her expedition in the watery labyrinth of the Sundarbans exposes some apparently common instances like the abundance of diesel launch on the river, the stench of diesel in the water, the dead body of a dolphin calf, which shows that how less we are concerned about the water ecology system. Such experiences of Piya make her realize that “no one had paid any heed to these creatures and so no one had known of their decimation” (Ghosh 299). As an ideal cetologist, she takes it as her “responsibility” to rescue these marine mammals even at the cost of her own life. Her statement: “When marine mammals begin to disappear from an established habitat it means something’s gone very, very wrong” (266-67) is alarming and it highlights the instant necessity of conserving the dolphins in their natural habitat. While discussing the importance of “preserving a species … in its habitat” (301) with Kanai, Piya mentions an “imaginary line that prevents us from deciding that no other species matters except ourselves” (301), and this “imaginary line” in a way corresponds to the mythical line of demarcation in the story of Bonbibi, which is already pretty well-known to the peasants of the Sundarbans. Both the female entities in the narrative – one mythical and the other supposedly a real-life character, speak of a similar imaginary line which should be seen as a border between the human space and the non-human environmental space – a borderline that must be honoured and never to be violated for the sake of balance and harmony. Ghosh also represents the binary of mythology and cetology through two sets of characters – the ‘insiders’, i. e. the local village people of the Sundarbans (Horen, Fokir, Kusum, Moyna) and the ‘outsiders’ (Piya, Kanai, Nirmal, Nilima) who have come to the Sundarbans. These two sets of characters focus on two sets of belief system – the religio-cultural and the
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rational-scientific. But the two belief systems and the two ways of life intertwine and intersect with the common aim of ecological conservation. If the myth of Bonbibi that has come from the far-away Arabia to the tide country with the message of forest conservation, Piya’s scientific research of cetology reaches the Sundarbans from the Institute of Cetacean Science in America with its purpose to save the dolphins. The myth and the scientific study are also seen to get connected by the dolphins in the narrative, as dolphins are regarded as Bonbibi’s messenger and the villagers believe that following the messengers will lead them towards good fortune – fortune being metaphoric of a harmonious life in unison with nature. The gospel value of the myth of Bonbibi and the scientific value of cetological research singularly focus on “[E]cology as a ‘home sphere’ which necessitates “a special ethos of co-operation and respect” (Hoydis 299). While interpreting the confluence of the mythic and the scientific in The Hungry Tide, one should not miss the origins of these two types of belief system and consciousness – both have come from ‘outside’ the Sundarbans, and also from the ‘inside’ of human mind. Let us first clarify the ‘outside’ issue: Cetology is a scientific programming of knowledge and research that has arisen out of the need and consciousness to maintain a harmonious existence with nature and it is theoretically born in the transatlantic space of American research on environmental science. It is Piya, who is trained in America, comes to the Sundarbans to undertake primarily her own research programme and secondarily, to create consciousness among the locals of the Sundarbans without whose support any conservation programme usually goes to the ashtray. Regarding the myth of Bonbibi, when Islam reached the tide country as a ‘new’ religion of faith during the recurring Pathan invasions even before the
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Mughals, the myth was probably introduced to this land of mangroves and rivers. In itself, the myth of Bonbibi is a confluence of two separate religious systems: Hinduism and the Islam. The victory of Bonbibi over Dokkhin Rai and Narayani clearly hints towards a metaphoric politico-historical victory of the Pathan invaders over the local rulers, who undoubtedly belonged to the Hindu faith. The division of the kingdom by the imaginary line into two – one to be protected by Bonbibi herself and the other to be ruled by Dokkhin Rai, could be seen as a coexistence of two religious faiths in a single geo-spatial reality. At the same time, the gospel of Bonbibi is an ideal example of communal harmony, and which is why the message of peace and harmonious coexistence of man and nature finds an immediate mythical currency among the peasant dwellers of Sundarbans. In a flashback, when teenager Kanai asks Kusum about the story of Bonbibi, Kusum becomes spellbound at his ignorance and asks in return – “Then whom do you call on when you’re afraid?” (Ghosh 101). This urgency to call the saviour in crisis – “when you’re afraid”, certainly indicates the immensity of Bonbibi’s presence in the socio-cultural space of the Sundarbans, irrespective of religious boundary, as Kusum herself is a Hindu. This element of human ‘fear’ for the ferocious animals and natural adversities in the backdrop of daily life of the peasants of Sundarbans can be read in parallel to the ‘angst’ of Piya on the issue of the conservation of the cetacean population of the Sundarbans. Hence, as the myth of Bonbibi is the human way to face the fierceness of natural forces and animals, and the study of cetology is another type of scientific response to avoid the man-made crisis leading towards ecological imbalance in the tide country. The sharp intellect of Ghosh keeps him ever conscious about the taste of his readers, and he knows well that a reader
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with an urban mind may underrate this gospel of Bonbibi and the socio-cultural practice of its stage-performance as something rural and peasant-like: “Kanai had expected to be bored by this rustic entertainment: in Calcutta he was accustomed to going to theatres like the Academy of Fine Arts and cinemas like the Globe” (Ghosh105). But he makes his reader aware in the same paragraph that the urban teenager Kanai felt so captivated by the folk-performance of the gospel of Bonbibi by the local actors that “even before the performance had ended Kanai knew he wanted to see it again” (105). The eminence of this female deity in the socio-cultural life of Sundarbans is so massive that even before the pouncing Royal Bengal tiger, people do pray calling her name, as Kusum herself did when a tiger attacked her father and took him away inside the jungle: “Help, O Mother of Mercy, O Bon Bibi, save my father” (108). The saviour of the people of Sundarbans, Bon Bibi lives within the mind of everyone, and she is invoked when someone is in crisis or afraid. The reference to the ‘shushuk’ or river dolphins does not only appear in relation to Piya and her scientific approach to environmental conservation, but it is probably Ghosh’s signature intelligence to merge the reference of river dolphins with another myth of Tethys and the two rivers of mythological value – the Indus and the Ganges, in the testimony written by Nirmal. As it reads: ‘And do you know how you can tell that the Sindhu and the Ganga were once conjoined?’ ‘How, Saar?’ ‘Because of the ‘shushuk’ – the river dolphin. This creature of the sea was the legacy left to the twins by their mother, Tethys. The rivers nurtured it and made it their own. Nowhere else in the world is the shushuk to be found, but in the twin rivers, the Ganga and the Sindhu’. (182)
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Accordingly, the issue of cetology or the study of the river dolphins is not an American import altogether, but, in Indian myths and anthropological reality, one could notice the presence of the cetacean mammals. As the rivers of the Sundarbans conjoin together to make the confluence an immensity, the modern scientific study and research can be seen in the light of an anthropological connection with age-old myths which were created not only as entertaining gospels but simultaneously aimed at the issue of human welfare. WORKS CITED Ghosh, Amitav. The Hungry Tide. India: Harper Collins Publishers, 2013. Print. Hoydis, Julia. ”Tackling the Morality of History”: Ethics and Storytelling in the Works of Amitav Ghosh. Heidelberg: Universitatverlag Winter, 2011. Print. Jalais, Annu. Forest of Tigers: People, Politics and Environment in the Sundarbans. New York: Routledge, 2009. Print.
17 From the Politics of the River to the Making of the Dam: Locating Environmental Refugees in Manoj Das’ The Submerged Valley Munira Salim
A reservoir is a man’s triumph over nature and the sight of a vast sheet of water brings an inner satisfaction to those who behold S. H. C. de Silva
These couple of lines by de Silva1 appropriates the victory of the scientific interventions in almost every sphere of human interest. The anthropocentric explorations have come to a point where the natural resources could be curbed in such a way as to provide a scientific approach to the consumption of God’s Plenty. de Silva’s lines seem to be impregnated with multiple perspectives as far as the supplementary contribution of Man to the Universe is regarded. This ‘inner satisfaction’ thus achieved, could be located from various points of view. It might be in the boost of the agricultural output or in the increase of the tourist visit, the dams have indeed showered multifaceted plus to the socio-environmental ethos. Simultaneously numerous debates and forums are convened from time to time, from the branch of basic scientific as well as the interdisciplinary streams so as to modify the strategies in due course of taming the rivers towards the best rational disposal of mankind.
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The focus of the paper is not just to flaunt the anthropocentric acquisitions at play, rather a further attempt has been taken from my side to throw a light towards those anthropos who, due to some queer reasons have not been the centrics, witnessing but not cherishing civilization, existing but at the periphery, in due course of modernization. These are the categories of those unfortunate lots, for whom usually no debates or dialogues are devoted in the forums. In this regard, I would take the privilege of glorifying the study of literature, because when other fields of study forgets to locate those at the margins of the different segments of the social structure, literature pays its duly homage to those at the segregated ends of the social order and in its process succeeds to reinvent multiple identities. The same reason instigated me to pick Manoj Das’s The Submerged Valley as a case study and to give a vivid scope for further dialogues with regard to the politics of the Transboundry River2 and the Construction of Dams. Both the issues could have a similar connection as far as the sociopsychological perspectives of the dislocated mass are concerned, as very often they are forced to quit the homelands for the sake of better sustenance and interest of the larger unit of population or due to the interstate political issues regarding the discrepancies relating to the possession of the natural resources. Thus, taking Manoj Das’s The Submerged Valley as a case study, I would in the following lines attempt to locate, (whom I’ve chosen to name as) ‘The Environmental Refugees’ from the humanitarian and ethical perspectives. At the historical juncture when the nation is debating upon the disputes relating to the transboundry rivers like the Cauvery or the Mahanadi, where the former is the cause of confusion as to which state does it mainly belong, is it Tamil Nadu or
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Karnataka! While the later worsens the state of affairs between Odisha and Chhattisgarh, as the so called rightful beneficiary from both the sides vehemently throw political snowballs at each other so as to provide maximum hydro-benefits to their respective states. Paradoxically, multiple complexities are gradually bubbling out of the respective rivers, where the serene rivers become the chief cause of political chaos. To take the river Mahanadi as a case in point, I would like to attach a special significance to its very existence. For me, the river is a sheer grandeur! Whether it’s the red soil laden childhood retreat during the summer evenings after a full friendly match with the dried river bed or a solitary biking in the adult days, along the Ring Road of my city (Cuttack), adjacent to which remains the expanse of the mesmerizing blue! The river Mahanadi seems to ebb out all the daily anxieties of the soul starting from the childhood days to the presently experiencing adulthood. The river for me remains an emblem of eternal magnanimity, irrespective of its geographical or political divisions or diversions. A peculiarly befitting sensibility is found in case of Manoj Das when he beholds the village (in his case), which in the process of transition into modernity, gets submerged under the river (Mahanadi). The portrait of this village, as displayed by Das, reverberates with simple yet different, petty yet rejuvenating aspects, stereotypical to any village, yet possessing a special identity of its own. Das chooses a child to be his mouthpiece, who conceives the village first from its aesthetic magnificence then proceeds to change his vision and sees the same village in a submerged condition, which may symbolize the revolutionary elements involved in the nature of humankind and also at the same time, reflects a sense of nostalgia on the part of
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the dislocated villagers as a whole, due to the permanent loss of their native homeland. Initially the narrator systematically replicates the minute details of the village, whether it’s an animate or inanimate object, the description seems to be vivid as well as picturesque as far as the village antiquities are concerned. His elaborate descriptions give a special effect overall when he points out “A lame crow perched on a crumbling stone arch of the temple and it cawed on in an abnormal and ominous tone” (Mohanty and Purohit 22) or when he portrays the trees “that stood in front of our school were as human to us as the wandering bull of lord Shiva” (ibid, 23) further the narrator attaches some mysterious and reciprocal relationship with these trees when he says “two more were never tired of chattering between them. If the teacher had scolded or thrashed us, they seemed to be sympathizing with us. At the approach of a vacation they seemed to be talking of the many sweet moments that were in store for us” (ibid, 23). But this reverie shatters, when the poor villagers get to know that their village, in the process of the construction of the dam (Hirakud) is going to be submerged by the river (Mahanadi) water. Henceforth the village, along with few more villages would be used as the reservoir, mainly for the purpose of irrigation. The havoc thus created in the petrified hearts of the peasants, raises a deep sympathy in the narrator and also in his mother’s heart. The claustrophobia thus aroused at the wake of the declaration of the construction of the dam, which would submerge the village, urged the naïve village folks to move hither and thither for some consolation. The psychological turmoil thus aroused, makes Sarbeswar Samal interpret in this
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way: “The Submerged Valley is a vivid account of how the happy villagers are rendered homeless by the construction of a dam. It projects not only the dislocation but also the sense of rootlessness and loss of their ethos which they desperately tried to cling to and preserve” (Samal 17). Sarbeswar quite appropriately points out that the villagers’ had their part of trials and tribulations to preserve their very root of existence. Though with their simplistic attitude weren’t able to turn any stone. Moreover the government plans which are directed towards the benefit of the greater population, scarcely pays any heed to the few suffering lot. Although the government takes substantial measures by paying cash or at times, try to relocate by providing land elsewhere as a part of compensation. However it cannot provide rehabilitation after a certain degree. To specify the villagers in The Submerged Valley, they took several attempts in order to save their ancestral lands from getting submerged, but in vein. Das ruefully reflects their miserable plight, when after the public announcement of the news, a couple of hundred villagers went to the town and moved in a procession hoping for some aid: “It was a pitiable show. Cars and motorbikes scared them and they were too shy to raise slogans. After meeting the leaders of the ruling party, their representatives were found lacking the old verve in their voices. Before long they had lost faith in their cause and were reconciled to the situation” (Mohanty and Purohit 26). Taking into consideration the geographically as well as the psychologically displaced poor mass, who get no mental reconciliation anywhere, for them, the epithet ‘Environmental Refugees’ could appropriately define their ancestralenvironmental exile. They are denoted as the ‘Environmental Refugees’ not on the basis of displacement due to some natural calamity or disaster, rather by the manmade intervention with
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the natural resources so as to provide better living standards for the larger unit of population. Das in the similar pretext doesn’t seem to be much satisfied with the changing natural environment due to the erection of the dam, as far as the increasing population is considered, he points out “Three districts had now less to fear from floods. Regulated irrigation gave some boost to agriculture, though the increase in population did not let it mean anything more than a statistical satisfaction” (ibid, 26-27). It might be the same reason that makes Sarbeswar Samal points out the typical facet in Manoj Das’s prose narratives namely in The Submerged Valley, The Tree and Farewell to a Ghost when he indicates: “Manoj Das presents a collective image or identity in his stories. He has beautifully delineated the loss of community life and the erosion of bucolic existence”. (40). Despite the gloom prevailing upon the prose, Manoj Das seems to have no intention to sound pessimistic, as far as changes and revolutions are concerned. Rather his pragmatic approach renders us to think what actually revolution is! Thus, he persists, “…for me the whole history is made up of only two events, construction and destruction – the latter being either planned or accidental… where is Harappa today and where is Babylonia? Time has wiped them away-just for the sake of change. On the other hand, if we are losing our lands, it is a change for the better, for the welfare of a larger population.” (Mohanty and Purohit 25) The words above have been expressed through the narrator’s father, who when approached by the village delegates, gives his response this way. The villagers approach him because he is the engineer belonging to the same village, though not directly connected with the construction of the dam. Still in the hope of some consolation they went up to him so that their ‘dear’ village could be saved from getting
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submerged. But the lines thus spoken by the father sounds harsh, as far as the sentiments of the villagers are concerned. Their stupefaction after the father’s eloquent words, symbolizes their hopelessness towards the reacquisition of the would-belost ancestral lands. Their claustrophobia is relented thus: “All – all will go under water, Babu! Despite having begotten a worthy son like you, are we so unlucky that the cruel hand of the Government will so unceremoniously throw us out of our Godgiven lands!” (ibid, 25) They sobbed and sobbed but the father remained unmoved. To this attitude, not only do the villagers, but the son even considers it as a mark of heartlessness. Yet again Das has left a surprise for us! He gives a faithful attempt to elevate the stature of the father from a reproachable, hardhearted revolutionary, overlooking the sentiments of the dislocated mass, to the serious and charismatic apostle of the ethical order. He does so, by portraying an important event in the prose. He makes the same village reemerge after about five years of its submergence, thus bringing in new fantasies to the villagers who have by now somehow adjusted in different environmental locations. It was the year when monsoon was delayed, thus making few parts of the village visible. This panorama remained confined to the visibility of the Shiva temple and the hillock behind it. The piece of news had an electrifying sensation on the mother, when her husband proposed her to accompany him to the dam, where he had a committee meeting, while she could make a trip to the hillock. Hence, the narrator, along with his parents and younger sister starts for the dam. To their utter surprise, they find quite a number of developments sprouting up near the dam. What captivates the reader here is the striking attitude of the father. The stature of the father is elevated in the hearts of those who believe in retaining basic ethical order amid the clamor of
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modernization. It is appropriate to introduce Abolkara at this juncture. Abolkara in the present prose narrative stands as a symbol of the naïve villager who, though dislocated in the present pretext, has his soulful attachment towards this Submerged Valley. Das, in order to raise humor amid the grim atmosphere, has named him Abolkara after the funny hero of a series of folktales popular in the region where Abolkara literally means ‘the disobedient’. Das’s timely humor is replicated through the lines:” Somehow he had learnt to claim that jackals and ravens talked to him. His incoherent speech and enigmatic hints added a pinch of weirdness to his personality. And that was to his profit.” (ibid, 23) The narrator relays a sensational relationship of the father with the villagers when their family head towards the hillock and the same weird Abolkara is found perched upon one of the rocks with his legs dangling and relishing the nuts that some visitors might have shared with him. In spite of the continuous beckoning, by the father to come away from the hillock and join one of the boats, as rain laden clouds have already accumulated in the sky and there were chances of the hillock getting once again submerged under water, Abolkara wasn’t ready to budge. Perhaps some creative mind had invented the story that all these five years, he has managed to breathe under water. The fantastic tale made a great impact on his weird mind. He didn’t budge even the boats, including that of the father started to move away. At this point, the father shows tremendous humility when he observes that the rain has started playing havoc and the hillock would anytime get submerged under water, taking along Abolkara, whom they have left behind. Thus risking his life, he starts towards the hillock, on his way narrowly escaping an accident, restores Abolkara safe and brings him to the bungalow
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where his family has been put up. Thus restoring all his kindness and humility towards these dislocated ignorant country folks, the quality which the son thought was badly lacking in his father. Hence, the father stands as an epitome of humility and hospitality towards those who, very often get displaced specifically due to the socio-environmental changes brought about by manmade revolutions. Thus, through exemplifying the ethical responsibility towards humankind in general, the father stands as a symbol of the preserver as well as the sustainer of development, which is for the sake of all the inhabitants under the sun. To conclude, the point under discussion which has been already made explicit through the study of The Submerged Valley is that, reserving the natural resources for the better perusal of mankind is an inevitable need of the time. But when humanitarian approach is supplemented with the workings of science and technology, only then could we achieve a complete sustainable and cherished Universe, free from any discrepant attitude towards some peripheral and powerless human dwellers on earth. Therefore, it is the foremost duty of the privileged class to implement ethical values in order to rehabilitate any species of the dislocated class, may it be the ‘Environmental Refugees’ or any group of socially underprivileged. NOTES 1
S. H. C. de Silva was the consultant to the Irrigation Department of Sri Lanka in 1991. Also see the web linkhttps://www. international rivers. org/dams-what-they-are-and-what-they-do
2
The conflict occurring between two or more neighboring states or countries due do the sharing of water source, such as a river, sea, or groundwater basin. Presently India is facing transboundary disputes relating to many rivers, out of those, the Mahanadi and the Cauvery are the two examples.
18 Towards Symbiogenesis: Re-Reading Carlos Saldanha’s Rio and Rio 2 Suranjana Bhadra
Species exist in interpenetrating nature cultures. Culture reshapes our reading of animals so much so as animals reshape our reading of culture. Human culture is in reality the product of reciprocal relationship with the larger environment. This “non-human alterity”1 as Roberto Marchesini terms it, must be embraced as the relationship between human and animal as well as of interdependence and creativity. Our symbiosis with animals is related in constructing meaningful human identities. Throughout history human advancement has coincided with ecological devastation. Mankind is committing ecocide, thereby leading the planet towards extinction and permanent silence where ‘no birds sing’. Anthropomorphic tendencies ascribe our desires to animals thereby detaching them from their very selves. Films may be a powerful medium of raising consciousness among human beings about conservation of forest and wildlife. Very often anthropomorphic animal narratives and films are castigated as childish, thereby dissociating intellectual awareness. This paper is an exploration of crude anthropomorphism mechanized though the pervasive insinuation of deforestation in the Children
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Hollywood movies Rio (2011) and Rio 2 (2014). An alternative reading of the films may be a clarion call for the preservation of the exotic species of blue macaws, who are under the threat of illegal pet trade being uprooted from their Amazon homeland. The forest of the Amazon is the home of beautiful birds and animals of different species. The films Rio and Rio 2, concerned with Wildlife conservation, are set in a bird sanctuary at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, that contrasts with the open Amazon rainforests. Rio and its sequel Rio 2, directed by Carlos Saldanha, produced by Sky Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox, confer human attributes to the birds so that their miserable plight can touch the human heart. The plurisignificant plot revolves around two macaws, Blu and Jewel, the last surviving pairs of blue macaws. While Blu is brought up by Linda, a bird lover, at Minnesota, his mate, Jewel, a pretty macaw is an independent bird brought up at Rio after being separated from her original home in the Amazon. The birds can think, judge, talk, make love and react like us. The film proceeds through the various journeys and experiences of the birds in their quest for survival. The audience enters into the film by zooming out from the scene with an aerial shot which is often referred as ‘bird’s eye view’. As we move out of the city, the focus, contrastingly, shifts backwards to the wild expanse of the natural space adjacent to Rio de Janeiro. A small bird with its squeaks shifts our attention alternatively from the urbanized space to the forest, a domain free from human intervention. This scene of idyllic innocence and happiness arrests special attention as the pet traders intrude upon their homeland and cage these birds. Such threatening acts bewilders Blu, who, ready to take its very first flight, falls from his nest out of fear and thus gets captured. Being attractive and intelligent birds of vibrant colours the macaws are the easy targets of inhuman
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humans who mercilessly destroy wildlife for money. The words of the pet trader make it more explicit. He says: “We don’t care what happens to them, all we know that we are going to be rich” (Rio). The Rio carnival parade serves as a medium to hide and smuggle the birds to the airport. Though animals are participants in the making of culture, they are exploited and made homeless for human profit. In the film several scenes portray the inhuman stacking of caged birds in a claustrophobic room ready to be smuggled. Human brutality in more explicit in the act of cockatoo, a villain, who is strong enough to maintain surveillance over other imprisoned birds. Such exploitation of animals and birds is the other name for slavery. Rio 2 begins with the family of Blu and Jewel with three kids in Rio. Like humans, the macaws are familiar with IPods, TV sets, canned nuts and books. They have also become bodies in technologies. Being informed of the existence of blue macaws in the Amazon through television, the free spirited Jewel desires to return to her native roots. She reminds her family that they are not people but birds. So they fly in quest of their homeland and finally get reconciled with Jewel’s father and the flock. The film gains significance when they directly face the evil loggers destroying the forest of the Amazon and adversely affecting wildlife. But the unity of the birds, animals and human conservationists makes them strong enough to combat destructive human forces. With the help of Linda and Tulio the animals get back to their natural home. As Amazon is made free from human encroachment, it is declared as the National Wild Life Refuge. Ecological interconnections are interfused with children movies with the intention of crossing the boundaries of mere enjoyment and reaching the threshold of human awareness.
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Apart from being fantastic children movies, Rio and Rio 2 can be related to the basic tenets of ‘Speciesism’, a concept that foregrounds the moral consideration that cruelty to other species is analogous to slavery. Peter Singer in his revolutionary Animal Liberation (1975) defines speciesism as “a prejudice or attitude of bias in favour of the interests of members of one’s own species and against those of members of other species” (6). He further questions: “If possessing a higher degree of intelligence does not entitle one human to use another for his or her own ends, how can it entitle humans to exploit non-humans for the same purpose?” (6). Bestowed with the superior power of reasoning, human beings do not have the right to torture or exploit other species for its own gain. The expansion of human power by domination is illusory as they are affiliated to other creatures. Animals are related in creating human identities. They are not simply objects and subjects of study, but active participants in the creation of culture. In this context it is worth noting Midgley’s perception of animal welfare: “It is no privilege, but a misfortune, for a gorilla or a chimpanzee to be removed from its forest and its relatives and brought up alone among humans to be given what those human regard as an education” (99). Human endeavours to force animals in the domain of civilization deprive them of their natural home. The domesticated life of Blu is a symbolic representation of the Americanized, urban lifestyle vibrating with healthy measures and technological progress. Domestication may be a trope to kill their free spirited instinct. Nurturing them in human terms is an index of our power, and thus an index that separates ‘us’ from ‘them’. Such anthropomorphic representations of the birds erase their free spirited instinct. Linda’s domestication of Blu undoubtedly robs him of his very self. Blu does not even fly as birds do. Linda becomes quite anxious when Tulio wants to take Blu to Jewel to prevent the extinction of their species:
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Linda. But he does not even fly. Tulio. Don’t worry their natural instinct always takes over. (Tulio takes Blu and throws up in air, but he cannot fly and falls) Tulio. Perhaps he is too domesticated! (Rio)
It is indeed shocking to find that in his attempt to escape from the tyrants Blu suffers as he cannot fly along with other birds. On the way to Rio, two urbanized birds, Nico and Pedro, attempt to release Blu from his cage. Surprisingly enough Blu resists. He says: “No no guys, I’m really fine. Love the cage” (Rio). Blu, accustomed with the urbanized routine life has been educated and humanized. He prefers to be a man-made macaw who has lost the essence of an independent bird. He has been shaped and reshaped to fit in the disciplined structure of culture. Human nurture produces such subjected and practiced bodies, namely, ‘docile bodies’. “A body is docile that may be subjected, used, transformed and improved” (Foucault 136). Civilized Blu feels insecure and frightened to be out of his imprisonment. When abducted by the pet traders, Blu longs for his artificial home, his cage, mirror, swing and little bell. In the forest, the conversation between the Americanized Blu and free spirited Jewel foregrounds the difference between nature and culture. Jewel. Just come on, we need to find a safe place to spend the night. Blu. Safe! Safe! We are in the jungle! You know what people say? It is jungle out there. Well I’m pretty sure that they don’t mean it as a good thing. Jewel. Look I hate to break it to you, but this is where our kind naturally lives. Blu. Hey! Hey! Don’t talk to me about nature. I watch animal planet. I know about the food chain. You see out there, I am just another, nothing more than a feathery sprinkle. Jewel. That is why we stay on trees and not on ground.
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Blu. I don’t think so. I would feel much more comfortable in something manmade. (After climbing up a parchment) Blu. See, who needs flying. Jewel. Birds need flying. Flying is freedom and not having relied on anyone. (Rio)
It is Jewel who finally gives Blu a flavour of natural freedom. Finally he succeeds to break through the shackles of domestication and breathe in the wild air of the Amazon. Paul Shepard in The Others: How Animals Made Us Human (1996) speaks of the necessity of human-animal relationship. He argues that anthropomorphism binds us to the natural world quite adversely. Pet keeping on one hand is a threat to the autonomy of animals and disrespect to other species. But this ‘nightmare of domestication’ does not make Blu a slave. Blu is Linda’s companion. Every time Blu is called a pet, he corrects it confidently enough, acknowledging that Linda is his world and companion. Blue’s attachment to Linda is a natural instinct to reconnect with other species through love and concern. Interspecies encounters can create bonding between humans and animals where concern for each other develops coconstitution among the species. Donna Haraway’s When Species Meet (2008) argues for an ontological and epistemological reconsideration for the acknowledgement that animals reshape human lives. Such interdependent relationships must have its foundation on love, respect and mutual understanding among species. To Haraway “Species, like the body, are internally oxymoronic, full of their own others, full of messmates, of companions” (165). Haraway asserts: To be one is always to become with many. … When Species Meet is about[a] kind of doubleness …in which those who are to be in the world are constituted in intra – and interaction. The partners do not precede the meeting; species of all kinds, living and not, are
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consequent on a subject – and object-shaping dance of encounters. (4)
All ‘critters’, as Haraway calls it, are knotted up beings, meaning making agents that constitute the unpredictable kinds of ‘we’. The companionship of Linda and Blu is in process of becoming one with one another. They are constitutively ‘companion species’. “Significantly other to each other; in specific difference, [they] signify in the flesh a nasty developmental infection called love. This love is an historical aberration and a natural cultural legacy” (Haraway, The Companion Species 3). Companion species does not allude to pets that are bound in the master-slave relation with man. Therefore, companion species are not companion animals subservient to superior human order. It strives for multispecies coexistence. It is a permanently undecided category where human race ties with all ‘other’ species to enter the world of becoming with, where ‘who and what are’ is precisely what is at stake. It is Linda’s unconditioned love for her companion that makes her take all the trouble to give back Blu her long lost home. At the end of Rio, Linda perhaps realizes that she has deprived her companion from the bliss of freedom. She therefore releases Blu from the clutches of domesticity. Linda and Tulio, the conservationists thus become the enemy of the pet trader who abuses them as ‘nature freaks’ and ‘tree huggers’. What cannot be denied is the fact that Blu’s ‘education’ in human terms makes him efficient enough to fight unanimously with the loggers. Realizing that the loggers are engaged in deforestation, Blu, the least ‘birdliest’ of the birds, convinces his flock that unified action can only resist the smugglers. He says: “You know the jungle, I know the humans. And I know together we can stop them. So what if it is full of shouts, loud and creepy bugs, but it’s ours. Let’s fight for it (Rio 2). Finally they
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succeed in saving the wild of the Amazon. Blu’s nurture and domesticity do not imprison or cripple him forever. His education plays a vital role in protecting nature from human cruelty. On the contrary, his domestication strengthens him with human reasoning that resonates harmoniously with his natural instinct. Thus interpenetrating nature cultures can create a bond between creatures with significant otherness. Interspecies encounters and the desire to reconnect with nature is the most positive dynamic impulse that can propel human beings towards world building. The coupling of Hollywood and ecology can be further related to ‘symbiogenesis’2, a creative process that explains the order of biological intermingling of various life forms, progressing towards more intricate and multidirectional acts of association with other forms of life. Species can be cherished for their individualism, but they are not independent from the creatures they are associated with. Every organism is related to other organism in their environment. Symbiogenesis has its root in cooperative ventures that favour life processes. Being in contrast with the Drawinian ethos of competition and ‘survival of the fittest’, symbiogenesis supports the interaction and interconnection among organisms and their environment. Haraway asserts: Yoking together all the way down is what sym-bio-genesis means. The shape and temporality of life on earth are more like a liquidcrystal consortium folding on itself again and again than a wellbranched tree…. These are also the cobblings together that give meaning to the “becoming with” of companion species in nature culture. (Haraway 31-32)
Tulio and Linda are in symbiosis with the birds as they are constantly interacting and encountering with the environment. Linda’s concern for her companion propels her to explore and
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encounter other birds of different species. She too crosses the boundaries of individual attachment with Blu and merges with the larger environment. Encounters do not produce harmonious wholes in the first place. It builds attachment sites that bind people and organisms together in a kind of response that ‘change’ the subject as well as the object. “Once “we” have met, we can never be “the same” again. Propelled by the tasty but risky obligation of curiosity among companion species, once we know, we cannot know. If we know well, searching with fingery eyes, we care. This is how responsibility grows. (Haraway 287).
Symbiogenesis encourages a creative change that can make the planet a harmonious place where one can support the other irrespective of their superior positioning in the biological or sociological hierarchy. While Blu imbibes human nurture he returns to nature, his home. Such a ‘change’ makes him cooperative enough to accommodate not only his flock but all Amazonians in their struggle for survival against adverse forces. Human and nonhumans should make a permanent relation not contrapuntal, but constitutive and life sustaining. It is a call to the ‘superior’ humans to reconnect the human world with the natural order thereby progressing towards a symbiogenetic relationship collectively. It is our responsibility to conserve our forest and protect it from the silence of death. NOTES 1. The Italian theorist Roberto Marchesini in his book Post-Human (2002) asserts that human autonomy is impossible to sustain and it is illusory. Human culture and technology is actually the product of reciprocal relationships with our environment. This is termed as ‘non-human alterity’. Alterity with other species cannot be denied. Animals are opposite to human but the polarity is the source of mutual dependence.
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Boria Sax in his revision of DonnaHaraway’s When Species Meet refers Paul Shepard and discusses the post humanism of Roberto Marchesini. (H-Net Reviews, April 2008. http://www. h-net. org/reviews/showrev. php?id=14416 2. The term ‘symbiogenesis’ was first applied by the Russian botanist Konstantin Mereschowsky in 1910. Theoretically the concept was substantiated by the microbiologist Lynn Margulis in his article “On the Origin of Mitosing Cells” (1967). She argued that eukaryotic cells originated as communities of interacting entities. The proposition that life did not take over the planet by combat and opposition, but by networking and coordination has been accepted by the advocates of eco-studies.
WORKS CITED Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. London: Penguin, 1987. Print. Haraway, Donna J. When Species Meet. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008. Print. ......... The Companion Species Manifesto: Dogs, People and Significant Otherness. Chicago: Prickly Paradigm Press, 2003. Print. Midgley, Mary. Animals and Why They Matter: A Journey Around the Species Barrier. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1983. Print. Rio. Dir. Carlos Saldanha. Prod. Blue Sky Studios. Screenplay by Don Rhymer. Twentieth Century Fox Animation, 2011. Film. Rio 2. Dir. Carlos Saldanha. Prod. Blue Sky Studios. Screenplay by Don Rhymer Twentieth Century Fox Animation, 2011. Film. Singer, Peter. Animal Liberation. New York: Harper Collins, 2002. Print.
19 Entangled Bodies – The Symbiotic Eco-Cosmo-Vision of Tree Matters Pritha Banerjee
Tree Matters, a children’s picture book published by Tara Books in 2014, immediately draws attention to the vibrant artwork forming the centerpiece of each of its pages. Gangu Bai’s brilliant illustrations lead her oral narrative, which has been converted to written text by Gita Wolf and V. Geetha and printed at the margins of the illustrations on each page. The Pithora paintings, depicting central themes from Bhil life and festivals, originally painted by Bhils on the walls and floors of their huts or on stones and pillars in memory of their beloved ancestors, are recast here on printed paper, sourced from paintings in acrylic on canvas. The cover art depicts a wide branched tree, with brightly coloured leaves, the distinctive dots of Pithora painting splattering every ‘body’ drawn in the painting. These dots, inspired by the kernels of maize, which forms the staple food and diet of the Bhils, create a rhythm on the page depicting the bodies of humans, birds and animals all peppered with the same hues and dots, entangled and embedded in the ‘tree-scape’, as though a part of the tree. On opening the book, the inner cover page is covered with the same dots, extending the theme of the cover onto the pages of the book.
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We might be concerned about the way the Pithora paintings and narrative art takes on a different format in the form of this book. From being painted on mud walls with natural colours and dyes, to the form of canvas and acrylic colour and then in Tree Matters, the printed book. Bhuri Bai of Pitol was one of the first Bhil artists to begin working with acrylic and canvas, encouraged by Jagdish Swaminathan, who set up the art centre Roopankar in Bharat Bhavan in 1981. Bhuri Bai is now internationally renowned for her Pithora paintings and she knows it has a market abroad. However, she re-iterates her love for the traditional art format, her ‘parampara Pithora’. In the article, “Bhil Artists” part of the Digital Archives of Bhil Culture and Art Form, Bhuri Bai identifies herself with Titki Mata – a tribal forest deity believed to protect the forests of Jhabua district in Madhya Pradesh. She explains herself thus – “I associate myself with the deity because women are the protectors of nature. I draw nature, social mores and Bhil gods and goddesses in the centuries old Bhil style which is steeped in ethnic animism and spirituality” (“Bhil Artists”). The artwork by Bhuri Bai and Gangu Bai and other Bhil artists become a method of protecting nature too, as through these depictions and oral narratives, these women preserve a separate notion of identity, recognizing selves other than human as an indivisible and essential part of existence. The text of Tree Matters1 begins by locating the Bhils “Between Field and Forest” (5), emphasizing the past history of the Bhils who once had complete access to the forests, but are now, bounded in by rules framed by the government regarding protected areas and forest entry. Gangu Bai’s tale begins by focusing on the change in Bhil life and the memories of yore. She says, “Earlier, the forest was a source of food – leaves, berries, fruits and seeds – a place to gather firewood, to rest or
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to play” (5), reflecting on the multiple engagements with the forest space that formed the natural rhythm of Bhil life. Even as she introduces the Bhils to a presumably western or even urban audience, through the form of this book, it is with a sense of loss and transition – “They go into the jungle, but not as their ancestors did” (5), she says, indicating that a boundary exists, controlling movements in and out of the jungle. A separation of bodies, effected by state control of forests appear artificial to Bhils who see themselves as a part of the forest ecosystem as seen in the vivid paintings that inform every aspect of their lives. Knowledge of the forest is very important according to Gangu Bai. In her words, “Being around trees and forests is fun, but it is important to know what to do and what not to do. For example, only certain fruits are edible, and others are poisonous. People have learnt this from experience, and children from their elders” (9). Thus, the knowledge about the forest and the rules of living with the forest is learnt through the oral stories transmitted from generation to generation. The unique and precious indigenous knowledge reserves are indicated by Gangu Bai through her narrative and art. For example, she draws different kinds of trees and describes different responses to these trees by humans, birds and animals. She draws the Sindi berry tree and shows many human, bird and animal figures surrounding and climbing it, supplementing her image with her words, “When children graze cattle or goats in the forest, they look for the Sindi berry tree…Birds and monkeys love these berries too” (10). However, a warning is given through this narrative too, that the thorns of the Sindi Berry tree are sharp and causes an entire day of suffering for one pricked by these thorns. At the same time, she states that Sindi twigs make good brooms. Some of the figures in the artwork are seen sweeping
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with these brooms. Thus the narrative-art inscribes the knowledge of the Sindi berry tree. Bhil children listening to the tale and seeing these images everyday would not only learn about the tree, its fruit and twigs, but also its thorns. The artwork depicting different trees is very different. The Gondhi tree is thicker, with its fruits and leaves prized by the Bhils for their taste (12-13). Through her tale, Gangu Bai introduces instructions for the traditional way of cooking these leaves. She even addresses possible questions by children listening to the tale – “How did people first begin to eat these leaves?” (13). She keeps re-iterating that children learn by seeing their parents, understanding the difference between edible and poisonous leaves. The oral narrative and pithoras also act as instructional material, carrying and preserving knowledge across generations. Gangu Bai also dwells on the special relationship of children to the berries, waiting for them to ripen from green, yellow to red. Some impatient children even eat the green unripe berries. The painting spread over the double page (6-7), which also forms the cover painting discussed earlier, show both human children and birds and animals partaking of these berries joyously, painting a picture of harmonious co-dwelling, the bodies of the animals and children taking on the colours of the tree and berries they are eating. The Bhils have a special way of relating to the trees, she says (15). Addressing ‘us’, the readers she assumes, Gangu Bai apprehends,” You might think that when people are around trees and forests, they know them so well that they don’t notice them after a while” (15). However, that is not true for the Bhils, according to her. The beauty of the trees and their contribution to every aspect of Bhil life make them a living, breathing presence for them. Hence, she says, “Trees make the forest a home, a place of protection and a place of inspiration” (15).
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The Ryan tree is painted by her as a popular tattoo design. So the book, to create the tattoo effect, repeats the motif many times (16-17). It is interesting to note the way the goats trying to climb the tree are shown intricately webbed with the tree, a part of its design. The Pithora paintings by Gangu Bai become a way of interpreting and preserving the Bhils’ connection with the trees and forests so dear to them. The intertwined nature of life lived with the forest ecosystem is depicted through the manner of painting, where the artificial boundaries drawn by the state, cease to exist. Eduardo Kohn’s How Forests Think, studying the Runa of Ecuador’s Upper Amazon, explains his notion of “ecology of selves” (17), where it is important to consider non-human organisms as selves and biotic life as cognizant of semiotic processes, not necessarily linguistic. He sees through the eyes of the Runa puma, the entire forest ecosystem, a web of semiosis, and all organisms participating in this web of selves. He says, “selves relate the way that thoughts relate: we are all living, growing thoughts” (Kohn 89). He reflects that the way other beings ‘see’ us, matters, as also the way we ‘see’ all other beings as ‘selves’ – “encounters with other kinds of beings force us to recognize the fact that seeing, representing, and perhaps knowing, even thinking, are not exclusively human affairs” (Kohn 1). I see Gangu Bai and Bhuri Bai’s paintings and narratives, essentially embodying a similar strain of thinking, recognizing the simultaneity of existence of all beings in the forest ecosystem. Hence the art exhibitions at IGRMS (Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalay) by Bhil artists, their narration about their art and beliefs, or even the book Tree Matters, becomes ways of preserving and protecting a precious way of ‘seeing’ the ecosystem, even in changed formats of
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representation. Eduardo Vivieros de Castro speaks about “perspectival multiculturalism” (“Cosmological” 469), emphasizing on apprehending the ‘multiverse’ of plants, animals and microfauna and the recognition of different realities, as constructed by different subjects, human and non-human inhabiting the world. Different corporealities, appear to create different realities. Gangu Bai and Bhuri Bai’s Pithoras provide a visual form to these intertwined corporealities, as human and non-human bodies cluster close to each other, drawing colour from each other, separate only in our interpretation of different bodily forms. Donna Haraway in the conference organized by Vivieros de Castro, called Os Mil Names de Gaia or Thousand Names of Gaia elaborated on her idea of how “persons” from indigenous groups, in their oral traditions would name “collected things”, giving presence to what she calls “entities-inassemblages” (Haraway 160), or myriad entangled entities, including the human and non-human or even the ‘more-thanhuman’. These “enitities-in-assemblages” come alive in Gangu Bai and Bhuri Bai’s art narratives and oratures. In the episode “The Birth of Jangal” (18), Gangu Bai depicts the story of Bhuri Bai, who gave birth in the forest, in the middle of her work. The women all appear adept at helping Bhuri Bai give birth and Gangu Bai names her child ‘Jangal’ (meaning ‘forest’), to commemorate his close relationship with the space of his birth. In her painting, Jangal takes his place amongst the trees and birds and peacocks, portraying the next generation living in consonance with the forest ecosystem as well (Tree Matters 1819). The next section of Tree Matters describes the secrets and mysteries of the forest space. Spirits, both dangerous and protective populate the trees in this narrative section. The representation of the Chudel Tree is quite marvelous as the
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birds and goats seem to almost form the tree itself (22-23), their bodies nearly inextricable from the maze of the leaves and the branches. Gangu Bai then describes the ‘Mother of the Forest’ (24-25), verbally pointing to her painting of the Mother figure in red with the quintessential dots all across her body. Gangu Bai says, “She lives deep in the forest and protects those who go in there” (24). She also explains that when the Bhils venture deep it is for firewood, for cooking and then too, they “don’t take anything that is green and alive, only dry twigs” (24). The selfsustaining model of forestry and agriculture practiced by the Bhils, as depicted and described by Gangu Bai, becomes specially significant in its presentation as a children’s picture book in the international book market. In sensitizing children to other ways of perceiving this ‘multiverse’ and living lives in rhythm with the planet and its numerous selves, this book becomes important both in widening children’s perspectives and in appreciating different subject positions. At the same time, it is to be noted that Gangu Bai’s very narrative situates herself and her way of life as separate and different from that of the readers/viewers she addresses. Hence, the sense of ‘difference’ remains in all our interactions with Bhil art/narratives. Even in the videos of Bhuri Bai and Gangu Bai taking us through their art exhibits at the IGRMS (“Gangu Bai at IGRMS”, “Bhuri Bai at IGRMS”, “Painting”, “Gohari and Gatla”), they address the viewers with an awareness of different subjectivities. As they ‘explain’ their art, or parts of the intricate web of paintings across the walls and canvases provided to them, we get a sense of striving to enter a world-view, a manner of ‘seeing’ that is intrinsic to the Bhil eco-cosmo-vision, but perhaps, often quite separate from ours. The stories told through paintings and words, offer using Joni Adamson’s words, “a complex navigational system”, for understanding these
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tangled human-non-human relationships, acting like “living books” (261). Gangu Bai, in Tree Matters, also describes the dangers of the forest – the “bad” things that can happen to the explorer of the woods. “poisonous thorns…losing your way…wild animals…snakes…” (25). However, the Mother of the Forest protects the Bhils, allowing them to eat, guiding them to the places where they can gather dead wood. Stones are marked with a flag, to signify her presence, as she says, “stones are gods and goddesses too!” (25). The figure of the Mother Goddess though visually drawn out, really emerges as the forest presence, embodied in the form of the stones and the guiding spirit that allows the Bhils to live lives enmeshed with the “vibrant, nonhuman agencies” (Bennett 108) of the jungle. The coconstitutive materiality of this ecosystem, is what shines through the vivid paintings and stories of this text. The god Kasumer and the god Badadev also feature in Gangu Bai’s narrative (26-29), as their forms become the object of prayers by people losing their way or suffering from ill luck. The gods are always located under trees, and clay horses found near their shrines as people offer these when their wishes and vows are fulfilled. The painting of Badadev, “the Great God”, shows him as part of the banyan tree, the stone and the tree, both in green and dotted and connected by the painting (28). The interpenetration of bodies non-human and more than human is an important feature of these art narratives. Serpil Oppermann’s description of matter as “thick with stories” (Oppermann, “Material Ecocriticism and the Creativity” 55) is pertinent here. Every form of materiality is teeming with stories and embodies multiple stories of cosmology, geology, history and ecology. Just as material ecocriticism, according to Serpil Oppermann and Serenella Iovino sees the physical world as
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“storied matter” (Iovino and Oppermann1), with infinite “narrative agencies” infiltrating every imaginable space, making the world intelligible, Bhil forms of ‘seeing’ and “perspectival multiculturalism” (“Cosmological” 469) visualize and engage with the forest ecosystem as “a corporal palimpsest in which stories are inscribed” (Iovino, “Stories from” 451) The encounters between these entangled temporalities and spatialities creates further narratives and realities. Hence, the stones, trees, birds, animals, spirits, humans, all Kohnian “selves”, share in the semiotic processes of living in Gangu Bai and Bhuri Bai’s representations. In another video of Bhuri Bai available on the IGNCA archive titled “About Tree”, she describes her great pleasure in drawing trees and birds and peacocks and her wish to continue doing so in future. She displays her painting of a tree, with a hollowed trunk where she has incorporated figures of humans, birds and animals and explains that the tree acts as a home, a shelter, an indelible part of Bhil life. She says, “Trees also have hands and feet…It is about understanding. Like humans, trees also grow…hence I have shown this tree having a face…”2 Bhil art narratives thus visually and orally elaborate on the agency of the trees as active participants in life processes. Hence, material ecocriticism’s view of “distributive agency” in all material bodies, seeing the “material-semiotic network of human and non-human agents incessantly generating the world’s embodiments and events,” (Iovino and Oppermann 3) finds rich correspondence with indigenous eco-cosmo-visions such as described by Gangu Bai and Bhuri Bai amongst countless others, which naturally comprehend the ecosystem in terms of its entangled realities, or in David Abram’s words, “a community of expressive presences.” (173)
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In Tree Matters, Gangu Bai describes the importance of trees in the conduct of wedding celebrations in the village (3233). The Mango and Mahua trees are seen as auspicious for seating the wedding party under them. At the same time, the Neem is seen as a medicinal tree, but not suitable for purposes of celebration. The Khakra tree is equally important for its leaves which act as plates, with meals served on them (36-37). The trees drawn by Gangu Bai are different in each case, depicting the different ways the tree bodies intertwine with the human and non-human. Vandana Shiva, in Staying Alive, details the importance of retaining these precious reserves of indigenous knowledge of forests and natural forest management systems. It is with the entry of the British colonial system, that the highly evolved and sustainable systems of agriculture interlinked with forest produce, at the same time providing for renewal and regeneration of trees considered sacred, precious and necessary by indigenous women and their families deriving sustenance from such integrated processes, was replaced by a “one-dimensional, masculinist science of forestry.” (61). Forest ecosystems, when viewed only as timber resources, automatically generated and still generates instabilities in the delicately entwined lives of humans and non-human ‘selves’ existing in the enmeshed and interdependent web depicted by Gangu Bai and Bhuri Bai. Ignoring the “complex relationship within the forest community and between plant life and other resources like soil and water”, leads to a “counterproductive use of nature as a living and self-reproducing resource” (63), according to Shiva. Mahua, is described as “the Tree of Life” (38) in Tree Matters, as its flowers are used for making a special liquor, sacred to the Bhils. These flowers also act like a form of money for the Bhils, trading them for other necessities. The oil from the Mahua tree also has medicinal properties. Shiva, in her study
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also notes the way the tribals of Central India take care of this tree, “Women collect the fleshy corollas of its flowers which are eaten raw or cooked…The tree is never felled owing to the value of its flowers and fruits. Even when forest land is cleared for cultivation, the mohwa trees are carefully preserved and are found scattered over cultivated lands long after clearing has taken place” (Shiva, Staying Alive 57). In Gangu Bai’s illustrations, we see how she highlights the importance of these corollas, by drawing them spread over two pages, like bounty scattered by the Mahua tree (38-39). Bhuri Bai’s words in the video clip “About Tree” focus on her intimate bond with trees. She re-iterates that she wants to keep drawing, seeing and “believing” in trees. This is perhaps best seen in the paintings by Bhuri Bai collected in the IGNCA, depicting a confluence of village and city life, where she introduces the images from modern life in her depicted ecosystem. Thus in one of her paintings titled “Village and City Life Co-Exist”, from the IGNCA archives, we see an older model of a computer and a person typing at the keyboard, seated on a chair and other human figures on chairs seated close by. All these figures are however noticeably suspended in the matrix constituted of fish in the river, humans climbing up toddy trees, children and birds seated on trees, people travelling by a horse drawn carriage, others walking, and some others travelling by an automobile, even as deer and peacocks stream by. It is indeed a highly interconnected web of bodies and presences contributing to each other and participating in each other’s life processes. Incorporating the bodies of the computer and the automobile in this eco-web recognizes their contribution to Bhil life, at the same time asserting their presences as only part of a larger matrix, not undermining the significance and importance of other ‘selves’.
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The “Universal Declaration of Rights of Mother Earth” (UDRME) at the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, at Cochabamba, Bolivia in April 2010, declares Mother Earth as a “living being” (Article 1. 1) and “a unique, indivisible, self-regulating community of interrelated beings that sustains, contains and reproduces all beings” (Art 1. 2). Over 35,000 people including civil society groups, indigenous peoples organizations and grassroots climate justice activists present at the Conference and others participating from across the world through the internet, contributed to the working groups and discussions before emerging with the Declaration that has become an aspirational document for states across the world. The importance of seeing the Earth as a mother, is re-iterated by Shiva in an interview with Wilma Massuco, where she sees this signification as necessary to remembering all we have received from the earth. In thinking of the earth as dead and inert, she says, “we create illusions that money and welfare come from Wall Street and factories…We forget that for every factory the first material is contributed by the earth” (Shiva, “The Earth is Female” 3). In a similar vein, the Preamble to UDRME, 2010, gratefully acknowledges the debt to Mother Earth, the source of life and nourishment, providing all that is required “to live well”. The interdependence of the living community of beings is a constant refrain throughout the document, quite like the art narratives of Gangu Bai and Bhuri Bai described so far. Gita Wolf, of Tara Publishing, in an interview with Swapna Dutta, speaks about publishing books for children to which they turn to in pleasure, engaging with their creative faculties. She clarifies that she wants the books to enter the mainstream market, rather than occupying a niche (“Face to face”). V. Geetha, also part of the making of Tree Matters and Editorial
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director of Tara books, stresses on the necessity of opening up children to worlds beyond their immediate context. She hopes that, “a book makes a child pause, slow down, take in things at a different pace, and this activity is rewarding in itself ” (“Meet Geetha. V”). In the case of Tree Matters, every turn of the page is a visual delight and every reader, whether child or adult, would pause to experience the burst of colours and reflect on the nature of life depicted through these images, that often speak in parallel with the printed words, extending the processes of signification experienced in life to the printed page. Kohn’s notion of an “enchanted” world, “animate” (Kohn 16) with multiple and different kinds of “selves” engaged in creating meaning, takes on a visual dynamic through the art narratives discussed in this paper. Even though it is a human being painting these entangled bodies, for other humans to view/read or relate to, it tries to provide at least a sense of the “ecology of selves” (Kohn 17) through the non-linguistic, creating the ecological matrix of life as experienced and understood by the Bhil women. The eco-cosmo-visions described in these encounters between paintbrush, colours, canvas, earth and stories told across generations, provide new and distinct instruments of ‘seeing’ and comprehending the intricate ecological matrices inhabited by us. In face of rapidly changing Bhil lifestyle owing to more and more members of the community looking for work outside their traditional modes of living based on subsistence agriculture and forestry, these paintings and oratures by Gangu Bai and Bhuri Bai among others become a precious treasure trove of alternative approaches to the ecosystem we inhabit and point to the necessity of preserving and amplifying such voices as the world strives to continually reformulate its understanding of the multiverse we inhabit.
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1. In absence of pagination in Tree Matters, I have for purposes of citation numbered the pages myself, starting from the Title page to the last page with printed text. 2. Words originally spoken by Bhuri Bai in Hindi in the cited video from the IGNCA archives, translated by me.
WORKS CITED Abram, David. Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology. New York: Pantheon, 2010. Print. Adamson, Joni. “Source of Life.” Material Ecocriticism. Ed. Serenella Iovino and Serpil Oppermann. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2014. 253-268. Print. Bai, Gangu, Gita Wolf, and V. Geetha. Tree Matters. Chennai: Tara Books, 2014. Print. Bennet, Jane. Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things. Durham: Duke UP, 2010. Print. “Bhil Artists.” The Vibrant Bhils. Digital Archives of Bhil Culture and Art Form. n. d. Web. 6 Oct 2016. Bhuri Bai of Pitol. “About Tree.” Online video clip. Tribal Art and Culture of Madhya Pradesh & Rajasthan. IGNCA, 2009. Web. 9 Oct 2016. ......... “Bhuri Bai at IGRMS.” Online video clip. Tribal Art and Culture of Madhya Pradesh & Rajasthan. IGNCA, 2009. Web. 9 Oct 2016. ......... “Gohari and Gatla.” Online video clip. Tribal Art and Culture of Madhya Pradesh & Rajasthan. IGNCA, 2009. Web. 9 Oct 2016. ......... “Painting.” Online video clip. Tribal Art and Culture of Madhya Pradesh & Rajasthan. IGNCA, 2009. Web. 9 Oct 2016. ......... “Village and city life co-exist.” Digital image of painting. Tribal Art and Culture of Madhya Pradesh & Rajasthan. IGNCA, 2009. Web. 9 Oct 2016. Gangu Bai Bhil Artist of Madhya Pradesh. “Gangu Bai at IGRMS.” Online video clip. Tribal Art and Culture of Madhya Pradesh & Rajasthan. IGNCA, 2009. Web. 9 Oct 2016. Geetha, V. “Meet Geetha V. of Tara Books.” Interview by Praba Ram. Saffron Tree, 28 Jan 2015. Web. 13 Oct 2016.
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Haraway, Donna. “Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Plantationocene, Chthulucene: Making Kin.” Environmental Humanities 6 (2015): 159-165. Duke University Press journals Online. Web. 8 Oct 2016. Iovino, Serenella. “Stories from the Thick of Things: Introducing Material Ecocriticism. Part I of “Theorizing Material Ecocriticism: A Diptych” with Serpil Oppermann. ISLE. Spec issue on “Material Ecocriticism: Dirt, Waste, Bodies, Food, and Other Matter.” Ed. Heather I. Sullivan and Dana Phillips. 19. 3 (Summer 2012):449-460. Print. Kohn, Eduardo. How Forests Think: Towards an Anthropology Beyond the Human. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2013. Print. Oppermann, Serpil. “Material Ecocriticism and the Creativity of Storied Matter.” Frame 26. 2 (2013): 55-69. Shiva, Vandana. 1988. Staying Alive – Women, Ecology and Survival in India. New Delhi: Kali for Women, 2010. Print. ......... “The Earth is Female.” Interview by Wilma Massuco. EUGAD: European Citizens working for the Global development Agenda. 2007. Scribd. Web. 11 Oct 2016. “Universal Declaration of Rights of Mother Earth.” Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature. 2010. Web. 9 Oct 2016. Vivieros de Castro, Eduardo. “Cosmological Deixis and Amerindian Perspectivism. ”Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 4. 3 (1998):46988. JSTOR. Web. 15 Oct 2016. Wolf, Gita. “Face to Face with Gita Wolf, head of Tara Publishing.” Interview by Swapna Dutta. Paper Tigers, 2004. Web. 11 Oct 2016.
20 Anthropocentric Limits in Ecological Considerations: Towards A Green Orientation Gagana Bihari Purohit
“If you are to suffer, you should suffer in the interest of the country” –Jawaharlal Nehru”1
Anthropocene is no longer limited to its geopolitical considerations, it assumes a much broader significance in the context of potential threat to planetary challenges. It demands a radical inquiry into cultural, ethical, aesthetic, political and philosophical issues concerning ecology and environment. A dualistic and danger-defying concern has come into force where man has obdurately blurred the difference between “natural history” and “human history”. An urgent and intellectually reinvigorating thrust is increasingly becoming imperative to address the variegated ecological and climatic crisis. Pervasive and profound human intervention has made the planet a sort of terra incognita, rationality and comprehensibility of man being at stake. Parochial and anthropocentric interests have put man’s position, in relation to ecology, in jeopardy. Proposing an ardent philosophy of speciesism and utilitarianism, man has used the tool humanism to his advantage of finding a firm grip over
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nature and other forms of life. But the very foundation of humanism is shaky considering the prevalence of anthropocentric dominance which priortizes and essentialiazes man and his philosophy of humanism. Logocentric assumptions and the dualistic concerns have become the basic premise of anthropocene and Rene Descertes’s Discourse on Method, being the monumental and watershed document of humanism, believes in the premise that rationality, and rationality alone gives an all-important edge to man to rule over the rest of the world. This sense of superiority predominantly characterized by an element of rationality has become the success story of the man who fails miserably to distinguish between the human and nonhuman. The paper takes a dig at the very foundational claim of the humanism which is terribly inadequate to address ecological concerns being faced by the planet right now. THEORY AT WORK For any meaningful and proper ecological orientation – a comprehensive understanding of how human beings have made a mess of their environment and what possible means would be taken to rid the entire planet out of imminent extinction – man needs to redefine his role, taking ecological accounts into consideration. Humanities involve an inclusive discourse on human culture, which has complex nuances making it all the more difficult for the layman to grasp its dual rhetoric. Claude Levi Strauss’s observation of culture as “that which depends upon a system of norms regulating society and therefore is capable of varying from one social structure to another…” (Derrida 357) has taken nature to task. Culture does not dispense with the needs of other creatures, plant life included, for fulfilling only the human-specific needs. Culture prospers at the expense of nature, the more developed a culture is the lethal
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is the torture unleashed upon nature. The nature-culture face off has only one obvious winner in man, but the short term gain is the long term loss; man’s yeoman’s efforts to have a go at development, notwithstanding nature’s gall, has proved to be its bane time and again. Nature and culture could never be discrete elements (Coupe 187-192). The design of a new model bed is part of a cultural artifact which has nothing to do with a plant in the forest. But the dream of a bed remains incomplete without the support of teak wood in the forest foregrounds interconnectedness between nature and culture. However, with the immediate gain in the mind, the interpersonal relationship between nature and culture seems to be a far off reality. In short, we can conclude that nature and culture are continuous but differ only in their degree of appreciation and difference. The short description of the culture and nature proves that nature and culture can never be discrete but Strauss’ observation points to the contrast rather than a clear continuity. “Objective discreteness is conterminous with cognitive discreteness evident in the definition of subject” (Selvamony 6). Any understanding of ecology is based on the perception that human being is a separate entity in relation to natural world and the same has been interpreted in philosophy and critical theory as subjectobject or self-other dichotomy. This type of insight owes its origin to Christian theology and Lynn White’s essay, “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis” which corroborates this view: “Christianity in absolute contrast to paganism and Asia’s religions (except, perhaps, Zoroastrianism), not only established a dualism of man and nature but also insisted that its God’s will that man exploit nature for his proper ends”, laying stress on the historical roots of ecological debacle back to dualism. Such a philosophical dualism, discernable in the works
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of Descartes, has been a source of inspiration and model for humanities all over the world. An interesting story of dualism as its centre would serve our purpose well. Consider the story of human civilization in all its earnestness. Ancient civilization started in the river beds satisfied with fulfilling man’s basic needs of food, shelter and clothing surrounded by natural simplicity and sacred groves profoundly guided by their ancestral spirits. When easy access to resources attracted man to a power centre, long standing family values was replaced by nucleus family, deserting their own kith and kin. Values have easily been forgotten to meet selfish ends where a citizen is further removed from his own roots reducing him more to a status of an alien in his own surrounding. Selvamony sums up this uprootedness and dualism succinctly: “All that one can locate is the dismembered entity defined in terms of its opposition to the nature-sacred continuum resulting in a dualism of human and nature as well as human and the sacred” (6-7). The suggestion is for a “human dimension of all knowledge” (Miller and Spellmeyer xii) pointing out the gross inadequacy of human knowledge in a particular field. That is, man should possess an all-round ecological knowledge before embarking upon any adventure. The knowledge about a depleted atmosphere and the resultant health related ailment has undermined the festive fervor with which we used to celebrate the festival of lights and crackers, Diwali. We have to answer to and stand up for our own mistake which has no easy escape. The ancient Gurukul system reveled in man-nature harmony that educated the intellectuals of the time at par with the needs of the time. He had adequate knowledge about nature and its constituent parts but today a student has hardly any reach over nature (except, of course the view of a Zoo in a nonchalant manner which is more about participation than involvement).
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Man has pushed himself to the brink of extinction by his own misdemeanor. Our intellectual concern in this conference, which is too limited in its practical implication though, is about “transformative humanities which claims to be practical, innovative and future oriented” (Selvamony 7). Gary Synder, on the other hand, proposes “a new humanities” taking the homo sapiens experience into consideration, which finds a viable place for our “nonhuman kin” (Selvamony 7). It looks forward to a “post human” position “which would defend endangered cultures and species alike” (Sanders 128). “Panhumanism” (237) is the term he uses to subscribe to human and nonhuman symbiosis, where the former allows a little space, however small it may be, to the species of the planet. The exclusive position of man has been thwarted by thinkers like Hegel, Heidegger and Derrida. Hegel (1770-1831) addressed dualism problem from a subject position blurring the subject-object distinction in favour of a dialectic tirade, a social subject which is “the self-conscious, self-legislating social actor, which is both corporate and individual” “Subject”, Encyclopaedia of Marxism, Selvamony 8). In comparison to Hegel, Heidegger (1889-1976) makes a scathing attack on the dualistic humanism by employing a German term “Dasein” (being) in his seminal book Being and Time. He formulates the position of human as a being rooted to the world in a constitutive and inclusive manner. Participation in the worldly affairs, rather than a marked detachment, is the key to human being who possesses interest in matters other than himself. Derrida observes that “As center, it is the point at which the substitution of contents, elements, or terms, is no longer possible” (352). He makes way for a conceptual binary of centre and non centre, in opposition to a simple binary, by using conceptual tools like difference and play. Both of these engage in destabilizing the structure of the centre
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in an endless semiosis. Reference to opposition between centre and non centre or play and no-play would end up with the metaphysics of presence negating difference and play. Such a metaphysic presupposes the idea of “man and humanism, the name of man being the name of that being, who, throughout the history of metaphysics or of that ontology – in other words throughout his entire history – has dreamed of full presence, the reassuring foundation, the origin and end of the play” (370). Derrida seems to propose a “disruptive dualist relation” which probelmatizes the issue of humanism. Nietzsche (1844-1900) and Freud (1856-1939) played down Derrida’s epistemic structure; for the former repudiated good and evil, and truth and falsehood as absolute binary bodies, and Freud does not recognize the validity of rational over the irrational. In due course of time, the hierarchical and ontological paradigm came to include the environment, besides philosophy and theory. The English term environment gained currency by the German word “umgebennden aussenbelt” (the surrounding outside the world), Ernst Haeckelused in General Morphology of Organisms, (Vol 2. P. 286). From an inclusive term involving all organisms, the term environment came to refer to only human beings and their surroundings. This idea further gets authenticated in Cheryll Glotfelty when she argues that environment implies two things, anthropocentricism and dualism (The Ecocriticism Reader xx). Rose and Robin in The Ecological Humanities in Action: An Invitation have observed that ecological humanities is also based on the inclusive concept of humanities: … the humanities and social sciences are increasingly dedicating a portion of their scholarly agenda to the environment. Linked with disciplines this enlarged agenda gives us environmental economics, environmental politics, environmental anthropology, environmental philosophy and environmental history, to name a few. Each of these sub-disciplines is making significant contributions to the full arena
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of how we understand environments. How we understand society, history, democracy, and the future; how we may understand humanity more fully, and how we may intervene in the environmental crisis in order to secure a more stable and habitable future. They ask, in short, how we may avoid committing suicide through failure to enacting worldview shattering knowledge that the unit of the survival is the organism in recursive and mutually constitutive relationships with its environment.
This is an inclusive description of environment which considers the view that “land is the law” and “you are not alone in the world” thereby emphasizing coming together of species of the world for fulfilling the common goal of peaceful coexistence. TOWARDS A GREEN ECOLOGY Man’s love for trees has never been in question but it has also sprung its fair share of surprises when all attempts to prevent epidemics of deforestation prove terribly inadequate to check the onslaught of tree felling. The logic of how can we protect something we love so much and why do we fall short of the level of expectation is hard to understand. The sting of our wounded sensibility is shaped and sharpened in Peter Wohlleben’s The Hidden Life Trees. Being an instant success, the book has seen more than twenty translations, striking a deal, rightly so, with eco-conscious readers. There is nothing significant that breaks new ground in the context of the book, but the human and amicable approach is all that makes the book more pertinent to get rid of a danger of global proportion. The German environmentalist’s intimate experience in the forest where trees ‘talk’ to each other, raised their own offspring, look after the sick, and take independent decisions depending upon demands and context of the situation projects trees as nothing less than human beings bearing upon
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the bond of a family. Apart from its open structure, the book is replete with anecdotes and apt observations which is sure to attract the attention of the sensible readers. The proud proclamation of the “book-jacket” that “readers will never be able to take a walk in the woods in the same way again” (Hindu Literary Review 5) sounds optimistic from the view point of our argument. He invents many reasons to save trees from the wrath of the man. In the words of the reviewer Aditya Sudarsan, We learn how oak trees, being nibbled on by insects, will not only release toxins into their bark to put off the attacker, but also inform all the neighbouring trees of the threat, so that they can do the same. Oaks accomplish this communication via underground fungal networks that connect to the root tips of the trees – the ‘wood wide web’. (Other trees such as acacia release scent signals that are carried to their neighbours on the wind). And the wood wide web is also used by the healthy trees to nourish the sick trees with sugar solutions, and by parent trees to feed – or as Wohlleben puts it – ‘to suckle’ their children (5)
In addition to being one of the fastest growing unacknowledged crimes in the global context, downsizing tree culture is a ruthless and thriving business for an industrialised sprawling economy. An unknown danger has taken its iron grip on humanity, at large. It seems there is no way out of this impasse. In such a scenario, the book’s claims may become an over emphasized mission. Nevertheless, it posits glimmer of a hope in the mirage of ecological disaster. Wohlleben argues, The average tree grows its branches out until it encounters the branch tips of the neighbouring trees of the same height…The trees don’t want to take anything away from each other; and so they develop sturdy branches only at the outer edges of their crowns, that is to say, early in the direction of ‘non friends’. Such partners are often so tightly connected at the roots that sometimes they even die together. (qtd. in Sudarshan 5)
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The author seems to balance the writing with a heart without being carried away by pomp and show of emotions. The book has words of appreciation even though it receives stings of criticism for “unduly anthropomorphizing the behavior of trees.”(5) Any scientific intervention would delete all emotional attachment to the book but the phrases like “trees suckle their children” and “when trees are really thirsty they begin to scream”(5), an oblique reference to vibration felt by the tree trunk due to water shortage indicate nothing but familiar and emotional involvement. It would go a long way to undermine the one-upmanship of anthropocentricism by possessing a tree-friendly knowledge and showing empathy to forest practices. The purpose of our green orientation would be served a world of good when Wohlleben contends that, It is okay to use wood as long as trees are allowed to live in their species and that means that they should be allowed to fulfill their social needs, to grow in a true forest environment on undisturbed ground, and to pass their knowledge onto the next generation. And at least some of them should be allowed to grow old with dignity and finally die a natural death. (5)
Though not free from limitation, this kind of an opinion holds good for our present purpose, but a simple and working knowledge of humanizing a tree cannot put a check-mate to our ruthless exploitation of green ecology. Animals have not been spared either from meeting personal needs of the human beings where profit and pleasure are important to our belated insight into depletion of natural phenomena. Wohellben being a practicing forester could hardly separate himself from the profit-motif but his attempt deserves accolades as it gives a human approach of empathizing with nature where nature and culture are not discreet but two sides of the same coin.
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MAN-NATURE CONTINUITY Man knows for sure that trees are his life line but excess greed for mercenary and meretricious interests makes him blind to adverse effects of ecological imbalance. To get rid of such a peril we need to develop a theory of eco-consciousness that would put away all our egoistic considerations for the long term survival of the humanity as a whole. We know pretty well that our survival depends on the oxygen intake that we get directly from trees and in turn trees absorb our carbon dioxide emission for a pollution free atmosphere. We have to strike out a perfect balance between tress and men so that each gets perfect support base from other for his or its very survival. The sooner we realize it, the better for the humanity and we must know the simple philosophy of live and let live vision for peaceful coexistence of every single species of the planet earth. Doubts crop up over the conspicuous functioning of the humanism where self-centered interests get priority over the collective vision of well-being. Hence we should devise a post humanist perspective to counter the challenges from the anthropogenic world order. This sort of humanism posits the view that man is viewed from the dominant subject position with respect to race, culture, class, religion, nature, gender etcetera. The “epistemic shift” from human-centric world to ecocosmopolitan world view has come here to stay, demanding a paradigm shift in the role-play involving man and totality of life represented by the ecosystem. An “ecocosmopolitan perspective” is in vogue to comply with the post humanist logic of acknowledging the redundancy of all pervasive human interference in an interconnected planetary corpus. The paper intends to conclude with series of inquisitive concerns as to
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what constitutes the basis of fighting the eroding ecological ethics. Can the intended pact between philosophies of post humanism and ecocosmopolitianism effectively counter grave dangers surrounding the planet earth? Can we think about the concept of a green planet again? The question concerning the green orientation today is a foregrounding of the theoretical findings with some practical import, and the sooner we realize it the better would be our chances of survival. The wrath of climate change and global warming is working against the green ecology and we have to reflect upon alternative ways of exploring and safeguarding future of ecology and more importantly, the sustainability of man. If it is not enough for man, nothing will ever be and it is high time we realized the importance of a green orientation in order to avoid any eventual threat of extinction. CONCLUSION In short, proper ecological orientation will continue to be humanity’s soul and lifeline and can be ignored or looked down upon only at our planet’s peril. Ecological morass is hardly a zero-sum game and man has to deal with and adjust to such a delicate issue for peaceful coexistence of both man and his immediate environment. He should leave no bridge unbuilt across the geopolitical and ideological spectrum to cope with a disruptive construct of ideas; nothing more than a right’s assertion, a war of attrition aiming at outwitting each other would end up with a bloody game of one up man-ship. The rift has become too wide for any real and long lasting reconciliation. It is high time man complies with the rights of ecological equilibrium.
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NOTES 1. Jawaharlal Nehru addressed a gathering on the eve of opening up of and dedicating the Hirakud Dam to the nation. What this small but crucial statement refers to is the onset of man’s exploitation of ecology for his personal use.
WORKS CITED Allaby, Michael. Thinking Green: An Anthology of Essential Ecological Writing. London: Barie & Jenkins, 1989. Print. Coupe, Laurence, ed. The Green Studies Reader: From Romanticism to Ecocriticism. London: Routledge, 2000. Print. Derrida, Jaques. “Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences”. Writing and Difference. Trans. Allan Bass. London and New York: Routledge, Indian rpt, 2003. Print. Descartes, Rene. Discourse on Method and the Meditations. Trans. F. E. Sutcliffe, London: Penguin Books. 1968. Print. Epestein, Mikhail. “The Transformative Huamnities: What, Why and How to Transform” 31 July 2014. https://www. dur. ac. uk/chi/tasks/1/ Glotfelty, Cheryll and Harold Fromm. Ed. The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology. Athens and London: The University of Georgia Press, 1996. Print. Heidegger, Martin. Being and Time. Trans. John Macquarrie & Edward Robinson. London: Harper Perennial Modern Thought, 2008. Print. Merchant, Carolyn. “The Death of Nature”, Environmental Philosophy: From Animal Rights to Radical Ecology. Ed. Michael E. Zimmerman, Prentice Hall, 1998, 277-290. Print. Miller Richard E. and Kurt Spellmeyer. ed. The New Humanities Reader. Boston & 21 New York: Houghton Miffin Company, 2006. Print. Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Birth of Tragedy and the Genealogy of Morals. Trans. Francis Golffing. Doubleday, 1956. Print. Plumwood, Val. Feminism and the Mastery of Nature. Routledge, rpt 2003. Print. ......... “Environmental Culture”: The Ecological Crisis of Reason, Routledge, rpt 2006. Print.
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Rose, Deborah and Libby Robin. “The Ecological Humanities in Action: An Invitation” Australian Humanities Review 31-32,April,2004 web 6 Mar, 2015. https://www. australianhumanitiesreview. org/archive/issueApril-2004/rose. html Selvamony, Nirmal. “Considering the Humanities Ecotheoretically”, JCT 40 (Winter), 2014. 5-20. Strauss, Claude Levi. Totemism. Trans. Rodney Needham. London: Merlin Press, rpt, 1991. Print. Sudarshan, Aditya. “A Walk in the Woods”, “Wohlleben Says Trees Talk, Suckle Their Young and Nourish Sick Neighbours.” The Hindu Literary Review, Sunday Oct 9, 2016. Synder Gary. “Plain Talk”, Turtle Island, New York: New Direction Books, rpt.,1974. Print. ......... A Place in Space: Ethics, Aesthetics and Watersheds: New and Collected Prose. Berkeley: Counter Point, 1995. Print. ......... The Practice of the Wild. Sanfrancisco: North Point Press, 1990. Print.
Part V. Eco-Theology and Eco-Ethics
21 Natural Supernaturalism and Tribal Ecotheology in Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar’s The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey Asis De
Eco-theology, broadly speaking, is a field of knowledge that involves our understanding of ecology within one/multiple theological context/s and necessarily addresses the relationship between God/ the Divine, human beings and the non-human creations on earth (Dell 56-69), or, to be a little more broad, “between God, humanity and the cosmos” (Deane-Drummond xii). The intercommunion of this ‘three-way’ dialectic in the context of experiential faith prepares the fundament for any sort of ecotheological discussion. Like the Christian pattern of theological dialectic, the Indian tribals do believe in the role of their own ‘Supreme Being’ or Sing Bonga, who has created the earth and the creatures on it. Unlike the Christian paradigm of theological dialectic that insists only on the role of God, the Supreme Being reigning over all forms of ‘His’ Creation, the Indian tribals believe more on lesser gods and deities as they live mostly in close association with nature, away from the mainstream non-tribal population. In India, tribal theology seems to include the presence of spirits/ghosts and thus tends to extend the theological dimension quite closer to animism. There is always a nature-human beings-spirit continuum in the
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tribal vision of life. In this paper, I would focus mainly on the major Indian tribal community known as the Santhal, whose religion called ‘Sarna’ promotes eco-theological practices and substantially contribute to the belief that behind every ‘natural’ event, there should be supernatural workings and what is supernatural is in a way, natural as well. In this paper, I would attempt an exploration of the fiction written by contemporary Anglophone Indian writer Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar, who is himself a tribal (Santhal) and shares his concern with his readers about the element of the ‘mysterious’. His debut novel The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey (2014) is my primary case study where the issue of witchcraft allegedly practised by tribal women and accepted by the tribal society, focuses on a neurophenomenological dimension of tribal culture and religion. The title of the narrative is fairly responsive to the line of my argument, as the word ‘Ailment’ – a noun, connotative of the ‘natural’ state of a sick human being, is preceded by the word ‘Mysterious’, which certainly incorporates a ‘supernatural’ dimension and lays emphasis on the grey zone of human logic and understanding. ‘Natural Supernaturalism’, being a term more popularized by M. H. Abrams as he uses it as the title of one of his books, commonly refers to the ‘supernatural’ elements perceived to be latent in the natural forms, or the miraculous in the common and everyday course of things. Originally used as the name of the eighth chapter of Book III in Thomas Carlyle’s Sartor Resartus (1836), this term refers to the ‘mysterious’ grey zone of human mind that leads one to “the unknown Deep” (320) through the known natural forms around us: “Witchcraft… and Demonology, we have now named Madness, and Diseases of the Nerves. Seldom reflecting that still the new question comes upon us: What is Madness, what are Nerves? Ever, as before, does Madness remain a mysterious-terrific, altogether infernal
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boiling-up of the Nether Chaotic Deep, through this fairpainted Vision of Creation, which swims thereon, which we name the Real” (313). This Carlylean concept includes the notion of an unexplainable “mysterious-terrific” as a part of the organic wholeness of the world. It is very true that Carlyle as a ‘Calvinist without Theology’, “nowhere expresses a belief in a ‘supernatural’ Deity” (Timko 36), and his idea of the ‘Natural Supernaturalism’ has hardly anything straightforward connection with issues like witchery and magic but the intuitive self of Carlyle was subtly inspired by his reading of German philosophy, be it Goethe’s ‘Worship of Sorrow’, or Kant’s ‘Transcendental Philosophy’. Carlyle’s idea of the mystery of ‘man as a ghost’, his sense of wonder at the infinite spirituality of the Universe and its organic unity and his rejection of the ‘precision’ of human reason, in a way emphasize a dialectic that hinges equally on the ‘supernatural’ as on everything that human mind accepts as ‘natural’. At this point, as it seems to me, the Carlylean notion of the ‘Natural Supernaturalism’ has something to do with some essential ideas in the Sarna pantheon – the manifestation of the supernatural in the natural forms of ‘Creation’ and Nature as an organic unity of both the intelligible and the unintelligible. Prof. K. P. Aleaz in his article ‘A Tribal Theology from a Tribal World-view’ observes: “An awareness of being one with the whole of creation is the spiritual foundation of the tribal people” (21: my emphasis). In her article ‘Asian Gothic’, Katarzyna Ancuta observes rightly that “in many parts of Asia, spiritual encounters are part of routine daily existence, since the earthly and the spiritual worlds are seen as coexistent” (430). The tribal people of India do also believe in the existence of a spiritual world simultaneously with the ‘natural’ world around them, and their religio-cultural practice often leads to an animistic eco-gothic kind of consciousness. The proximity of tribal religion to
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animism promotes the belief in magic and witchery, and such belief “conceives of man as passing through a life surrounded by a ghostly company of power (powers), elements mostly impersonal in character” (Vidyarthi and Rai 237). Most of the major Indian tribal people including the Santhals believe that the trees, rivers, mountains and even animals around may be abodes of spirits. To them, both benevolent and malevolent spirits shape human destiny: it is due to the malevolent spirits that diseases and epidemics, scarcity of water and rain, low fertility of soil happen. The Santhals of Chhotanagpur, whose ecotheological belief is at the very center of discussion in context of this paper, do believe that to prevent the ominous influence of the malevolent spirits and their magical powers, every devout Sarna should worship Marang-Buru and Jaher-Ayo – the “most revered couple of the Sarna pantheon – the Father and the Mother” (MARB 25). The socio-cultural order of a Santhal village is maintained by five administrative members – the ‘Majhi’, ‘Paranick’, ‘Jog-Majhi’, ‘Godeth’ and the ‘Naikey’, all of whom do believe in the ecotheological dialectic of the Sing Bonga and his associates Marang-Buru and Jaher-Ayo, as well as in the power of malevolent spirits, and the negative forces of magic and witchery. In The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey, Sowvendra informs his readers in detail: “The shrine of Marang-Buru and Jaher-Ayo is the holiest spot in the jaher…. It is at the jaher that the gods ascend the bodies of mediums. The mediums are all men and even Jaher-Ayo, a female deity, climbs on to the body of a man. Amongst Santhals, women’s bodies are not considered appropriate vessels to receive gods” (MARB 25: my emphasis).
Here, the word “appropriate” goes close to the sense of being ‘natural’, and which is why, in Santhal religio-cultural space, “women’s bodies” are supposed to be ‘natural’ “vessels” to receive negative forces like spirits, and quite naturally, some
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women in Santhal society are believed to be practitioners of witchery, or ‘dahni-bidya’. What is amazing, this Santhal belief in the power of the woman as ‘dahni’, is often taken for granted by the society to be ‘natural’, as Sowvendra unravels in his novel the mind of Somai Haram, a senior ‘Majhi’ (headman of the Santhal village) who reflects: “Santhal men drink haandi (local beer produced from rice), Santhal women practise dahni-bidya (witchcraft), and no one speaks about it. It is as natural as the wind blowing through the trees in a sarjom grove, as water flowing in the Kadamdihi stream.” (MARB 37) A totemic kind of ecotheological practice – the naming of Santhal villages associated with the names of certain trees, is evident in Sowvendra’s naming of the major locales like ‘Kadamdihi’ (named after Kadam tree), ‘Tereldihi’ (named after Terel or Kendu tree) and ‘Lowadihi’ (named after ‘Lowa’ or Fig tree) in his narrative. Thoughany reader may oppose my interpretation of these village-names by insisting on the location of those villages inside the forest and therefore, point out the possibility of an ecological association of those village-names in place of an ecotheological one. However, it is no denying the fact that ecological consciousness finds its way throughout the narrative. Hansda uses images of flower and animal to describe his heroine: “Rupi blushed like a joba-kusum in full bloom” (MARB 19), or, “Rupi remained doubled up in shyness like a pangolin” (MARB 20; my emphases). The very beginning of the novel depicting Rupi giving birth to her first child while “transplanting rice saplings” (MARB 1) in the paddy field may be seen as metaphoric of the relationship of the tribal people with nature – a relation of life. The central theme of witchery has been represented with all its mysterious and terrific association of spirits and apparitions with Santhal women: “So many women possessed
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the skill, the knowledge of the dark practices” (MARB 32). Just after her marriage with Sido Baskey, when Rupi arrives at Kadamdihi, she learns that the widow of the neighbouring Naikay family is a witch, who roams around the village with her compatriots on full moon nights, dances naked beside the river and even devours human beings or animals, if they find any. The belief that the Santhal women who know the art of witchery, roam about the riverbank or the dark forest in konami (full moon) nights also upholds a relationship between the supernatural and the natural. Still, the way the novel deals with the issue of Bairam Master’s death, surely hints at the relation between the ‘natural’ and the ‘supernatural’ issue of witchery practised by his wife Gurubari: “Bairam died on one konami night. It was a simple death; he did not suffer. Of course, it could never be proven, but everyone said that his death was just one more instance of Gurubari’s skill” (MARB 183). The chapters of the narrative which depict life of the Baskeys at Chakuliya or Nitra, places close to mining and industrial areas, lack the representation of tribal life in association with nature. In these chapters, the reader could well notice Sowvendra’s musings over the slowly transforming cultural space of the Santhal society by the wave of globalization and its socioeconomic impacts. Faith, whether on the good gods, on religious functions, or even on the supernatural workings of spirits and dahnis, “slipped into crisis” (MARB 158) with change of values from an ecotheological belief-system to perfunctory rituals: “But now, the people of Kadamdihi had stopped worshipping their gods. The Baha and Maak-Moray festivals were not being organized anymore. The jaher had turned into a jungle. Furthermore, the Santhals of Kadamdihi had started depending on frauds to protect their village and their faith, as was evident from the number of people who had become members of a cult called the Marang Buru
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Sabha…. where the followers gathered to chant Marang-Buru! Marang-Buru! Marang-Buru! – as if Marang-Buru was a Hindu deity who could be propitiated with chants.” (MARB 179-180)
Sowvendra makes a sharp distinction between the Hindu system of ritual and the ecotheological belief-system of the tribal Santhals. The charm of the narrative rests mostly on the depiction of tribal life from inside and the depiction of the tribal cultural space and its relation with nature. At the very final chapter of the novel Sowvendra does not resolve the issue of Rupi Baskey’s “mysterious” ailment, as the title of this chapter indicates: ‘The Cure? Well, Almost’. The word “almost” is probably connotative of the dilemma between belief and disbelief and it certainly denies any final verdict of a physician-writer. Modern technology and science have entered the life of tribal people in the twenty-first century, as the narrator shows in the final chapter: in his wedding, Bishu – Rupi Baskey’s second son, gets “a mobile phone, a colour TV with a DTH connection for their household” (MARB 205). Even religio-cultural hybridity seems to take place when Bishu’s wife Rupali performs the evening rituals: “Rupali, like diku women, washed her hands and feet, sprinkled some water over her head and lit dhup-batti whose fragrance wafted through the hut” (MARB 206: my emphasis). Life in reality rolls on in its own natural pace, and the narrative ends with a final dream-vision of Rupi where the past rises up from her memory to meet the present in an apparently unaltered cyclic motion: in this wishfulfilling dream Rupi finds her husband Sido, brother-in-law Doso, her mother-in-law Putki and even her long-dead father-inlaw Khorda Haram in his unique tea-sipping mood along with her daughter-in-law Rupali and her little son playing around the house; she also finds herself completely natural – “her face peaceful, her body free of suffering”, and she remains lying “on
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the parkom under the dogor tree thinking: Just like me, just like me” (MARB 208: my emphasis). The “dogor tree” that Rupi finds even in her dream, is emblematic/totemic of Rupi herself, because when she arrived as the new bride at Kadamdihi, her beauty was compared with the ‘dogor flower’ by an elderly lady: “So fair, just like the dogor flower. I think I can see her sitting under the dogor tree already” (MARB 74). Rupi’s final thought (“Just like me, just like me”) is suggestive of a tribal worldview, where the pattern of life is cyclic and remains unaltered by time: life is expected to roll on through generations with all its teachings and gospel-values, materiality and spirituality and should be perceived as an organic whole. The interplay of the natural and the supernatural constitutes the ‘mysterious’ element in the spatial canvas of tribal eco-theology. WORKS CITED Aleaz, K. P. “A Tribal Theology from a Tribal World-view” Indian Journal of Theology 44. 1&2 (2002): 20-30. Print. Ancuta, Katarzyna. “Asian Gothic”, A New Companion to The Gothic. Ed. David Punter. Malden/ Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. 428-441. Print. Carlyle, Thomas. Sartor Resartus. Web. 4 Oct. 2016. http://www. sandroid. org/GutenMark/wasftp. GutenMark/MarkedTexts /srtrs10. pdf Deane-Drummond and Cecilia E. Preface, Eco-theology. London: Saint Mary’s Press, 2008. Print. Dell, Katherine. “The Significance of the Wisdom Tradition in the Ecological Debate”. Ecological Hermeneutics: Biblical, Historical and Theological Perspectives. New York: T & T Clark International, 2010. 56-69. Print. Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar. The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey. Aleph: New Delhi, 2014. Print. Timko, Michael. Carlyle and Tennyson. London: Macmillan, 1988. Print. Vidyarthi, L. P. and B. K. Rai, The Tribal Culture of India (1976). New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company, 1985 (second reprint). Print.
22 Gitanjali (Song Offerings): The Aesthetics of Eco-Spirituality Kalikinkar Pattanayak
Gitanjali, the masterpiece of Rabindra Nath Tagore, which won the Nobel Prize in 2013 for its inherent idealistic tendency embodies the inner dimension of eco-spirituality; Tagore emerges as an acknowledged poet and an unacknowledged environmentalist of the world. The phrase ‘unacknowledged environmentalist’ is appropriate in the context that a man of science is supposed to be an environmentalist and poetry outwardly appears to be the antithesis of science. But in reality it is not so. A poet can inculcate eco-consciousness in millions of people and, thus, become an environmentalist. The purpose of this paper is to revisit Gitanjali and show Tagore as an ecospiritualist-a poet who conceives of God as the supreme conservationist and harmony as the law of the universe. The first section of this paper introduces the aims of writing this paper. The second section spells out what ecospirituality is. It discusses etymological meaning, principles of eco-spirituality as propounded by sisters Mary and propagated by Inter-Community Ecological Council. In this section Tagore is looked upon as the father of modern spiritual ecology or ecospirituality as Dr. M. S. Swaminathan, the father of green
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revolution, is branded as ‘father of economic ecology’ (50 Timeless Scientists 92) It also highlights the nature of aesthetics of Rabindranath Tagore. It also attempts to show that the contents of Gitanjali are determined by the ideas of eco-spirituality. It also emphasizes that eco-spirituality is scientific in character. The third section analyses the passages from Tagore’s Gitanjali which focus on the aesthetics of Eco-Spirituality. The fourth section is the conclusion in which Tagore’s poetic genius is brought to light in context of eco-spirituality. “Eco-spirituality’ is derived from two words: ‘ecology’ and ‘spiritual’. ‘Ecology’ means the study of environment and the way plants, animals and humans live together and affect each other.” (Rundell 442) ‘Spiritual’, as the lexicographers agree unanimously, connotes ‘relating to or affecting the human spirit and soul as opposed to material or physical things’. If we combine the meanings of two words to comprehend the new word ‘eco-spirituality’ it would mean that some invisible powers, whom we may call God, control and affect the relationship among plants, animals and humans. The principles of ecospirituality as propagated by Inter-Community Ecological Council are: ‘conscious evolution’, ‘sacred relationship’, ‘collective wisdom’, ‘mutual learning’, ‘conscious choice’, ‘inclusivity’ and above all ‘celebration’. These phrases need to be understood in proper perspective. In fact conscious evolution is opposed to natural evolution; sacred relationship is the antithesis of chaotic relationship,: collective wisdom is opposed to individual learning, mutual learning is preferred to mechanical learning. Conscious choice is opposed to unconscious desires, impulses and drives. Inclusivity is the antonym of exclusivity: celebration of life is pitted against worrying over life. Thus, the inner dimensions of eco-spirituality cannot be expressed in a
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very few words but the quintessence of eco-spirituality is the comprehension and creation of harmony. The idea of eco-spirituality is scientific. Science demonstrates that everything in the natural world is made up of sheer energy. As humans, our thought patterns radiate this energy out to the cosmos and the cosmos returns it to us in the same manner. Eco-spirituality stretches humanity to be allinclusive and recognizes our mutual relationship with the natural world. It is based upon the Wordsworthian perception that ‘a motion and a spirit that impels through’ all beings or things. In Gitanjali Tagore explores man’s relationship with the universe with God in the center. The seer-poet opens out the avenues to live and think that honor creation. The poet with the magic of words creates a culture that fosters love and respect for the universe and all that is. This masterpiece opens with a remark, “thou hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure” (Tagore 1). The poet discovers infinite possibilities in himself, that is, in Man. Here he echoes Shakespeare who exclaims in Hamlet, ‘what a piece of work is Man!’ Again he means that it is due to the pleasure and grace of God. Man is the crown of creation. Thus in Gitanjali ‘I’ or ‘me’ is subordinated to God-the ego is powerless before devotion. It is the divine that controls the environment. Hence the contact or communion with the divine is a must in order to avert natural disasters or create an ideal ecosphere. Without the grace of God it is impossibility. Hence it is desirable for a human, either individually or collectively to surrender before the divine. Tagore who is a distinguished aesthetician and a musical genius offers songs composed in his soul to God, the Master of the environment for its betterment. Sisir Kumar Ghosh explores the essence of Tagore’s aesthetics and comments aptly and brilliantly in the following passage:
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Here Rabindranath is a paradigm, an exception or a warning, as you please. Beauty will save the world, said Dostoevsky’s Prince. As against the horrors and uglifications of history and the environment, such should be our faith too. Against the cannon’s roar the jasmine song, that was how Tagore put it. (103)
An apostle of peace, Tagore prefers ‘the jasmine song’ to ‘cannon’s roar’. He comprehended and experienced the quintessence of Indian culture that is Shanti, Peace that is beyond understanding. Shantiniketan, the Abode of peace, built by Tagore the poet of Gitanjali, aims at creating an environment that leads man from ego-consciousness to eco-consciousness because such an adventurous journey in the realm of consciousness is essential for peace. The aesthetics of poetry of Tagore, specially Gitanjali are woven round the principles of eco-spirituality, which are rooted in the creation of an ideal human environment. Gitanjali embodies passages which delineate eco-spirituality. The poem no. XXXV in Gitanjali pictures an environment which is freed from human vices that plague life: Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high: Where knowledge is free; Where the world had not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; Where words come out from the depth of truth; Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection; Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit; Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever widening thought and action– Into that, heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. (40)
This poem highlights the conditions for what our environment should be. Tagore is dissatisfied with the existing environment and wants the reader to rethink over it. The poet prays to the Almighty to purify human character. He turns down
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all kinds of superstitions, dogmas that pollute the atmosphere. In fact the lines get pregnant with collective wisdom; they plead for connection-the connection that is spiritual. The humans irrespective of their caste, religion and nationality can be emotionally and spiritually integrated if they are cultured. Tagore is a master in the use of metaphors and alliterations. He denounces the customs and practices which are no longer useful for the society. The repetition of the word ‘where’ is an incessant search for the environment where progressive ideas are aired. In fact, he echoes oriental ideology about freedom, progress, peaceful co-existence and eco-spirituality. Hence he deliberately uses the word ‘heaven’ which is associated with spiritual progress and transformation of ecosphere. Tagore, the poet of spiritual ecology, makes his role clear – he is just an instrument in the hands of the Almighty to sing songs that celebrate life in the purest form. He annihilates his own ego which is the anti-thesis of divinity. The poet says in the poem XV: I am here to sing thee songs. In this hall of thine I have a corner seat. In thy world I have no work to do; my useless life can only break out in tunes without a purpose. When the hour strikes for thy silent worship at the dark temple of midnight, command me, my master, to stand before thee to sing. When in the morning air the golden harp is tuned, honour me, commanding my presence. (18)
In the above poem God is the Master of the environment. He is the real doer; the poet is the beggar – he begs strength, mercy, honour-all the human values that contribute to congenial
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atmosphere. Thus human values, the quality of music and worship are determined by the grace of God. Thus spirituality, specifically eco-spirituality, is the breath and finer spirit of Gitanjali. Tuning, that is, balancing, is a fine word used in context of ecological balance. In the tone of a protestant, Tagore does not like chanting in his place of work. He discovers God in the tilling of the field or the breaking of the stones-the humble acts which the humans perform for their survival. He writes in poem no XI: Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads! Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut? Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee! He is there where the tiller is tilling he hard ground and where the path-maker is breaking stones. He is with them in sun and in shower, and his garment is covered eith dust. Put off thy mantle and even like him come down on the dusty soil! (11)
Tagore discovers God in the activities of the poor, the humble, the weak and the neglected. Here one reminds of what Pope Benedict XVI says: The environment is God’s gift to everyone, and in our use of it we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations and towards humanity as a whole.
The tillers and the daily labourers have much to contribute to beautify and preserve the environment. The poet gives the picture of tilling and breaking stones where he discovers God. The poem XIX breathes an air of optimism and delineates the poet’s complete surrender before the Almighty:
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If thou speaks not I will fill my heart with thy silence and endure it. I will keep still and wait like the night with starry vigil and its head bent low with patience. The morning will surely come, the darkness will vanish, and thy voice pour down in golden stream breaking through the sky. Then thy words will take wing in sounds from every one of my birds’ nests, and thy melodies will break forth in flowers in all my forest groves. (19)
The poem above highlights the mystic apprehension of the divine which requires a process of self-purification or selfdiscipline. If every individual disciplines himself/herself he will contribute to ecology in his own way. Tagore the eco-spiritualist is a model before them. The sensitive poet is groping for light, the light of wisdom which is essential for protection of environment. The poem XXVII contains lines which focus on: Light, oh, where is the light? Kindle it with the burning fire of desire! It thunders and the wind rushes screaming through the void. The night is black as a black stone. Let not the hours pass by in the dark. Kindle the lamp of love with thy life. (Tagore 31)
Darkness, rain and thunder – all symbolize impediments in the path of eco-spirituality but they are overcome if the heart burns with the fire of divine love constantly and brightly. Thus, it is devotion, the love sublime and pure for the Lord, is essential for making the cosmos a beautiful place to live in. In his article The Cosmology of Life and Mind Gorge Wald the Nobel Laureate scientist holds: … we find ourselves in a universe that breeds life and possesses the very particular properties… the more deeply one penetrates, the more remarkable and subtle fitness of this universe for life appears.” (Singh 27)
The Universe is the fit place for the humans, the insects and the animals to survive. The only thing is that, we must
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examine the environment closely and take necessary measures for our survival. Tagore has penetrating eyesight and profound love for nature. He discovers rhythm and harmony in the universe. He sings in poem V: Today the summer has come at my window with its sighs and murmurs; and the bees are playing their minstrelsy at the court of the flowering grove. Now it is time to sit quiet, face to face with thee and to sing dedication of life in this silent and overflowing leisure. (5)
Tagore perceives joys even in the murmuring of the bees and the flowering of the plants. His delight in nature is instinctive. He loves nature instinctively and deeply and through nature he perceives the presence of God. Nature sometimes acts as the catalyst, sometimes, as the means of communion with the divine but all the while, is lively and vibrant. While Tagore was planning to visit England in 1920 his father put a question about his mission. Tagore replied that he had to go out to “give wings to his creativity” (Simran 27). Tagore proceeded to London with Gitanjali. The recitation of Gitanjali before a select audience drew applause. The audience shouted: ‘it is magic, simply magic, the poets writes magic’! Infact Gitanjali stirs imagination. It is the magicality of the verse that arrests attention and instills noble feelings about the creation of an ideal environment, in which the powers above are sure to play a role. The power is not political but spiritual. To acquire spiritual power divine music, that is, song from the core of the heart is a must. Tagore agrees with Shakespeare that music is the food of soul and only through divine music the descent of God’s grace is a possibility.
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To conclude, if Gitanjali is read in a proper frame of mind a perceptive reader dreams of the earth as an ideal place to live in, despite ecological crises: pollution of air and water and continual depletion of natural resources because here is the poet who focuses on the proper utilization of human resources. Human potentialities are best utilized when man looks upon God as the father, nature as the mother, man as the brother and pain as the neighbour. Gitanjali deals with sublime ideas in a style: succinct, lucid and lofty. The opening lines of Gitanjali read as follows: thou hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure. This frail vessel thou emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life (1).
The poet celebrates life; he focuses on infinite possibilities of man. It is God who is the doer and poet is just an instrument – a vessel. The closing lines of Gitanjali read as follows: Like a flock of homesick cranes flying night and day back to their mountain nests let all my life take its voyage to its eternal home in one salutation to thee (119).
The poet longs to undertake the journey to his eternal home from his mundane abode. The ‘home’ is symbolic representation of an ideal environment where God dwells. The sojourn in this world is transient. In As You Like It, Shakespeare views man to be an actor but Tagore pictures man as a ‘voyager’ in Gitanjali. The ‘voyager’ is an important word in the lexicon of eco-spirituality. An actor pretends, imitates but a voyager has a definite mission. So Tagore, unlike Shakespeare in As You Like It, proposes a more suggestive metaphor for man in this worldthe transient world – the crises-ridden world which is not the final home of the poet. The ecological crisis is the mother of crises. The poet longs for a celestial abode where peace prevails – an ideal home indeed! John Keats addresses Nightingales and
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holds, that ‘thou was not born for death immortal bird!’ In Gitanjali ‘bird’ is substituted by ‘man’. Matthew Arnold gets suffocated in the Victorian world and writes poems like Dover Beach and Scholar Gypsy which present an environment in which there is a degradation of human values. Arnold discovers that human virtues like love, self-confidence, knowledge, aesthetic sense were lacking in the Victorian world. He presents Victorian Waste land but Tagore is optimistic in Gitanjali. He pictures green land. He delineates the lovelier aspects of nature in whose midst God dwells. To study Gitanjali is to understand the process of annihilating one’s ego and surrender before God and experience peace. Human environment, which is dedicated to the Lord, is sure to be linked with the natural environment in a harmonious way. ‘Harmony’ is the watchword of the environmentalist, specially of eco-spiritualist. The images chosen from the world of nature: ‘golden streams’, ‘blue sky’, ‘flowering grove’, ‘murmuring bees’, ‘home sick cranes’, ‘melodies from birds nests’ and so on, speak eloquently of the harmony pervading the whole of creation. Oscar Wilde, the aesthete, holds that good literature ‘is moral’ and bad literature ‘has a moral’. He uses ‘good’ and ‘bad’ from the aesthetic point of view. The structure and the texture of Gitanjali have been designed in such a manner that they inculcate the feelings of eco-spirituality even if Tagore does not have a propagandist design. The universe pictured in Gitanjali is lovely, bright, and deep where the humans, the animals, the birds and insects dwell in with God to preside over and protect – an ideal ecosphere, indeed! The task before the readers of Gitanjali is to think over the law of harmony that unites the humans, the animals, the birds and plants upon this planet and rethink over the beauty, the marvel and uniqueness of the creation; the secret of the solution to the ecological hazards lie here.
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WORKS CITED Ghosh, Sisir Kumar. Rabindranath Tagore. New Delhi. Sahitya Academy, 2012. Print. http://www. stlcatholicsisters. org http://www. vatican. va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encycclicals/documents/ hf_benxvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-vertate_en. html
Lincoln, V. “Ecospirituality: A Pattern That Connects.” Journal of Holistic Nursing 18. 3 (2000): 227-44. Web. 12 Oct. 2016. Murty, K. Krishna. 50 Timeless Scientists. New Delhi: Pustak Mahal, 2014. Print. Palgrave, Francis Turner. The Golden Treasury. New Delhi: Oxford and IBH Publishing Company, 1861. Print. Rundell, Michael. Macmillan English Dictionary. Oxford: Macmillan publisher Ltd., 2002. Print. Simran. Rabindranath Tagore. New Delhi: Dimond Pocket Books Ltd, 2011. Print. Singh, T. D. Seven Nobel Laureates on Science and Spirituality. Kolkata: Bhakati Vedanta Institute, 2004. Print Soares, Anthony X (ed). Rabindranath Tagore: Lectures and Addresses. New Delhi: Macmillan India Ltd, 2001. Print. Tagore, Rabindranath. Gitanjali. New Delhi: Rupa and Co., 2002. Print.
23 Pantheism, Animism and Personalism: Understanding Deep Ecology through the Poetry of Robinson Jeffers Shrabanee Khatai
“There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape as it was before” (Lynd, The Blue Lion and Other Essays).
From a blade of grass to a dense broad leaved tree, from the seaside pebbles to the snow clad mountain peaks, from a tiny bee to human beings to the giant whale – nature is the unifying whole of all the living and non-living beings. In addition to that, the history of Ecology calls for the knowledge that the human and non-human beings are inter-connected. Mankind, which came to exist much later than the other species, however considers itself to be the crown of creation. Human beings proclaimed themselves as the winner of an incompetent election that in actuality never took place yet took vows to violate the nourishment of the nature as its master. As a result, nature, as we have known it does not exist anymore. In its place is what we now designate – the environment. “Every tree and river, large mammals and small fish now exist in relation to human action, knowledge” (Barnhill and Gottlieb, 2001).
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After years of overutilization and sustainability practices there came a time when every ecological literate in the street understood that the need of the hour was to start taking care of the earth, not just as a responsibility but a privilege. Then a group of conscientious naturalists started making various attempts to conserve the natural environment and propagated many theories. One such theory is the most recent yet widely acclaimed, Deep Ecology, proposed by Arne Naess, the Norwegian philosopher, in his article “The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movement: A Summary” (1973). More philosophical than practical, this environmental concept is formulated on borrowed ideas from Aldo Leopold, Devall and Sessions, and James Lovelock. This anti-anthropocentric theory is of the opinion that “the living environment as a whole should be respected and regarded as having certain inalienable legal rights to live and flourish, independent of its utilitarian instrumental benefits for human use” (“Deep ecology”). This paved the way for equality of every species on the Earth. Everything is independent and separate in its own usefulness to others. Naess explicated the objectives of deep ecology in the form of an eight-tier platform which is as follows. 1.
The well-being and flourishing of human and nonhuman life on Earth have value in themselves [this is commonly referred to as inherent worth, or intrinsic value]. These values are independent of the usefulness of the nonhuman world for human purposes; and
2.
Richness and diversity of life forms contribute to the realization of these values and are also values in themselves; and
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Humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity except to satisfy vital needs; and
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4.
The flourishing of human life and cultures is compatible with a substantial decrease of the human population. The flourishing of nonhuman life requires such a decrease; and
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Present human interference with the nonhuman world is excessive, and the situation is rapidly worsening; and
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Policies must therefore be changed. The changes in policies affect basic economic, technological structures. The resulting state of affairs will be deeply different from the present; and
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The ideological change is mainly that of appreciating life quality (dwelling in situations of inherent worth) rather than adhering to an increasingly higher standard of living. There will be a profound awareness of the difference between big and great; and
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Those who subscribe to the foregoing points have an obligation directly or indirectly to participate in the attempt to implement the necessary changes. (Sessions, 68)
Robinson Jeffers, the intentionally neglected genius, shines undoubtedly in the American literary canon as a pre-cursor of deep ecology. Responding to the voice of nature, empathising with every non-human being, representing the relationship between nature and man, Jeffers cleared the path for ecofriendly ideas of Naess and others. Even the proponents themselves said that the philosophical roots of deep ecology can be “found in the ecocentrism and social criticism of Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Robinson Jeffers and Aldous Huxley” (Sessions, ix). Stephen Harding writes in “What is Deep Ecology”: “Through deep experience, deep questioning and deep commitment emerges deep ecology” (1997). After years of
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practice in language, literature, science, forestry and medicine Jeffers had had enough with the artificial longings. The child of nature could not find a suitable dome in the suffocation of artificial beauty and therefore he moved to Carmel, California and built The Tor House and The Hawk Tower where he experienced the pristine wilderness which he never realized in all the years before. Minute observation of both living and nonliving beings on the wild, wind and storm swept coast of the Pacific made him the spokesperson of nature which later brought him worldwide significance as a nature poet of modern age. As Loren Eiseley puts it: Something utterly wild had crept into his mind and marked his features. I cannot imagine him as having arisen unchanged in another countryside. The sea-beaten coast, the fierce freedom of its hunting hawks, possessed and spoke through him. It was one of the most uncanny and complete relationships between a man and his natural background that I know in literature. (Qtd in Karman 1995: 43)
Jeffers’ growing environmental awareness made him question the flat ideas and ideologies of human civilization about the natural and the wild. Before arriving at Carmel he was sure of being a poet but only after walking with the waves in the lap of nature he understood his area of concern. The divine joy of eating, drinking and living in the stone house along the coast was viewed by him in contrast to the ongoing slaughter of older human civilization with one another. This resulted in his constant commitment to the intrinsic value of nature which accompanied him till death. From the 1920 onwards Jeffers referred his newly found views of nature in his poems. Jeffers believed that anything and everything is never the only way man thinks it to be. The idea of beauty may vary from man to nature. Man has this notion that only the tender is beautiful but as per Jeffers even horror can show beauty.
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Everything may not be categorized in terms of profit and loss like human beings do. In his poem “Fire on the Hills”, he describes the deer bounding in terror of fire and the smaller lives caught in blazing flames as beautiful. Any man may describe it to be ruthless but this phenomenon is a gift to the eagle. In his words: Down the back slopes after the fire had gone by, an eagle Was perched on the jag of a burnt pine, Insolent and gorged, cloaked in the folded storms of his shoulders He had come from far off for the good hunting With fire for his beater to drive the game; the sky was merciless .............................. I thought, painfully, but the whole mind, The destruction that brings an eagle from heaven is better than men. (2001:394)
Lynn White, in his “The Roots of Our Ecological Crisis” explains that the Biblical description of God giving man dominion over all creatures is the reason of the unbalanced ecological status. The opposition to Christianity definitely paves the way for the acceptance of the monistic Pantheism, the belief of Baruch Spinoza that “God and Nature are the two names for the same reality” (“Baruch Spinoza”). This Spinozian idea is reflected not only in the platform of deep ecology but also in Jeffers as a heavy influence: I believe that the Universe is one being, all its parts are different expressions of the same energy, and they are all in communication with each other, therefore parts of an organic whole. This whole is in all its parts so beautiful, and is felt by me to be so intensely in earnest, that I am compelled to love it and to think of it as divine. It seems to me that this whole alone is worthy of the deeper sort of love and there is peace, freedom, I might say a kind of salvation, in turning one’s affections outward toward this one God, rather than inwards on one’s self, or on humanity, or on human imaginations and abstractions – the world of spirits. (qtd in Courtney 2000)
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Defining this “one God” became the chief objective of Jeffers’ poetry. He saw our consumer culture as symptomatic of our spiritual deprivation and human narcissism. Spinoza in his Ethics describes God-Nature is the only existing, unlimited substance of which humans are but a part comparable in importance with rock or insects. God so conceptualized would endorse the aberration of anthropocentrism. The impersonal God is presented in “Sign Post”: Turn outward, love things, not men, turn right away from humanity, Let that doll lie. Consider if you like how the lilies grow, Lean on the silent rock until you feel its divinity Make your veins cold; look at the silent stars, let your eyes Climb the great ladder out of the pit of yourself and man. Things are so beautiful, your love will follow your eyes; Things are the God; you will love God and not in vain, (2004)
Deep ecology is the aftermath of not only environmental concerns and philosophical discourses but also the ideal representation of religions like Taoism, the religion with an Eastern philosophy: “For the countenance of great virtue, only the Way is to be followed” (Cleary, 21). From their mystical qualities to basic values of sensitivity, simplicity and joy is reflected in the objectives of deep ecology. The proponent of Taoism, Laotse, urged human beings to get rid of the wrongdoings just like the way Naess does. The religious scripture of Taoism is Tao Te Ching which urges human beings that selflessness leads to fulfilment. In one of the passages of Lin Yutang’s translation to Tao Te Ching, there is the reference of how man is only a part and partial of God like the other species: There are those who will conquer the world, And make of it (what they conceive or desire). I see that they will not succeed, (For) the world is God’s own vessel
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It cannot be made (by human interference). He who makes it spoils it. He who holds it loses it. (Yutang, 164)
Taoism, like deep ecology, recognizes the great importance of being aware of other beings and having sensitivity towards them. But also like deep ecology, Taoists have no intention of alienating man from nature – man is a part of nature, as long as he wisely refrains from interference, follows simplicity, and above all, values the lives of all other beings in the recognition that they all share a world where everything has energy and contains vibrations that create a cause and effect relationship with others. Among the eight-tier platform of deep ecology, the first two principles pave the way for equality of every species on the Earth. Everything is independent and separate in its own usefulness to others. This calls for Animism, according to which, not only the nonhuman species but also the non-living, which include the watersheds, landscapes and ecosystems, have individual souls of their own. In a striking complement to Naess’ idea, life along the coast of Pacific gave Jeffers the mystic insight which he reflected as a cosmic perspective in all of his poems. The hawk after which he named the tower, the stones from which he built his stone house, the coastal creatures whose movements he noticed with each passing day helped him understand the intrinsic value which Naess talks of. This influence gets vivid in Jeffers’ poems “Vulture” and “To the Rock That Will Be a Cornerstone of The House”. This reality escapes those who are prejudiced but manifests to those who recognize the souls of other species. But for Jeffers “That the earth and the stars too/ and the whole glittering universe/ and rocks on the mountains have life,” (2001, “The Selected Poetry of Robinson Jeffers”). As per Jeffers man may have achieved
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vistas but it still is “a redundant, ephemeral phenomenon” (Marszalski 3). The scientific advances may have been grabbing the headlines each day but the nature remains peacefully unconcerned. In “The Eye” the Pacific is referred as the eye of the Earth whose soul has witnessed so numerous phenomena before the achievements of mankind that the technological advancement matters a little: But here the Pacific – Our ships, planes, wars are perfectly irrelevant. Neither our present blood-feud with the brave dwarfs Nor any future world-quarrel of westering And eastering man, the bloody migrations, greed of power, clash of Faiths – Is a speck of dust on the great scale-pan. .......................... it is half the planet: this dome, this half-globe, this bulging Eyeball of water, ............................... this is the staring unsleeping Eye of the earth; and what it watches is not our wars. (2004)
Through arguing this Jeffers takes one step forward even from the nature-critic Alan M. Eddison who said: “Modern technology Owes ecology an apology”. Aldo Leopold in his essay “The Land Ethic” (1949) emphasized the ecological necessity of the existence of human ethics to the land and all life that it sustains (1966: 239). In other words, he formulated an entirely new bio centric standard of ethics according to which “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise” (Leopold 262). This formed the point of distinction between deep and shallow ecology which Naess described in “The Shallow and the deep,
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Long-Range ecology Movement: A Summary” (1973). As per Arthur Coffin, this idea of Leopold and Naess makes an implicit presence in “Tamar” (1917-1923) and “Roan stallion” (19241925) of Jeffers. In the preface to “The Double Axe and Other Poems” (1948), Coffin states, “Jeffers explicitly described ‘a philosophical attitude’ he named Inhumanism” (1999) as a shifting emphasis and significance from man to notman; the rejection of human solipsism and recognition of the transhumant magnificence... This manner of thought and feeling is neither misanthropic nor pessimist... It offers a reasonable detachment as rule of conduct, instead of love, hate and envy... it provides magnificence for the religious instinct, and satisfies our need to admire our rejoice and greatness in beauty (Jeffers qtd in Coffin 1999).
The third and fourth principle from the platform of deep ecology strikingly resembles to this idea of in-humanism. The idea of human being at the centre of the Earth, surrounded by every living and non-living entity only to supplement its growth is vehemently opposed by Jeffers. Some critics might have regarded him as anti-human but the fact is he never preferred any one species. For him everything exists its own way irrespective of the common belief. Man may not share a peripheral relation with nature but Jeffers was certain that the relationship is definitely not centred. He believed the nonhuman world to be exuberantly rich, indifferently independent and wildly magnificent. At least they know what the truth is unlike human beings who falsely boast of their superiority: “Man is an animal like other animals, wants food and success and/ women, not truth” (Theory of Truth, 23-24). He shows in his other poems like “The Broken Balance” and “Carmel Point” how man’s egocentricity breaks the order of the natural environment. Man has enslaved the whole continent which is now:
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... a tamed ox, with all its mountains, Powerful and servile; here is for plowland, here is For park and playground, this helpless Cataract for power; it lies behind us at heel All docile between this ocean and the other. (2004, “July Fourth By The Ocean”)
This echoes the fifth principle of deep ecology which talks of excessive human interference ultimately paving the way for Personalism, a worldview that recognises “humans are continuous with nature and not [its] most important member[s]” (Fawcett 15). In “De Rerum Virtue” he echoes thesame ought-to-be sentiment: One light is left us: the beauty of things, not men; The immense beauty of the world, not the human world Look – and without imagination, desire nor dream – directly At the mountains and sea. Are they not beautiful? (2001: 677)
For Jeffers that day is no far when human beings would realize the transience of their self-appreciation and permanence of the invincible nature as Stephen Jay Gould called ‘deep time’ – the sense of human existence as an eye blink in the long history of the planet. But if they don’t start to internalize this as soon as possible they will definitely end up in hard core demise. Despite of the popular belief that Jeffers was misanthropic, he always wanted everything to develop cordially and thus proposed to initiate a new and qualitative relationship between human beings and the environment. In “Carmel Point” he writes: It knows the people are a tide That swells and in time will ebb, and all Their works dissolve. .............................. We must uncenter our minds from ourselves;
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We must unhumanize our views a little, and become confident As the rock and ocean that we were made from. (2001:676)
This idea opened the door for anthropomorphic discourses which resulted in the formation of sixth and seventh principle of Naess’ platform. The notion of adoption of anti-human centric policies led to initiatives such as “wilderness and biodiversity preservation, human population control, and simple living” (“Deep Ecology”). “Deep ecology represents the psychologization of environmental philosophy. Deep ecology in this sense refers to an egalitarian and holistic environmental philosophy founded on phenomenological methodology. By way of direct experience of non-human nature, one recognizes the equal intrinsic worth of all biota as well as one’s own ecological interconnectedness with the life world in all its plenitude” (Encyclopaedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy, “Deep Ecology”). Long before this came into practice Jeffers explicated the same principles in all of his poems taking his favourite images like hawk, stones, ocean, stars etc. In this paper I have attempted to analyze his poems in accordance with the principles of deep ecology and tried to show how they propagate three conspicuous theories such as Pantheism, Animism and Personalism. WORKS CITED Barnhill, D. L. and Gottlieb, R. S. “Introduction”. En D. L. Barnhill y R. S. Gottlieb (Eds), Deep Ecology and World Religions. New Essays on Sacred Ground. State University of New York Press, Albany, NY. (USA). 2001. Cleary, Thomas. The Essential Tao. HarperCollins Publishers, 1991. Coffin, A. B. 1999. “Robinson Jeffers’ Life and Career.” American National Biography. New York: Oxford University Press (10 Jan. 2007). http://www. english. uiuc. edu/maps/poets/g_l/jeffers/life. htm Courtney, J. 2000. “Robinson Jeffers-Pantheist Poet.” (10 Dec. 2006). http://members. aol. com/pHarri5642/jeffers. htm
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Devall, Bill and George Sessions. Deep Ecology: Living as if Nature Mattered. Gibbs Smith, Inc., 1985. “Deep Ecology.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopaedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 20 Oct. 2016. Web. 28 Oct. 2016. “Deep Ecology”. Encyclopaedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy. 2008, 206211. Fawcett, Leesa. “Anthropomorphism: In the Web of Culture”. Undercurrents 1:1. 1989. Harding, S. 1997. “What is Deep Ecology? Through deep experience, deep questioning and deep commitment emerges deep ecology.” Resurgence 185, 14-17. (22 Jan. 2007), http://www. resurgence. org/resur gence/185/harding185. htm Jeffers, R. The Selected Poetry of Robinson Jeffers. (Tim Hunt, ed.) Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. 2001. ......... . Poems. Publisher: PoemHunter. Com – The World’s Poetry Archive. (20 Sept. 2006). http://www. poemhunter. com/i/ebooks/pdf/ robinson_jeffers_2004_9. pdf Karman, J. Robinson Jeffers: Poet of California. Brownsville, OR: Story Line Press, 1995. Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanac: With Essays on Conservation from the Round River. New York: Ballantine Books, 1966 (1949). Lynd, Robert. The Blue Lion and Other Essays. Books for Libraries Press. New York, 1968. Marszalski, Mariusz. Robinson Jeffers’ Poetry – From Deep Experience to Deep Ecology. University of Wroclaw, 2008. Naess, Arne. “The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movement: A Summary.” 1973. Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy and the Social Sciences. 16: 95-100. Sessions, George. Deep Ecology for the 21st Century. Shambhala Publications, Inc. 1995. Spinoza, B de. Ethics and on the Improvement of the Understanding. (Transl. R. H. M. Elwes). New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2005. White, Lynn, Jr. “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis”. David Schmidtz and Elizabeth Willott (eds ) Environmental Ethics: What Really Matters, What Really Works. Oxford Press, 2002. Yutang, Lin. The Wisdom of Laotse. HarperCollins Publishers, 1991.
24 Ethical Praxis and the Ecological Aspects of Khasi Folklore Auswyn Winter Japang,
Cultural legacies of human expressions are shadows of established belief systems. The earliest beliefs of any cultural community are based upon perceptions and on understandings of the world that they see around them. These beliefs, in time, become the structural essence of the community’s cultural memory – preserved through stories, folklores, and myths, becoming habitual practices and traditions which either turns ritualistic or performative. In 1974, Sir E. B. Tylor, the founder of cultural anthropology has pointed out that culture is “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.” (Tylor 1). While in more recent times, “[c]ulture is defined as a social domain that emphasizes the practices, discourses, and material expressions, which, over time, express the continuities and discontinuities of social meaning of a life held in common” (James 53). However, it could also be said that culture, itself, as an aspect of human legacy changes and transforms and reinvents itself as it is defined from time to time; yet the impulses of the
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cultural experiences of old continues to play a signifying role in the way we think. It is true that human knowledge continues to grow, gathering what is new and beneficial and dispose of, that, which could possibly be of no effective use. Yet, when it comes to our cultural baggage, there can be no denying that they do ultimately remain with us and we are indelibly living our legacies. The cultural legacy of a particular Khasi community in North-East India is deeply rooted in the mnemocultural domain. Much akin to numerous mnemocultural traditions of India itself, it is through the body and the verbal word that the Khasis retain and articulate their cultural memory. Folklore, to the Khasis, is not merely storytelling alone although they are: [A]great storytelling people: ‘telling’, because their alphabet is a very recent history, no older than when Thomas Jones, the Welsh Presbyterian missionary, introduced the Roman script in 1842, to form the essentials of the Khasi written word. (Nongkynrih vii)
Folklore, to the Khasis, is also a source of their own history. The Khasis as a race of people have a very unique and rather mysterious origin. They stand apart from the rest of the hill tribes of North-East India from the point of view of their language, culture, dress, and physical feature. Their origin is shrouded in mystery and all we know about their history is derived from their legends and folklore. (Mawrie 6)
The reaches of the folk tradition, however, does not end as thereof experience and expression altogether. Khasi folklore often extends itself towards dynamic paradigms of ecocriticism through its eco-centric cultural heritage. The important aspect for us is to be able to identify where and when does ecology in its broader sense feature in Khasi folklore. Is it somewhere in between Khasi consciousness or
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between Khasi folk history itself? Or is it towards the latter part of Khasi life when they become ecologically conscious? Truth is, Khasi folklore begins with nature and ends with the same. Having nature in the origin lore too does not make them wholly animists for the Khasis believe in U Blei Nongbuh Nongthaw or God the Creator. The origin lore of the Khasis contains and never fails to mention nature for it is central to Khasi life as aman is to his creator, U Blei Nongbuh Nongthaw. H. O. Mawrie, a major writer in Khasi, while speaking of the genesis of man or the Hynñiewtrep-Hynñiewskum in the Khasi context emphasised that “[i]n many religions of the world, the idea of the genesis of man is not very clear. Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, the three religions which originated in India, do speak about the rebirth of man but there is no clear conception of man prior to his birth.” (Mawrie 24) The conception of man in the grand narrative of the Khasi folk tradition, irrespective of the numerous versions that exists, never fail to mention the Khasi, who are also known as Hynñiewtrep-Hynñiewskum (seven families), genesis to earth, through the jingkiengksiar (golden ladder) which is a magnificent Dieñgieitree linking heaven and earth. The Khasi ‘Man’ is like the Judeo-Christian ‘Adam’ who is a creation like nature itself and he is not above it. He is its caretaker and not its master. The mythical tree, which was said to be located at U Lum Sohpetbneng (heaven’s navel), serves more than as a mere link between heaven and earth. It also represents the covenant between man, nature and his creator. The tree is a symbol of life and of living in goodness. However, the origin lore also mentions the falling of the tree which was caused primarily out of man’s greed. The destruction of the tree marked and
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epitomised man’s downfall and the decay that would be brought about from that one ignorant act. Another Khasi lore speaks of nature in the same prospect as that of the Khasi genesis. This lore, however, is not of the beginning but of the end. The Khasi lore of the world’s end, in a sense, coincides with many destruction lores and scientific predictions which maintainman as central tothe cause of the destruction of the world. What we need to enquire from this lore is the place of nature in it yet again and as expected nature finds intense mention. Nature would indefinitely be man’s saving grace. The lore begins with a vision that a Khasi Lyngdoh (priest) once foresaw that the world’s ultimate end will be caused by man’s voracity to acquire more and yet even more. The Lyngdoh, acknowledgement of this vision as the inevitable sign of the world’s demise articulated in him the necessity to preserve the natural world with all his human faculty. He devised and sanctioned what is now known as the sacred groves. The sacred groves were made sacred and holy to protect it from man’s insatiability. The Lyngdoh was also said to have performed rites on the forest grounds that would see that spirits and forest deities would look over it and if a man dared defile this sacred ground, the deities themselves would inflict physical assault on him. This way numerous patches of forests are preserved around the state of Meghalaya. It could also be said that almost every Raid (province) has one formof the sacred forest or another. The sacred forests’ main purpose, however, was to give the Khasis a place to stay and only those of the Khasi line could enter the groves when the time which the Lyngdoh has prophesied does come, and with all that is still alive in it, the Khasis would revive life on earth. Numerous narratives of the folk tradition also recordsof Ramhah, Kyllang and Symper and
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their adventures. They are supposedly giants in the lore yet mountains in real life. The lore of the race between UmÏew and UmÑgot, two physical water bodies from the hills of Meghalaya to the plains of Bangladeshis yet another aspect of the folk tradition in which deities subsequently turned themselves into water bodies. The worldview of the Khasis when it comes to ecological consciousness extends also to fauna for they too are essential parts of the cosmic balance of life. In the rich folds of the folk tradition of the Khasis, lively and the animated aspects of nature too contribute towards the balance of the world as much as man himself. Folklore records the story of LuriLura: the animal fair, the purple crest or the myth of the rooster and the sun, the animal dance festival in which thunder stole the sword of a lynx which are mere handfuls focusing on animal-centric lore in the vast galaxy of the Khasi folk tradition. What is essential for us to consider at this moment is on the role of animals in such stories. Khasi folklore often explore on the idea that animals communicate as man and with man by infusing emotions and feelings that man himself could possibly feel. A particular lore which could be inferred for our purpose here is the story of U Sier Lapalang, the Stag. The story notes the ultimate end of the Stag in the hands of man. Thelore accounted that the Stag disobeyed his mother and climbed the hills which the Khasis dwell just to get a taste of the exquisite ja-jew plant. What should be taken from this particular lore for our purposes here is the very aspect of death which was presented in a humanlymanner. The lore notes the death of the Stag and the mourning of his mother as the most iconic in the storytelling tradition of the Khasis, “... these ancient Khasis
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found their own form of mourning inferior...” (Nongkynrih 89) It was said that the Khasis became more conscious towards animals and their feelings as well. Hunting which was and still is a sport for the Khasis took on a new definition for nature has shown them the value of all life through a prospect that is human as they are. The origin and the history of the Khasi people of Meghalaya was established out of the duality of human organisations and ecological balance evidently pointing towards the quintessential dimension of ecology and ecological balance where religion and culture become intrinsically intertwined. Creation (plants and animals) commands immense esteem in Khasifaith and background. Man and his creator shared a communion through Nature. Nature is also the medium for it was through the ladder or the Dieñgiei that man’s link with his creator was kept. This eco-theandric relationship has for long been a source of great cultural significance for these people in which nature itself becomes the divine essence of ethics, religion, and everyday life. Humans are indelibly conscious of their cultural heritage. Their legacy prods at them into experiencing a sense of pride towards their ancestral past. That is infact acknowledged when we project and claim, with a sense of pleasure, that we belong to a particular group which is reflective of our identity and we would not like to think of ourselves as anything else other than what our cultural baggageclaims nor can we free ourselves from the dictates of the same. The way we think is eventually shaped by our cultural baggage says the following quote, attributed to Gandhi, Lao Tzu, Ralph Waldo Emerson as well as Margaret Thatcher:
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Your beliefs become your thoughts; Your thoughts become your words; Your words become your actions; Your actions become your habits; Your habits become your values... (Gandhi)
By enquiring into this quote through the context of our deliberation in understanding the strong influential impulses of our cultural baggage, it becomes imperative that we analyse each given word and reinterpret them in the context of cultural inheritance. We would find a rather interesting aspect that our legacy continues to tell us. A probe into the quote above would, perhaps, help us to arrive at certain perspectives into understanding the influential currents of our legacy. While the Khasi heritage would be considered for the study here, it should be noted that such an investigation is not limited to the Khasis alone for it extends to the cultural legacies that existsa vast galaxy of cultural formations. If every line of the quote is to be given the treatment of a developmental stage in our understanding of cultural traditions, words like ‘beliefs’ and ‘thoughts’ could be taken as the beliefs and the ideological thoughts of the people. In other words, ‘beliefs’ and ‘thoughts’ from the quote could simply be taken as the belief systems that dominate the thinking and the ideological set-up of every culture. An ideological and customary belief of any belief system needs articulation if they are to be carried forward in society. This implies the necessity of verbal or gestural mode of communication, representational through “words”, which could also be taken as the developmental stage of the oral traditions or the oral storytelling traditions which employ myths and legends to articulate those beliefs – ideas and thoughts of the people. Over time, these words then take the shape of “actions”, a pre-requisite for the development of the performing traditions.
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Performing traditions, here, could consist of a vast gamut of expressions through words, dance, songs, tales, lore or daily activities that any pragmatic culture, as a whole, practice. These “actions” gradually becomes “habit” or the customs and traditions of a people. When an action is continually repeated, in due course of time it becomes a habitual act for it would follow on its own as a matter of impulse. The habitual impulses then develop into the customs and traditions being regularly followed thus becoming in simple words, the ways of living. Hence, we are indelibly living our legacies. In a short documentary film on Asia’s Cleanest Village – “Mawlynnong” entitled Mawlynnong – God’s Own Garden, directed by Wallambok Alexander Kharkongor and JonmejoyTamuly, we find a resonance of what was just stated above. The video’s timeline from 2:25-3:40 notes “[s]ince the beginning; the time of our forefathers; it has become a custom for them to keep things clean; so from their initiative and determination, to keep their houses, compound clean; not just their own but also the roads and surrounding; By doing so, other families too started practicing the same; this made our community to follow on the same path towards cleanliness. That is the reason people who come to this village said that our village is the cleanest. So slowly... slowly; we the next generation too followed in their footsteps; of the ways of living of our forefathers; in doing so we too inculcate this habit” The video, could be taken as prove and testimony of the significance of our cultural legacy in the habitual as well as performative sense. While the video was directed to capture the aesthetics of Mawlynnong’s rustic verve, it indirectly stressed on the most crucial aspect of our deliberation as well. Being directed towards an audience, the focus was simply on the act of livelihood which was depicted by the mannerism of the
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villagers’ actions. The actions of their ancestors, however, transform and become a habitual act for the current generation who continues to practice the same as a part of their customs and traditions, as a habit, rather than an obligation for it is as an aspect of them, living their own memory. However, when we consider of the Khasis eco-centric discourses in those ancient days, we are reminded of how far the Khasis have moved away from their tradition. Materialism and commercialism, as Mawrie points, have determined, to a wide extent, the shift in Khasi thought as well. Mawrie, in fact, notes of the Khasis and their tradition through the present context. Taking into consideration the great reverence that the ancient Khasis showed towards Gods creation, it is most unfortunate to see how this attitude has quite changed today... There is an urgent need to recapture the ancient spirit of the ancestors who lived hand in glove with Mother Earth. (Mawrie 175).
The primary concern is that the Khasi society, like any other, has lost much of its deeper connection with its roots. It has moved away from a legacy grounded in a consciousness that realises the importance of life in Nature as well as with it. Stress should be placed on the urgency of efforts that needs to be directed towards a change in human perspective. Surely education is one way but how effectual it is, requires proper attention. Environmental decay is the reality that stares back at each and every one of us irrespective of our cultural affiliations or baggage. The matter which should arrive as a sense of great concern for anyone environmentally mindful and observant is the nature of people’s attitude that has led to wanton destruction of the natural world. The world is yet to understand the implications of its ignorance while it chooses to ignore the weight of its actions.
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While environmental studies could, in its way, reach out, it is doubtful of the same when considering its effectiveness. What is needed to effectively convey a message, in our attempt to rethink, is to make the message about the addressee. Khasi folk tradition enables a Khasi individual to look back upon his rich cultural legacy rooted in Nature. Ancient Khasi folklore maintains that aspect that could perhaps aid us in our current and future attempts to re-think environment. What should be noted here is that I have purposely enquired into Khasi cultural legacy to address the Khasi milieu. Effectual education is what I was indeed hinting at in this deliberation. It is only when the message is as effectual as the cultural legacy of an individual concerned that it finds more effect and purpose. One thing is certain, when we consider of countless cultural heritages, it will not be hard to find that there could also exists that aspect of their legacy which is attuned to Nature and the natural world. In this sense, their legacy could be drawn to address their own milieu. Perhaps, re-thinking environment through traditions, ethics and believes could tickle human consciousness into reflecting upon their glorious past. It becomes essential that the enduring nature of cultural legacies must be seen as enduring praxis that could sustain and extend more than just their own cultural memories. WORKS CITED James, Paul, Liam Magee, Andy Scerri, and Manfred B. Steger. Urban Sustainability in Theory and Practice: Circles of Sustainability. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2015. Print. Mawrie, Barnes L. The Khasis and Their Natural Environment: A Study of the Ecoconsciousness and Eco-spirituality of the Khasis. 2nd ed. Shillong: Vendrame Institute Publications, 2000. Print. Mawrie, H. Onderson. The Khasi Milieu. New Delhi: Concept, 1981. Print.
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Nongkynrih, Kynpham Singh. Around the Hearth: Khasi Legends. New Delhi: Penguin, 2007. Print. Tylor, Edward B. Primitive Culture: Researches into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art, and Custom. Vol. 1. London: J. Murray, 1871. Print. Wallambok Alexander Kharkongor and Jonmejoy Tamuly. God’s Own Garden. HD, N. p., n. d. Web.
25 Ecoethics: A Philosophical Panacea for Environmental Melancholia Bhagabat Nayak
Ecology is closely read and understood as environment in the individual neural experience of aesthetic perception, creation, admiration and emotional response to nature and its existing ambience. For the beautification of nature and human environment ecology plays an important role in the functional, material, developmental perception of human life and the neuroecological aspect of human cognition. In the naturehuman adaptability and amiability environment becomes an intrinsic part of culture and culture becomes an environmental phenomenon. In social adaptation and sustainable development of a relationship between human and environment ecoethics functions as a panacea to solve human worries and fears in particular contexts of numerous traumatic experiences. Literature can enhance human perception on ecology’s mechanism through the ecocritical understanding of neuroaesthetics, ecoaesthetics and neuroecology in recent time. Ecoethics as a psychological, moral and neural phenomenon can control and change human’s behavioral mayhem for the sustainable growth of the two.
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The fast growing capitalist and corporate culture in an age of industrialization, globalization and market-liberalization has posed serious threats to ecology, its law, culture, custom and rights. Human importance on biosphere has affected the nature as a living system. This relates to human ethic which plays an important role to nurture and protect it for the interest of both. Ecology is an idealist and inclusive construction which establishes the integrity between stability and beauty of the biotic community. Large-scale deforestation to satisfy the logic of industrialism through technological progress destroys the validity of treating nature as a home for living organism and spreads the complacency towards the flora and fauna and subordinates the human beings towards insignificancy. In order to protect the earth and survival of biosphere ecology occupies an important dimension in both literary and cultural studies. For the understanding of ecology at the grassroots level of culture, ecological survival and sustainability raise important questions on anti-nature, anti-people and undemocratic structures in global establishments. This causes the theory to formulate ecoethics in ecocriticism as the “study of the relation between literature and environment conducted in a spirit of commitment to environmental praxis” (Buell 430). The arrogance of humanism and individual’s ‘meddling intellect’ make the human beings fail to realize the possibility of nature. With individual inappropriate desire for development humans involved themselves in intensive destruction of habitats. Since ‘eco’ is derived from Greek Oikos (meaning ‘household’ or ‘home’) and it refers to the greenery outside the house and critic (derived from the Greek word Kritis) refers to the person who judges the merits and faults of depicting culture upon nature and towards celebrating nature to keep the house in order and in original décor, the study of ecoethics is a geoethical metaphor that “suggests our continuing engagement on one level with a cast
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of mind we have rejected on another” (Greenblatt and Gunn 61). Ecoethics is related to eros and ethos in a spirit of humility between human and nonhuman life in nature, where both influence each other in a nature of cooperation and understanding. ECOETHICS: AN AWARENESS OF ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS Nature’s independence is obligatory and referential in literary and cultural studies. For its non-textual existence “Nature is perhaps the most complex word in the language” (William 219) to recognize its complexity, referential fallacy and rationale for replacing it with an ethic and its constructions. Now nature of Nature study in creative imagination and restorative perception signifies the validity of assumptions, industrialism and culture to understand the crisis and critical condition of planetary life. The contribution of theory to understand planetary pollution and degradation in the critical conditionalities of human thinking and change of behavior not only help for an ecocritical study in the matter of ethics to appeal to ecology but to approve the premise of all members of the community who need collectively to preserve, protect and promote them in the process of integration and interdependence. In ‘ecocritical age’ ecocriticism in the context of humanities encourages speculations for ecoethics as a critical canon to save the mankind from a catastrophe. The significance of ecoethics towards the substantial contribution of the understanding of nature helps to study the possibilities for both people and planet. Ecoethics as a deterrent to address the consequence of technological by-products and individual’s intellectual arrogance is highly necessary to add novelty in the creativity of organic life and planetary life.
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Ecoethics, a part of ecocriticism is an American term and a pioneering approach to the study of connection between ecology, culture and literature. It encourages a comprehensive reassessment of the development of criticism and offers radical prospects for its future. For environmental protection, gnostic imagination and revelation, romantic accommodation of human mind; and understanding the relation between human ‘pleasure’, poetic ‘purpose’ and the ‘primary laws’ of individual’s ‘organic’ way of living study of romantic ecology is necessary as much as industrial capitalism is necessary for human need. When there are contradictions and confusions between the two this not only creates external and internal wilderness for human life but also reveals the ‘moral of landscape’ as well as nature’s autonomy. It’s a ‘melancholia’ that nature’s landscape is threatened and destroyed by individual’s audacious claims and needs. Nature satisfies human needs even though it does not know the level and range of these needs, but human greed overrides the need that destroys the finer relationship between the two. For the sake of socialist ecology and to satisfy human needs the legacy of romantic ecology and the decency of surroundings are destroyed in brutal disorder. Living in this Newtonian universe human beings calculate and measure nature’s gifts at their own benefits but the chemistry of the universe has its own action and reaction formation and transformation toward the total perfection of the universe as desired by the Supreme Architect. For the lovers of romantic ecology Wordsworthian God may be immanent in living and non-living things but for the nature lovers Voltaire’s God is Nobody’s Daddy in alteration and rearrangement of position. Nature is to provide raw materials and essential elements not to fulfill the monstrous needs of human beings but to imbibe more humane confidence in them. But human
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beings for their conspicuous aesthetic consumption of nature forget that charity is received with a sublime gesture. In their ‘fond taste’ for nature they neglect their fundamental duty to nature and its objects. The scientific mind and postwar scholarship in the mid-twentieth century favoured the human mind to explain the external and internal wealth of the earth that brought ecology and traditional eco-cultural construction to a critical stage. In an age of enlightenment, material progress and vulgarity of modernity nature’s aesthetic and impulse are lost. Experimentation of recollecting emotion in tranquility is lost or repudiated in the individual talent without conformity to tradition. Environmental culture is based on humanity’s natural impulses and from natural scenes and seasons. But in capitalist technological society and aggressive colonization twenty first century’s ‘new human’ is radically opposed to nature. In their ‘substitutive’ living human beings are ‘levelling down’ the socialist ecology without facile progressivism and without any visible reaction and repentance for both paradise lost and paradise regained. Ecocritical study not only presents the vulgarity of modernity, but also critiques “the exploitation of the earth … for commercial profit: immediate benefits leading to dearth and desert” (Eliot18). It implies a life in conformity with nature. It’s an ideal order dedicated to “the realized naturalism of man and the realized humanism of nature” (Marx 285) with both humanity’s natural impulses and from natural scenes and seasons. For the ‘dwelling’ of the human existence it is not necessary to dominate, manipulate, pollute and destroy nature’s ecology. Desire for perfectionism’ in the dangerous quest for nature’s wealth in the logic of ‘hyper-technologism’ separates the human beings from their natural surroundings and conditionings.
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NATURE AND FUNCTION OF ECOETHICS Ecology has its own ethics like those of the human beings. It is interesting to study the life in ecology and life surviving spirits in ecology that dwells and nurtures. Ecology’s language, spirit and essential features sustain the living organisms to exist and ‘dwell on the earth’. Any attempt to dominate, manipulate, pollute or destroy is the violation of ethics. While ethics in religion and philosophy is synonymously related to ‘morals’ in developing individuals’ ideals and concepts to judge what is right or wrong, good or bad in inter-human relationships; ecoethics is an identical formation of anthropocentric concepts to construct the total system of ‘humanity plus nature’ and human behavior by weighing the nature’s wealth and ecosystem, and human behavior, attitude, right and righteousness towards it. It is a philosophy of supernatural phenomena to formulate rules in belief and practice for a rational augmentation of humane condition and living components of ecosystem. Ecoethics disregards the dominance, and ruthless and relentless dominance of a single species (i. e. human beings). It challenges the traditional concept of ethics and negotiates values in naturehuman relationship and coexistence. Ecoethics is different from traditional ethics for its progressive maturation. It strongly challenges human beings’ dangerous choice for ‘perfectionism’. It reacts to individuals’ desire to be ‘rotten with perfection’ on the planet earth where Homo Sapiens instead of preferring coexisting forms of life become destructive to the ecosystem. The selfish and selfcentred desire of human beings destroy the ‘pastoral design’ and the ‘pastoral ideal’ of living in idyllic past of Arcadia or Eden, and forgets the wisdom of the ancients. For environmental protection, pattern of coexistence, and nature’s metabolic pattern human beings need to change their thought and conduct
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for a balance in the ecosystem. The future of mankind can only be safe when nature will be useful and sustainable in a support system and human beings will not think nature’s charity inadequate. For a support system of the biospheric life all species are our evolutionary relatives and for the interdependent web of their relationship and biospheric integrity we need to develop genuine respect for each other. Actions elicit respect and mutual respect demonstrably while enhancing biospheric integrity. Endorsing dignity and respect to nature we can acknowledge our spirituality with the nature power. Like the environmentalists theologians and philosophers understand the essential structures of ecosystem and ecoethics which is consisted of non-living and living components in nature’s metabolic patterns and those of the human population. Acknowledging spirituality as a higher power in the biosphere has existed for billions of years. Spirituality as part of a living continuum and anthropogenic artifact prevents the human beings from participating in the destruction of this continuum. Practice of ecoethics for the cultural, disciplinary and special interests can only create the consensus for mutual accommodation of millions of species and natural habitats to live in a harmonious relationship with natural systems. It pledges the human world not to endanger the natural world. The violation of eco-ethics, mutual respect and bond of interdependence will only be self-destructive for the humans and destructive for the creatures of the planet as well as our descendants. The destruction of ecoethical standards will not only destroy the natural habitats but also make us explainable to our descendants about our folly. The patterns of coexistence, with patterns of dominance destroy the concept of eco-ethics and evade nature’s rules. Ecoethics shapes and orients human thought and conduct to
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know what is right or wrong and what is beneficial or destructive in the total system of human and nature. In the environmental system there is an interdependent web of life. Ecoethics pledges not to endanger this system through excessive accumulation of material goods, excessive use of energy and usurpation of the place of other species which deprive them from their existential abodes. Living in our technological society we have adopted a dangerous trend of adopting a desire to expand and grow quickly by enjoying excessive accumulation of material goods and excessive use of energy. This kind of individual and societal behavior not only modifies the biosphere but also destroys the biospheric integrity affecting its whole system. Worshipping the technology has improved our standard of life but it has degraded the values of our life and values in the natural system. The principle of interdependence is frequently proliferated by the perceptions of extra dependence and motive for exploitation of nature’s wealth. Ecology affirms sustainable practices to cherish the biospheric shrine where humans and natural habitats are accommodated in a harmonious relationship with the natural systems, knowledge of social structure and ecological system. In order to make the planet habitable ecoethics makes the human beings understand and assess the basic concepts of human and ecological health and their well-being. In the matter of coexistence of human population and other living components ecoethics does not allow any dominance. Since human beings are powerful for their knowledge and thinking capacity they dominate the other components in the ecosystem. Ecoethics avoids this dominance and prescribes the responsibilities for human beings to design and tame their desires, urges and instincts for the grand design of ecosystem. For a better coherent survival with modesty, responsibility, honesty, peace,
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freedom and justice ecoethics enforces new values like selfrestriction with its extension to moral theology, moral philosophy, altruism, help and love. Ecoethics contributes to the maximizing of human life and the life span of other species. It is the philosophy that avoids conflict between economy and ecology and a catastrophe of gigantic dimensions. Excellence in ecology can only be achieved with new possibilities by disseminating ethical views. The most important aspect of ecoethics is that it creates an environment in the mindspace and ecospace for a balance, harmony and wholeness in the ecology. In the complex relationship between nature and human life “we are in an unusual predicament as a global civilization. The maximum that is politically feasible, even the maximum that is politically imaginable right now, still falls short of the minimum that is scientifically and ecologically necessary (McKibben 1). Since ‘eco’ study is connected to ‘green’ movement it is aimed for drastic changes in our habits of consumption of nature’s gifts with a spiritual and moral awakening. Understanding ecology beyond the scientific discipline helps us to place ecocentrism (an imaginative gesture towards ecosystem) in the context of anthropocentrism (placing of humanity at the centre of everything) to project humanity at the centre of ecology. But the oppressive strategy of the human beings against natural ecosystem in industrial culture causes environmental degradation. Ecological study of literature and social sciences examines the imagined territory of nature’s canvas and understanding of literature and scientific knowledge. Ecoethics contributes the knowledge about the application of human ethics to the management of ecosystem in the definitions of fathering and mothering relationship between nature and human.
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REASONS FOR AND RESULTS OF ECOSTUDY Nature builds our senses of reason which it denies to the other animals and living organisms. Ecology averts the catastrophe for human habits of consumption of nature’s products and resources in and exploitation of nature’s resources. In the oppressive hierarchies of human beings “Ecology leads us to recognize that life speaks, communing through encoded streams of information” (Howarth 163) from the reasons and emotions that sustain life with joy, pleasure in wise passiveness. Often it is understood that eco-study is only related to the study of deforestation and consuming of natural resources that establishes a foundational belief in human constructed relation between nature and culture. Ecocriticism undertakes the study of nature writing as a kind of experiment for ecological holiness, ecological preservation, and ecological ideals which treat nature as culture for the exhilaration and good fortune of nature consumers. As an academic movement in the USA in late 1980s and in the UK in 1990s it became a critical approach to the study of relationship between literature and physical environment. Ecoethics as a philosophical doctrine and procedure to acknowledge definite purpose that provides romantic grandeur in cultural materialism and American New Historicism. Starting from its founder Cheryll Glotfelty and Pioneers Ralph Waldo Emerson (1903-1882), Margaret Fuller (1810-1950), and Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) in nineteenth century America it has been celebrating ‘treehugging’, denouncing deforestation and consumption of natural resources by governmental, industrial, commercial and neocolonial forces. Ecocriticism highlights ecoethics to restrict deforestation and consumption of natural resources which are related to the crucial matters of life and its foundational belief in the
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construction of theoretical orthodoxy, and ozone layer of society’s literary and cultural atmosphere. The impact of nature on human life is pre-literary and pre-theoretical but ecoethics debates the fundamentals of human consumption of ‘god-given something, and inequalities and injustices in the invocation of nature and anthropomorphic construct. While in literature the word ‘nature’ is used as a physical presence for mediation between nature god and human in its cycle of growth, maturity and decay of ‘wisdom of the ages’, in anthropomorphic construct “Nature is the name under which we use the nonhuman to validate the human, to interpose a mediation able to make humanity more easy with itself ” (Coupe 175) in naturalized process. Ecoethics predominantly defines nature as ‘pure’, sublime and both a paternal figure and mother figure to provide wisdom and understanding of the ages through its scenic and picturesque sites. The saga of relationship between humans and cosmic forces are ancient and too old for the growth and energy, symbiosis and mutuality, and sustainable use of nature’s energy and resources generate anthropocentric problems in the interrelations between humans and human systems for the understanding of nature and nature’s habitats that combines human-animal-planet in intimate and intricate interconnectedness of their activities, shared relationship, conservation of the planetary ecosystem, intervention, manipulation, transformation and dependence through the process of evolution. Ecoethical issues are responsible for our physiological and psychological growth. Nature as a being and force builds its law and moral for humanity’s good in its ecological engineering. In nature’s nurturing quality it acts like a woman, nurtures and saves the mankind with her feminine virtues. In literary metaphor naturescape is portrayed as a female in Raymond
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William’s The Country and the City (1973), Annette Kolodny’s The Lay of the Land (1975) and Jonathan Bate’s Romantic Ecology (1991). Ecocritics are responsive to environmental justice with emphasis to material reality in nature that provides air, food, water and livelihood. Ecocritics also analyse nature’s gifts to human life and its vulnerable aspects due to the hostility of human beings both in art and literature which the Marxists and New Historicists believe in nature writing a conservative ideology. Ecocritics as the messengers of ecoethics believe that technological progress for the economic advancement is the major obstruction that causes damage to the environment. Due to the destruction of ecosphere the level of increasing carbon dioxide and biospheric degradation is further causing global warming and posing danger to life. Ecology is not a study of the ‘external’ environment rather a management system of the living environment with raw materials from the complex relationship between things-in-themselves and things-far-us. When humankind is conquering, cultivating, conscripting the nature, and stripping the nature to her ‘unsexed’ womb to see her barrenness the study of “Ecology can be a means for learning how to live appropriately in a particular place and time, so as to preserve, contribute to, an recycle the ecosystem” (Murphy 194). For their materialistic hallucination humans are destroying the resources camouflaging their motives for the cause of their civilizational progress. The destruction of ecology’s aesthetic embroideries, ecological democracy; and paradisiac and Edenic actualities with ‘technological psychosis,’ generates a ‘social meliorism’ in human-nature relationships. CONCLUSION Literature is the territory that presents the perceptual, cultural and physical environs of nature’s humanist space. Ecoethics is
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an attempt in ecostudy to neutralize the radioactive or the ozone layer that deplete the ideology of harmonious relationship with nature. Environmental philosophy is always didactive and quintessential in subjective spirit to defend ecological democracy and nurture the majestic sentiment of nature’s ‘intimations of immortality’. Nature is an influential book that teaches harmonious relationship between ecoethics and human-nature in the principle of ‘dual accountability’ by suppressing and surpassing ‘technological psychosis’. Ecoethics is the “structure of feeling” (Williams 22), a panacea for social ills and human civilization’s ‘heterarchy’ and ‘hierarchy’ for the sovereignty of human existence. It is not simply a geographical discourse or a geographical reference in our social conditions or confronting principle for comforting our aristocratic fantasy in physical environment but presents a sociology of knowledge with therapeutic values is Lacanian and Foucaultian theoretical perspective and practice. Environmentalism can only have a harmonious relationship between human and nature on the basis of spiritual-imaginative and socialized perceptions. Ecoethics in Thoreauvian belief and Cartesian dualism a comforting spirit and evolutionary philosophy to prevent ‘ecocide’, ‘ecoterrorism’ and ‘ecopornography’ in the subdisciplines like ‘eco-psychology’, ‘economics’, ‘ecofeminism’ and ‘ecosophy’. Humankind’s consumerist assumptions and habits occupy the centre position in the faithful mimesis of many contemporary literary writers reminding us about the damage of our ecological legacy. Ecoethics facilitates our thinking and rationality to avoid the destruction of nature and its wealth, greenhouse effect and affliciting sterility on nature’s wealth.
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WORKS CITED Bate, Jonathan. Romantic Ecology: Wordsworth and the Environmental Tradition. London and New York: Routledge, 1991. Print. Buell, Lawrence. The Environmental Imagination: Thoreau, Nature Writing, and the Formation of American Culture. Cambridge, MA. Harvard UP, 1995. Print. Coupe, Laurence. The Green Studies Reader: From Romanticism to Ecocriticism. UK: Routledge, 2000. Print. Ekot, T. S. The Idea of a Christian Society. London: Faber and Faber, 1939. Print. Greenblatt, Stephen and Giles Gunn. Redrawing the Boundaries: The Transformation of English and American Studies. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1992. Print. Marx, Karl. Capital. Vol. I Trans. Ben Fowkes. New York: Vintage, 1977: 285. Print. McKibben, Bill. Hope, Human and Wild. Boston: Litten Brown, 1995. Print. Murphy, Patrick D. “Ecofeminist Dialogics”. The Green Studies Reader: From Romanticism to Ecocriticism Ed. Laurence Coupe. London and New York: Routledge, 2000: 193-197. Print. ......... Literature, Nature, and Other: Ecofeminist Critiques. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1995. Print. Williams, Raymond. Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. London: Fontana, 1983. Print. ......... The Country and the City. 1973. London: Hogarth Press, 1985. Print.
26 The Environment in Arundhati Roy’s Non-Fiction Ranjit K Pati
Arundhati Roy became immensely popular with her only novel The God of Small Things. She has grabbed even more attention with her non-fictional writings and public orations for which she has been denoted by the term ‘writer activist’. The present paper brings in Arundhati Roy’s stand on various topics like the unjust stance of the Supreme Court of India in terms of issues of rehabilitation of people affected by dams like Sardar Sarovar, Maoist insurgency, Narmada Bachao Andolan, Kashmir, Nuclear Tests, Global warming and wars to confirm her ecocritical perspective. Her wide spread interest in the environmental issues and in the form of literary ecology are the focus of the paper. In The End of Imagination (1998) Roy speaks about the nuclear tests conducted by India in May 1998 at Pokhran. She laments the fact that “my world has died. And I write to mourn its passing” (30). The literary world was expecting a new fictional work from Roy but she took the opportunity to inform the people about the terrible effects of nuclear weapons. Roy calls it a Cancer Yatra to eliminate humanity from the world. She couldn’t keep quiet when India conducted the nuclear tests at
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Pokhran. Roy was committed to challenge the Government of India for having conducted the nuclear tests without the consent of the people. Bombs can’t satisfy the thirst and hunger of the poor. They can be used only for destructive purposes and finally they lead to the total annihilation of the society. The entire environment is spoilt affecting the mankind for generation to come. Thus, she has brought out the perilous effects of nuclear weapons and the drastic extent to which they can lead the people into trouble. Arundhati Roy wrote The Greater Common Good (1999) in support for the displaced tribal people who suffer from the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the banks of the Narmada valley. She had taken up the challenge and made it a national issue after having witnessed the sufferings of the people. The people had no other alternative except to leave their land for an unknown destination in the name of development. The book was widely accepted by the activists and it became the ‘Bible’ of Narmada Bachao Andolan. It generated a strong public opinion in favour of the displaced tribal people of the Narmada valley. According to Arundhati Roy, Big dams and nuclear bombs both are products of the modern state. They demarcate a historical moment in which scientific and industrial thought has outpaced the human instinct for survival. They represent, she suggests, “the severing of the link, not just the link – the understanding – between human beings and the planet they live on. They scramble the intelligence that connects eggs to hens, milk to cows, water to rivers, air to life, and the earth to human existence” (The Greater Common Good80-81). Here Roy attends to the most basic principle of what Timothy Morton terms “the ecological thought”: a belief that “everything is connected” (Morton 1). Despite widespread interest in her eco-
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critical perspective, little attention has, as yet, been devoted to Roy’s engagement with the problem of climate change. In his influential essay “The Climate of History”, for instance, Dipesh Chakrabarty argues that the current environmental crisis holds the potential to create a “negative universal history”: “a universal that arises from a shared sense of catastrophe... (but) without the myth of a global identity” (Chakrabarty 222). The Greater Common Good highlights the plight of those tens of thousands of people, many of lower caste and from India’s tribal groups, who will lose the most because of the Narmada dams. The government is only obligated to provide cash compensation in the event of displacement by an infrastructure project like a dam. But many tribal peoples have no formal title to their lands, thus making collecting compensation nearly impossible. Frequently, whole communities are split up and sent to different relocation sites. There is a loss of culture, language, temples, archaeological record and self-sufficient lifestyle. “The great majority is eventually absorbed into slums on the periphery of our great cities, where it coalesces into an immense pool of cheap construction labour (that builds more projects that displace more people).” To Roy projects like the dam take power away from the people and put it in the hands of a single authority who will decide who gets what water when, essentially the power of life and death. Roy quotes a resilient removed from the dam area: “Why didn’t they just poison us? Then... the Government could have survived alone with its precious dam all to itself. ” Her short essay “The Ladies Have Feelings, So... Shall We Leave It to the Experts?” – appeared in The Cost of Living (1999) was Roy’s first explicit engagement with the politics surrounding climate change. In answer to her titular question, concerning the role of artists in addressing environmental concerns, she argues:
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“Painters, writers, actors, dancers, filmmakers and musicians are meant to fly, to push at the frontiers, to worry the edges of the human imagination, to conjure beauty from the most unexpected things.” (5) In other words, such public intellectuals have the ability – if not necessarily the responsibility – to uncover mundane, everyday atrocities; they are able to animate the violence within “boring things like jobs, money, water supply, electricity, irrigation.” (13). Roy’s text does just this: she describes, for instance, the factory pollution produced by transnational corporations as “our in-house version of first world bullying in the global warming debate: i. e., We pollute, you pay” (23) ; further, and in a gesture indicative of her commitment to unveiling the interconnected logic behind ecological deterioration, she compares the euphemistic terminology of a “good investment climate” – describing rampant third-world labour exploitation – to the geological conditions it produces in the form of actual climate change (17). Although in these instances global warming is of tangential concern within her overall argument, they nonetheless show how such issues grow from the same fertile political soil as ecological debasement. Roy has become increasingly interested in exploring the specific challenges presented by the Anthropocene. Perhaps the clearest example of this is her 2009 essay compilation Listening to Grasshoppers: Field Notes on Democracy. From its opening, the book foregrounds Roy’s concern with an impending global – rather than simply local or geographical – environmental collapse. In the epigraph, she cites a passage taken from Palestinian author Mahmoud Darwish’s poem “The Earth is Closing on Us”: “Where should we go after the last frontier?/Where should the birds fly after the last sky?/Where should the plants sleep after the last breath of air?” (V). Neo-
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imperial Israeli occupation of the West Bank, here, is interwoven with ecological concerns over the future of planet earth. In fact, much of the collection is concerned with unearthing, as it were, exactly this sordid relationship between expansive nationalism, free-market capitalism, liberal democracy, and climate change. In her “Introduction”, for example, Roy meticulously deconstructs the rationale behind India’s border dispute with Pakistan in Kashmir. Particularly ironic is the deployment of troops atop Siachen glacier – “the highest battlefield in the world”: While the Indian and Pakistani governments spend billions of dollars on weapons and the logistics of high altitude warfare, the battlefield has begun to melt. Right now, it has shrunk to about half its size…. The glacial melt will cause severe floods in the subcontinent, and eventually severe droughts that will affect the lives of millions of people. That will give us even more reason to fight. (XXXVI)
Within Listening to Grasshoppers, global warming serves as a kind of event horizon. By beginning and ending with dissolving ice formation, Roy presents the Anthropocene as the largest and most all-consuming problem imaginable. In “The Greater Common Good,” for instance, Roy compares Indians who ignore the repressive actions of big dam builders to “Old Nazis,” who she thinks “soothe themselves in similar ways.” (42) Though well intentioned, her attempts to articulate ecological destruction at the level of genocide ignore numerous historical, racial, and political realities. Roy’s elevation of provincial environmental battles to the level of global warming fails to account for the qualitative dissimilarities between these problems. Whereas one can stand atop a hill and survey the wasted, mine-pocked landscape below. Such a vantage point is impossible in the case of climate change. Meditation of some kind, whether scientific or aesthetic, is needed to ‘see’ or ‘feel’
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the Anthropocene and its manifold effects. Further, finding solutions to global warming requires a radically different scale and kind of environmental thinking. Undermining traditional villains, like corrupt governments and international trade, while necessary, is not sufficient when confronting such issues. In Chakrabarty’s terms: “these critiques do not given us an adequate hold on human history once we accept that the crisis of climate change is here with us and may exist as part of this planet for much longer than capitalism” (212). Roy’s work Walking with the Comrades (2012) turns to an alternative social model, found in the Maoist Naxalite rebels encamped throughout India’s many forest systems. Often fighting against exploitative mining companies – such as those operating on Bauxite deposits in Orissa – her book pictures them as a more eco-friendly method of being in the world. “I cannot believe this army”, she writes: “As far as consumption goes, it’s more Gandhian than any Gandhian, and has a lighter carbon footprint than any climate change evangelist” (67). Roy seeks a form of thought which exists untainted by either modern capitalism or liberal democracy. While she is careful not to diminish the often horrific crimes of such militants – ranging from rape and murder to beheadings – she does try to assemble their oft-elided voices together into a unit capable of speaking at the level of international environmental issues. She acerbically enquires: “Will someone who’s going to the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen later this year (2009) please ask the only question worth asking: Can we leave the bauxite in the mountain?” (35). THE BRIEFING – ROY’S NON-FICTIONAL FICTION Originally written for Italian art magazine Manifesta, “The Briefing” ostensibly depicts a guerrilla leader addressing his
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troops as they prepare to assault the supposedly impenetrable Hapsburg fortress in Franzenfeste. However, most of the narrative is concerned with the immanent disappearance of snow from the surrounding mountainside, and its consequences for local Ski resorts. Werner Voltron, president of the Ski Instructors Association, puts it: ‘The future, I think, is black…….’ By black he meant ominous, ruinous, hopeless, catastrophic, and bleak... every one degree Celsius increase in winter temperatures spells doom for almost one hundred skiresorts. That, as you can imagine, is a lot of money”. (205-206) Roy not only condemns such environmentally destructive actions, but also presents a call-to-arms against the violence. The talk on corporate raj leads the speaker to highlight the cut throat competition implicit in the capitalistic world and its ecological side effects. The speaker shifts his/her focus from the indomitable fort to the ‘snow wars’ in the Alps. The shift though abrupt is not without connection. The ecological consequences of capitalism are highlighted next by the speaker. After a round of rhetorical questions the tone again shifts to that of a Militant commander, “Those of you who are from here-you must know about the Snow Wars. Those of you who aren’t, listen carefully. It is vital that you understand the texture and fabric of the place you have chosen for your mission.” (205)
The Militant’s register gives way again to that of an environmentalist who is on a mission to educate his students on the consequences of global warming: Since the winters have grown warmer here, there are fewer ‘snowmaking’ days and as a result there’s not enough snow to cover the ski slopes. Most ski slopes can no longer be classified as ‘snowreliable.’ At a recent press conference-perhaps you’ve read the reports – Werner Voltron, President of the Association of Ski Instructors, said, “The future, I think is black. Completely black”. (205)
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The militant voice is soon replaced by that of a scientist explaining the process of artificial snow making. The phantom narrator of indeterminate provenance goes on to explain how nucleated, treated water is shot out of high-pressure powerintensive snow cannons at high speed to generate artificial snow. The snow when ready is stacked in mounds called whales which are later groomed, tilled and fluffed before the snow is evenly spread on slopes that have been shaved of imperfections and natural rock formations. The soil is covered with a thick layer of fertilizer to keep the soil cool and insulate it from the warmth generated by Hot Snow. (207) The voice of the witch is reiterated to emphasize the hazard implicit in the situation: “Macbeth shall never be vanquished, until Great Burnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him?” (208). Neither did Macbeth take heed of the witch’s warning nor do people who are blinded by capitalism, as one of them echoes the sentiments of Macbeth “That will never be. Who can impress the forest, bid the tree unfix his earthbound root?” (208). The quotation from Macbeth evokes an ominous atmosphere. Though the contexts of the past and the present are different, the effect is the same: a warning of the foreboding. Thus it also serves as another pointer to ecological imbalances that may take place in the future, with special reference to deforestation. Here Macbeth stands for the indifferent humanity for whom disaster is imminent with increasing global warming and the adverse effects of the globalizing process. The final devastation is hinted by the migration of trees that will be followed by the dislocation of birds and insects, wasps, bees, butterflies, bats and other pollinators.
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ARUNDHATI ROY’S INTERVIEWS The Shape of the Beast: Conversations with Arundati Roy (2008), is a collection of fourteen interviews with Roy by seven interviewers, that span from 2001 to 2008, wherein she talks extensively about various issues such as the unjust stance of the Supreme Court of India in terms of issues of rehabilitation of people affected by dams like Sardar Sarovar, the menace of American imperialism, Maoist insurgency, Narmada Bachao Andolan and Kashmir. She analyzes the challenges of democracy, examines the exploitation the ‘third world’ undergoes in the global scenario and the war on terror. Roy with her keen observation and powerful writing turned millions of readers to a vast variety of problems facing the world today. The scrutiny of different subjects attracts a nonreader too. She has been rightly termed as a writer activist that accurately justifies her stand. WORKS CITED Chakrabarty, Dipesh. “The Climate of History: Four Theses.” Critical Inquiry. 35. 1. 2009. Print. Morton, Timothy. The Ecological Thought. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2010, Print. Roy, Arundhati. Listening to Grasshoppers: Field Notes on Democracy. Hamish Hamilton, Penguin Publishers, New Delhi, 2009. Print. ......... The Greater Common Good, India Book Distributor, Bombay, 1999. Print. ......... The Cost of Living, Flamingo, London, 1999. Print. ......... Walking with Comrades, Penguin books, U. K., 2012. Print. ......... The Shape of the Beast: Conversations with Arundhati Roy. London: Hamish Hamilton, 2010. Print.
27 Expounding ‘Social Ecology’ with Special Reference to Ethics and Praxis in Tagore’s Ashram School at Santiniketan Nishamani Kar
“Man has lost the capacity to foresee and to forestall. He will end by destroying the earth. ” … “Compassion, in which all ethics must take root, can only attain its full breadth and depth, if it embraces all living creatures and does not limit itself to mankind. ” (Albert Schweitzer)
Indian ‘Ashram Schools’ of yester years aimed at the wholesome development of the personality of the child, development in terms of intellect, emotion, aesthetic sensibility, drive for ideal action and common will to do the common good. Each inmate of such ‘Abode (s) of Peace’ looked upon himself as a ray of divinity, a spark of the spirit – a spirit, which celebrates the interconnectedness of all living beings in the web of life, as exhorted by the Upanishadic sage Satyakama-Jabala. When asked by the teacher, “Kah nu tvanusasaasetvam” (“Who taught you the truth?”) Satyakama-Jabala answered, “Anyemanusyebhyah” (“Some ones other than human beings”)1 In a typical Wordsworthian way, it is: “One impulse from a vernal wood/
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May teach you more of man,/Of moral evil and of good,/Than all the sages can.” (‘The Tables Turned’). This is indeed the ‘Ashram ideal’, which was negotiated in the early 20th century by Ganganath Bharatiya Sarva-Vidyalaya at Baroda, the various Gurukuls and Rishikuls of northern India, Gandhiji’s Phoenix Farm in South Africa, Sevagram and Sabarmati Ashram in India, Vijapurkar’s Samarth Vidyalaya at Talegaon (Maharastra), Gopabandhu’s Bakul Vana Vidyalaya at Satyabadi (Odisha) and Tagore’s Brahmacharya Ashram at Santiniketan, which in their search for synchronizing ideal education with an ideational Ashram-life aimed at ensuring an all-round revolution – political, cultural and spiritual. All these Ashram Schools were more of a retreat, a home and community life for a number of persons with a common vision of a purer, nobler and richer life. They fostered, as it were, a subtle interweaving of cognitive insight, affective understanding and ethical reflection in the lifeways of the inmates, who invariably, under the vigilant supervision of patriarchs, endorse a concern for spontaneity in ideation and action. Evidently, they captured the nuances of social ecology (nothing in nature exists alone), as enunciated later by Murray Bookchin in his book Ecology & Revolutionary Thought (1964), seeking a reciprocal relationship between the human society and the ecological infrastructure.2 In this short paper, we will take a cogent attempt to identify and explore the socio-ecological foundations on which the Indian Ashram Schools were set up and flourished, especially during a period when efforts were on to give definitive shape to Indian National Education. In our attempt to be focused, we will emphasize upon the multi-nuanced initiatives taken by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore in his Ashram School in conceptualizing ‘the religion of man’ and realizing the living aspirations through an intense interest in life, in ideas and in
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everything around him; through the direct communion with the life-force. I The ecologists across the globe were somehow inspired by the concern raised by Ernst Haeckel, who coined the word “ecology” in the last phase of 19th Century to highlight the harm caused by ‘humanity’ on the planet earth. They were somewhat oblivious of the effects of the social systems (may be, the capitalist system) in giving shape to “biological problems.” Even socially-tuned ecological prodding, such as William Vogt’s Road to Survival (1948), Fairfield Osborn’s Our Plundered Planet (1948), Paul R Ehrlich’s The Population Bomb (1968) and especially Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) were more concerned with the impact of human population explosion and the loss of wildlife in an increasingly industrialized world than with the material welfare of humanity. Incidentally, Carson questioned the use of toxic pesticides, but she was more concerned with their impact on birds than on people. Nor did she or any other ecological critic examine the systemic sources that contributed to a growing disequilibrium between nature and society. Perhaps they thought in terms of an abstract ‘humanity’ and insisted on immoral human behavior playing the spoils sport. Contrastingly, social ecology emphasized on society’s interaction with the natural world and gave a new meaning to it. A concept as enunciated by Murray Bookchin (1964) in his book Ecology & Revolutionary Thought, it sought for a reciprocal relationship between the human society and the ecological infrastructure. In his article in Bioscience titled “A Subversive Science” (1964), Bookchin while challenging the accepted social and economic practices advocated the cause of conserving biodiversity, pursuing sustainable development, reducing the
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dependency of the society on the ecosystem and creating awareness about the environment and questioned the eventual roadblocks perpetrated by industrialization, development, improved/improving lifestyle, over-population and everincreasing demands. For him, the tendency to dominate nature had its origins in the very attitude of humans towards their fellow beings, as society through the centuries had stood on the bedrock of hierarchy, which had to be addressed by attitudinal changes promoted by novel imperatives and institutional practices. This placed “ecology” on an entirely new level of inquiry and praxis, bringing it far above a romantic and often mystical engagement with an undefined ‘nature’ and the so called solicitude in favor of “wildlife.” Social ecology was precisely concerned with the most intimate relations between human beings and the organic world around them. It explored the issue of humanity’s place in the natural world-order and gave ecology a sharp revolutionary and political edge. Eventually, we are asked to seek changes not only in the objective realm of economic relations, but also in the subjective realm of cultural, ethical, aesthetic, personal, and psychological areas of inquiry. We are to set our life’s course, while gravitating towards the traditional environmental knowledge for value-based human activities within the powerful spirit world of the local bio-region. Thus, indigenous religious exercises along with the concomitant beliefs and ritual practices have to go hand in hand with our commitment to subsistence, land-management, kinship, language, and governance. In this context, Bookchin’s observation is revealing: Most fundamentally, these relations exist at the very base of all social life: notably, the ways in which we interact with the natural world, especially through labor, even in the simplest forms of
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society, such as tribal and village stages of social formation. And certainly, if we had major negative ecological disequilibria between humanity and the natural world which could threaten the very existence of our species, we had to understand how these disequilibria emerged; what we even meant by the word “nature;” how did society emerge out of the natural world; how did it necessarily alienate itself from elemental natural relations; how and why did basic social institutions such as government, law, the state, even classes emerge dialectically from each other before human society came into its own; and in ways that went beyond mere instinct and custom, not to speak of patricentricity, patriarchy, and a host of similar “cultural” relations whose emergence are not easily explained by economic factors alone. …
Let me be quite outspoken: it was not an unbridled passion for wildlife, wilderness, organic food, primitivism, craft-like methods of production, villages (as against cities), “localism,” a belief that “small is beautiful” – not to speak of Asian mysticism, spiritualism, naturism, etcetera – that led me to formulate and promote social ecology. I was guided by the compelling – indeed, challenging – need to formulate a viable imperative that doomed capitalism to self-extinction (sic).3 Social ecology thus advocates a reformative, transformative and reconstructive outlook on social and environmental issues, and promotes a directly democratic, responsive socio-political action. It envisions the evolution of human society through a moral economy with a self-fulfilling delectation that moves beyond inadequacy and hierarchy, towards a world that reassorts human communities with the natural world, while celebrating diversity, ingenuity and autonomy. It seeks an educative framework through ISE (Institute for Social Ecology), which was founded in 1974, promoting harmony in social life in favour of an ever-widening range for equitable justice and liberty. Eventually, the Ashram Schools in pre-independent India
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had pursued the same mission and vision with clarity, may be within a wider and ever-widening ideological framework. II Research in cultural anthropology has proved that the cultural characteristics of indigenous life often stand related to ecology from the days of yore. Therefore any discussion on indigenous people, their cosmologies and ritual practices vis-à-vis ecology needs to be focused and we will now take a couple of instances from the Indian Vedic tradition (a thorough elaboration is beyond our focus here). However, we will explore as to how such a linkage still survives at the face of external economic domination of the indigenous societies by multinational business and their gradual absorption into the mainstream. It is a fact that the Indian society has all through provided a system of moral guidelines for environmental conservation. Even environmental ethics, as propounded by the ancient Hindu seers, is practiced as a moral obligation and is entwined with the Hindu view of life. A case in sight is a verse in Durga Saptasati: Yaavadbhumandalamdhattesaasailvavanakaananam Taavattisthati, mediniyamsaantaatih putra-pautriki 4 (So long as the earth is able to maintain mountains, forests, trees etc., until then the human race and its progeny will be able to survive.)
Another example – the ‘Prithivi Sukta’ (Atharva Veda), devoted to the praise of Mother Earth: Giryasteparvataahimavantoranyamteprithvisyonamastu Babhrumkrushnamrohiiniimvishvaruupaam dhruvambhuumimprithvimindraguptaam Ajitohatoakshatoadhyathaam prithviimaham 5 [O Mother Earth! Sacred are thy hills, snowy mountains, and deep forests. Be kind to us and bestow upon us happiness. May you be
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fertile, arable, and nourisher of all. May you continue supporting people of all races and nations. May you protect us from your anger (natural disasters). And may no one exploit and subjugate your children. ]
Both the examples cited above highlight the bonding between the earth and all living-forms including human beings. They enjoin all humans to subscribe to green values, to protect, preserve and care for the elements – the building blocks of all life – the distinctive elaborations of primal energy. Therefore, what is solicited is the promotion of life-styles which will promote and protect for the posterity the life sustaining characteristics of the elements – the panchamahabhuta: kshit, ap, tejas, marut and vyom (earth, water, fire, air and sky). We are thus radically interconnected with all beings, to all of reality. The transitory self as ego or ‘I’ or persona (ahamkara) has to give way to the eternal, immortal self, the Atman, which is a part of Brahman (The Supreme Divine Reality), which is both immanent and transcendent – both within and outside all reality. This is, what we call, pantheism – a belief system which posits that the divine (be it monotheistic, polytheistic, or an eternal cosmic animating force) interpenetrates every part of nature and timelessly extends beyond it. The Vedas declare it unequivocally: Tat Tvam Asi (That Thou Art).6 Chaandogya Upanisad, while recognizing the importance of such a commitment incidentally asserts the relevance of a Sovereign Self – a man of realization who has freedom of movement in all the worlds beyond the confines of kshayalokaah (the decaying world).7 Viewed though as an elitist philosophy with esoteric metaphysical concerns, it negotiates a social and political philosophy – a practical morality, which, as it appears, the Ashram Schools/Gurukuls appear to have adapted with élan. They perhaps mandated themselves to groom such Sovereign Selves (sahsvaraatbhavati)8, for whom
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Praanah Brahma, Ka Brahma, Kha Brahma9 (The Vital force is Brahman, Bliss is Brahman and Space is Brahman as well). III Eventually, the Ashram way of education has been an evolving ideal in India from the age of the Upanishads, and throughout the centuries this spirit has profoundly inspired and vitally influenced Indian life and thought. We dare say that the spirit of India has sought to express its own genius through Ashram Schools in the contemporary world and, may be, it is India’s special contribution to the trajectory of educational philosophy and practice of the world. Tagore’s quest for true religion of man, Gandhiji’s search for a self-sufficient community life and Sri Aurobindo’s yearning to invoke the supra-mental consciousness on earth have forced them to experiment on the Ashram Life of ancient India and give shape to a pattern of education, which is not only a preparation for life but living itself, and can therefore be given and received through sharing, through active participation in a living community accepting certain disciplines towards a definite goal. Contrastingly, modern educational programme in India, invariably based on the Western model, recognizes the scientific inquiry and the development of the scientific temper and the pursuit of the physical world without any care for the spiritual order. But the Ashram Ideal stresses on an integral approach; it does not make a distinction between truth in the physical and spiritual planes. Given and received through the process of living together in the quietude of a natural setting, it stresses on self-culture, on the harmonious development of body, mind and spirit, preparing the pupil to live a corporate spiritual life. No less professional as it is, it imparts knowledge and skill necessary for duties and responsibilities in life.
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The Ashram thus remains the centre of a life of hope, struggle and repose – a hope for a better, nobler and abundant life; a struggle against the forces of lower nature in physical, emotional and social life; a repose arising out of a harmonious adjustment of numerous urges, out of the reconciliation of conflicting ideals. Life in the Ashram is thus lived in a spirit of self-reliance, cooperation and healthy inter-dependence. There is no room for compulsion or injunction of any sort; no place for the horror of secrecy, hypocrisy and dissimulation; no space for fear of any magnitude either. What is encouraged thus is free and open confession without deadening the moral fibre: the aspiring souls being encouraged to believe in recovery and redemption. What is aspired for is the reverence and awe for the mysteries of life; a sense of joy in beauty, harmony, symmetry and synthesis in a healthy and ordered life. IV Tagore, a singer of songs and a dreamer of dreams, was perhaps driven by the quiet of his life to start the Brahma-Vidyalaya in the arid and barren landscape of Bolpur (Bengal) in 1901 and in his opening address to the pupils (only five in number including his son), he clarified his stand thus: “From today you dedicate yourselves to truth, to fearlessness, to purity, to the good of all – in a word dedicate yourselves to Brahma.”10 Further, while elaborating the Ashram of his dreams, he said thus: I believe that the object of education is the freedom of mind which can only be achieved through the path of freedom … Therefore it is absolutely necessary for their mental health and development that they (pupils) should not have mere schools for their lessons, but a world whose guiding spirit is personal love. It must be an ashram where men have gathered for the highest end of life, in the peace of nature; where life is not merely meditative, but fully awake in its activities, where boys’ minds are not being perpetually drilled into
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believing that the ideal of the self-idolatry of the nation is the truest ideal for them to accept; where they are bidden to realize man’s work as God’s kingdom to whose citizenship they have to aspire: where the sunrise and sunset and the silent glory of stars are not daily ignored; where nature’s festivities of flowers and fruit have their joyous recognition from man; and where the young and the old, the teacher and the student, sit at the same table to partake of their daily food and the food of their eternal life. 11
Again, I tried my best to develop in the children of my school the freshness of their feeling for Nature, a sensitiveness of soul in their relationship with their human surroundings, with the help of literature, festive ceremonials and also the religious teaching which enjoins us to come to the nearer presence of the world through the soul, thus to gainit more than can be measured – like gaining an instrument, not merely by having it, but by producing music upon it. I prepared for my children a real home-coming into this world. Among other subjects learnt in the open air under the shade of trees they had their music and picture-making; they had their dramatic performances, activities that were the expressions of life. 12
Tagore was essentially an enlightened Indian. He believed in the Ashram as the formative background for a way of life, for the perfection of character. In his “Give Me Strength” prayer, he seeks the Divine intervention in life and whatever he asks for himself, perhaps, captures what he asks for his pupils of the Ashram. prayer to thee, my Lord-strike, strike at the root of penury in my heart. Give me the strength lightly to bear my joys and sorrows. Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service. Give me the strength never to disown the poor or bend my knees before insolent might. Give me the strength to raise my mind high above daily trifles. And give me the strength to surrender my strength to thy will with love. (Gitanjali n. 36) 13 THIS IS MY
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V However, it is through ceaseless striving after Truth that the Santiniketan Ashram has grown from a small family of pupils and teachers into a world-honoured university. It has proved to be a meeting place of the world. Tagore’s foremost desire to make his Ashram School a formidable entity, a centre of excellence in educational practice, has taken the desired shape: “Yatravisvambhavatiekanidam”14 (Where the whole world meets in a single nest). It is, perhaps, here the reality has followed the Idea, though it acts the other way often. It is indeed the recognition of the Hegelian notion that we need to create effective preconditions to create equally meaningful conditions for social change. Such an outcry for social change in consonance with the harmonious togetherness with others (man, animals and the natural entities including), which the social ecologists are vouching for nowadays, was truly and effectively addressed by the pioneers of Indian education in the early 20th Century. Such visionaries had perhaps realized, long before, the nuances of things to come. Therefore they pursued the living aspirations through an intense interest in life, in ideas and in everything around them, beyond the chains of finitude; through the direct communion with LIGHT – the Life-Force. light, the world-filling light, the eye-kissing light, heartsweetening light! Ah, the light dances, my darling, at the centre of my life; the light strikes, my darling, the chords of my love; the sky opens, the wind runs wild, laughter passes over the earth. The butterflies spread their sails on the sea of light Lilies and jasmines surge up on the crest of the waves of light The light is shattered into gold on every cloud, my darling, and it scatters gems in profusion. Mirth spreads from leaf to leaf, my darling, and gladness without measure. LIGHT, MY
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The heaven’s river has drowned its banks and the flood of joy is abroad. (Gitanjali n. 57)
NOTES AND WORKS CITED 1.
Swami Gambhirananda (Tr.) Chaandogya Upanisad 2nd edn. Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1992. p. 282. Print.
2.
Murray Bookchin, Ecology & Revolutionary Thought, California: PostScarcity Anarchism, 1965. Also reprinted in Anarchy 69, vol. 6. 1966. Print.
3.
Murray Bookchin, September 1st, 2002|Article Archive, Harbinger, a social ecology journal (2001-2002). info@social-ecology. org
4.
‘Durga Saptasati’, www. hindupedia. com/en/Devi_Kavacham.
5.
Atharva Veda, Kanda 12, hymn 1,verse 11, Bangalore: Sri Aurobindo Kapali Shastry Institute of Vedic Culture. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 http://www. archive. org/details/atharvaveda samhi01whituoft
6.
Op cit. Chaandogya Upanisad, p. 468.
7.
Op cit. Chaandogya Upanisad, p. 282.
8.
Op cit. Chaandogya Upanisad, p. 282.
9.
Op cit. Chaandogya Upanisad, p. 283.
10. Quoted by Asha Devi Aryanayakam, “Tagore and Ashram Ideal”, Rabindranath Tagore Birth Centenary Celebrations: Proceedings of Conference on Education, Vol. 1 (ed.) Sunil Chandra Sarkar, Santiniketan: 1961, p. 13. Print. 11. Ibid. p. 14. 12. Ibid. p. 15. 13. tagoreweb. in › Home › Verses › Gitanjali 14. www. visva-bharati. ac. in
Part VI. Eco-Psychology and Literature
28 Nature Speaks: Eco-psychological Elements in Aminatta Forna’s Ancestor Stones Deepshikha Routray
Eco-psychology is the study of psychological processes that tie us to the world or separates us from it. In early 1990s in San Francisco, a group of scholars met informally to blend the insights and practices from two fields: psychology and environmentalism. From the discussions emerged a movement quietly announced by a remarkable book: Eco-psychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind (1995) edited by Theodore Roszak and Mary E. Gomes. As human beings we have a need for place, where we can be connected to a community of people, plants, animals, and the land. Without this, we feel lost, alone, and alienated. The world wants us to belong to it, since it is only when we inhabit a place that we can care for it and assume responsibility for it. If we regard the world as a place we are visiting, we have little interest in protecting it. “Eco-psychology reminds us that this earth is our only home and that if we are to survive, let alone find happiness, we must come home” (Robinson 29). Stories about our families and ancestors, about the trees and animals and rocks around us, about stars and planets and
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gods can help us find and remember our place and anchor us in time and space. In re-storying the world, we can restore it. This paper subscribes to this thought. We humans have a fundamental need for nature. Instead of trying to tame or eliminate or ignore it, it is time we learn to grow with nature. We need to take an active role in celebrating it, and caring for it, thereby, nurturing our own needs in the process. Only by taking responsibility for the earth we can truly reconnect with it and with ourselves. Aminatta Forna was born in Scotland, raised in Sierra Leone and Britain and spent periods of her childhood in Iran, Thailand and Zambia. She is the award-winning author of the novels Ancestor Stones (2006), The Memory of Love (2010), The Hired Man (2013) and a memoir The Devil that Danced on the Water (2002). Ancestor Stones was winner of the Hurston Wright Legacy Award for Debut Fiction, the Liberaturpreis in Germany and the Aidoo-Snyder Book Prize, and was nominated for the International Dublin IMPAC Award. It was also a New York Times Editor’s Choice book, selected by the Washington Post as one of the Best Novels of 2006 and The Listener Magazine’s Best 10 Books of 2006. Ancestor Stones is made up of multi-layered stories narrated through the voices of four women in the Kholifa family: cousins Asana, Mary, Hawa and Serah, whose different mothers are all married to the patriarch Gibril, a rich man who, by the time he dies aged 100, has acquired 11 wives. In the trajectories of these lives, marked by betrayal, tragedy, occasional joy and above all, strong-willed survival, Forna presents the microcosm of her country’s history. Abie returns home from England to West Africa to visit her family after years of civil war, and to reclaim the family plantation, Kholifa Estates, formerly owned by her grandfather. Through the voices of her Aunts, a family history interlaced with the historical backdrop of
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a nation develops. The depression faced by the women characters runs parallel with the environmental degradation of Sierra Leone. Nature voices the suffering of women. Aminatta Forna’s Ancestor Stones (2006) is not just an account of multi-layered stories but is also a testimony of the environmental degradation of Sierra Leone, where the novel is set. Sierra Leone suffers from many environmental problems including deforestation, degradation and fragmentation, the loss of soil fertility, a dramatic decline and loss of biodiversity, air pollution, and water pollution. These problems hinder Sierra Leone from making progress with regards to economic development. This paper highlights how “Eco-psychology places psyche in the context of the more than human world, meaning the complex interconnected web of humans, animals, plants, microbes, rocks and stars” through a close study of Aminatta Forna’s Ancestor Stones (Robinson 26). It explores the concepts of Ecopsychology in the context of Ancestor Stones. Ancestor Stones gives an account of the transition of Sierra Leone. The story starts when the European sailors first landed in Africa and they felt as if they have stepped in to paradise. “Fruits dangling in front of their faces, sweet potatoes and yams peeped up from the earth, bananas hanging at a reachable distance” so on and so forth made the sailors think that “they had found no less a place than the Garden of Eden” (Forna6). On coming back to Africa from London after many years, Abie got nostalgic and felt like the sailor as she now lived in a place that was far moved from the nature’s bounty in the midst of which she had spent her childhood. Estranged from her home, Abie saw the screen images of her country on television bloodied and bruised. “Peace had been declared and yet the war was far from over” (8). Whatever she saw on television was contrary to the image
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of her birthplace that she holds on to. Besides feeling helpless she could do nothing about it. Similarly, when people are confronted only by the dangers of Earth’s dire situations, the result can be feelings of despair, hopelessness, leading to the opposite of the response that is needed. Both chaos in the country and the loss of wonderful coffee plantation runs parallel as marked by Abie, “all this had once been great avenues of trees” (10) but now she inherits the ruined grooves of coffee plantation. Detachment from her roots had taken away her ability to connect with nature and therefore when Abie tries to remember and hear the call of crane flying overhead, the flapping of wings and the drone of insects, she couldn’t hear any. “I stood still, straining for the sound of their voices, but the layers of years in between us were too many” (10). SOLASTALGIA Solastalgia, coined by Glenn Albrecht, refers to the grief and negative distress associated with the changes to a local environment for an individual or community who has an attachment with that locality. Glenn Albrecht developed this concept to broaden the understanding of psychoterratic, or earth related (terra) mental health (psyche) states or conditions. It contributes to the understanding of connection between ecosystem health and mental health. A person or a landscape might give solace, strength or support to other people. Special environments might provide solace in ways that other places cannot. If a person lacks solace then they are distressed without the possibility of consolation. If a person seeks solace or solitude in a much loved place, that is getting desolated, then they will get distressed. Under the
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intertwined impacts of global development, rising population and global warming, with their accompanying changes in climate and ecosystems, there is now a mismatch between our lived experience of the world, and our ability to conceptualise and comprehend it. Solastalgia is a form of homesickness like that experienced with traditionally defined nostalgia, except that the victim has not left her home or home environment. In Ancestor Stones memories are not kept intact by the leather bound journals, “for here the past survives in the scent of a coffee bean, a person’s history is captured in the shape of an ear, and those most precious memories are hidden in the safest place of all. Safe from fire, floods or war. In stories. Stories remembered, until they are ready to be told” (Forna1112). Sakie’s association with ancestor’s stones and the depression that followed on being estranged from it is an example of solastalgia. Sakie’s separation from stones is also symbolic of the environmental changes that Africa underwent due to European rule. Africa was stripped of its natural beauty because of continuous mining by Europeans. Productivity of about 65% of the continent’s agricultural lands has declined significantly due to mining and pollution over the last 50 years. As per the survey of National Geographic Society, Over 30% of Africa’s pastoral land and almost 20% of all forests and woodlands are classified as moderately – or heavily-degraded. Deforestation rates in Africa are twice the average for the rest of the world with more than four million hectares of primary forest disappearing every year. Exploitative attitude towards nature contributes to psychological depression. BIOPHILIC AFFINITY Biophilia was coined by E. O Wilson in his book Biophilia (1984), which suggests that there is an instinctive bond between
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human beings and other living systems. In the novel Ancestor Stones, the image of death is associated with lack of trees. When Alusani dies, he is buried in a treeless plot on the outskirts of the graveyard. Mariama’s account of her mother shows her mother Sakie’s deep association with the stones handed down to her by her women ancestors. It was a routine activity of Mariama’s mother to talk to the different colours and shapes of ancestor stones. Emptying the cigarette cup used to store the stones, she arranges the “two rows of stones. The road to life and the road to death” (Forna 38). She conveys the stones, the important things that have happened to them. The sound of her voice while talking to the stones seemed “like a lullaby” to Mariama (39). This reference itself shows the soothing effect of having a conversation with nature. Sakie shared her happiness, sorrow and conveyed her unfulfilled wishes to the stones. Considering the words of the fanatic Haidera Kontorfili, the head of the Shekunas who prescribed rules and a code of conduct to become a good Muslim woman, Mariama’s father threw away the ancestor stones possessed by her mother Sakie. Detachment from the stones which were a source of strength for Sakie, made her mentally distraught and unstable. “Each stone was chosen and given in memory of a woman to her daughter. So that their spirits would be recalled when each time the stone was held, warmed by a human and cast on the ground for help” (56). Years later when Mariama went to London through a scholarship from missionaries for her studies, she followed the legacy of her mother to connect with dear ones and nature. In a letter addressed to her step-mothers, she “picked up a pebble from the side of the road and pushed it into the envelope”(207). Further, Mariama lands in college sanatorium when detached from her home amidst natural surroundings. No doubt, she had better prospects in England
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but she suffers from depression. She gains control of herself when her sister Serah helps her to return to her roots i. e. Africa. Her life finds new meaning when she returns: I returned home the way I departed. I stood on the deck watching the coastline widen in front of me, felt the sea breeze, the molecules of air, salt and water attaching themselves to my skin. Even the whiff of fish and oil at the dock was like a perfume. And the people! The pride in them as they looked and never looked away. For the first time in a long while I saw myself again, reflected in their eyes. (Forna213)
Yet, Mariama continues to suffer from Solastalgia being unable to accept the environmental changes resulting from colonial rule. It is the pain experienced when there is recognition that the place where one resides and that one loves is under immediate assault. “Solastalgia is not about looking back to some golden past, nor is it about seeking another place as ‘home’. It is the ‘lived experience’ of the loss of the present … of being undermined by forces that destroy the potential for solace to be derived from the present” (Albrecht 45). After narrating her story to Abie, Aunt Mariama gifts a black stone to her and the legacy continues. Hence, Mariama wants Abie to listen to the voice of nature and understand our kinship with nature. Just as environmental degradation contributes to human depression, nature too responds symbolically to the breakdown of human relationships. When the ties between Hawa’s father and mother weakened, the latter fell sick and “the almond plant gifted by father was attacked by driver ants” (Forna117). Further, the civil war backdrop and chaos during the presidential elections in 1996 Africa is in sync with the images of “sky choked with dust. The city stank. Hope had shrivelled and crumbled away” (271).
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The anthropologist veterinarian Elizabeth Lawrence uses “the term cognitive biophilia to describe the place of the natural world in fostering human communication (Kellert 70) …. Nature as image and metaphor can take the shape of a single word, a figure of speech, a character, a plot. We use these symbols to elicit understanding” (72). There are times when nature speaks through warning signs but we walk past it. When Asana sees a big house with many rooms on arriving at her “husband’s home”, she fails to notice that the house “was empty as a cave” (Forna 109). Asana “failed to notice the cockroaches hiding in the crack between the door frames and the mud walls…. [She] did not see the way the hill at the back rose abruptly up out of the earth, engulfing the house in its long shadow” (109). Events that followed such warning signs are: genital mutilation, physical torture to pregnant women, horrifying days of sexual assault so on and so forth. It is again nature’s bounty that helps Asana to break away from her marriage and gain independence. A kola nut that rouses her physical desire makes her break the taboo imposed on Muslim women and thereby helps her to escape the wedlock on being considered a shameless woman. It’s a Kola nut that gives Asana a new lease of life. There is no dearth of incidents where nature sends in warning signs that something terrible is about to happen. Just before the death of Ma Cook of the nun school, “there is a certain stillness. Invisible currents. Strange things happen, small things. Vultures flying overhead in the direction of the sea” (140). All these instances are associated with the concept of cognitive biophilia. ECOTHERAPY According to Howard Clinebell who authored a book on Ecotherapy in 1996,
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Ecotherapy refers to the healing and growth nurtured by healthy interaction with earth. As an umbrella term for nature-based methods of physical and psychological healing, ecotherapy represents a new form of psychotherapy that acknowledges the vital role of nature and addresses the human-nature relationship. It takes into account the latest scientific understandings of our universe and the deepest indigenous wisdom. This perspective addresses the critical fact that people are intimately connected with, embedded in, and inseparable from the rest of nature. (qtd. in Buzzell and Chalquist 18)
Ancestor Stones is filled with events that conform to this notion where nature acts as a refuge. The sense of security that nature offers is well-stated in the lines of Abie: “we slipped between the roots of a cotton tree and we hid ourselves there, as though we were hiding in our mother’s skirts” (Forna 25). The arrival of the Europeans and the destruction that followed is symbolically represented in the way “the massive feet [of the European] crushed the foliage beneath them” (25), the birds imprisoned by them foreshadowed the slave history that began with their arrival. “He was busy filling the cages with the souls of the children” (26). Another instance when nature acts as the best refuge in the novel is during the rebellion against village chiefs. When Hawa and her brother ran into the forest to protect the box carrying ancestral things, they spent the night hugging a tree afraid of being caught. “I turned and pressed my face against the tree. I stayed that way for I don’t know how long, feeling the smooth bark against my cheek, wishing it was my mother’s skin. I whispered her name. The wish turned into a dream. For a moment I was in her arms” (185). Later as an adult, in her desperate attempts to start a new life with Khalifa and mother his child, Hawa went in search of a doctor who conducted tubectomy on her. Her trip to the city didn’t bear successful results but Hawa found consolation on having the first glimpse
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of a sea. She felt light-hearted and her heart lifted at the sight of sea. As she reminisces, “for a moment I forgot my sorrows, the place I had come from. I had only one thought in my head. I had seen the sea” (196). All these instances ascertain the embalming effect of nature at times of sorrow. Forest again acts as a source of refuge when civil war breaks out and Asana sends her pregnant granddaughter Adama to the forest for her safety. Much research has been devoted to ecotherapy and its impacts. The value of specific methods for ecotherapy has been at the centre of debates. Several environmental issues, such as deforestation, climate change, global warming, tacitly suggest that we are losing our relationship with nature. In addition, oppressive economic conditions predispose people to be more susceptible to all sorts of distresses. The fundamental concept of ecotherapy and its therapeutic power states that in order to heal ourselves and reconnect to our inner voice, we have to reconnect with nature. People have the power to overcome their personal distress. They can dissolve the defensive separation between spirit, mind, and body through the mutual connection between their inner values and the environment. Therefore, physical healing, psychological problem solving, and spiritual awareness can unite under one experience. “The goal of psychotherapy is to awaken the unconscious and the therapeutic goal of ecopsychology is to reawaken the inherent sense of environmental reciprocity. This will lead to simultaneous healing of the alienated person and the planet” (Henderson IX).
CONCLUSION Ecopsychology proposes that the pervasive but fictive gulf between man and nature not only drives ecological decline, but also contributes to modern afflictions such as depression, anxiety, obesity, and heart disease. Ecotherapy provides us with
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an alternative explanation and cure for the actions and emotions that shatter our life experiences. Oregon-based clinical psychologist and one of the directors of APA’s recently established Climate Change Task Force, Thomas Doherty is encouraging his mental health colleagues “to address the psychic damage caused by ecological decline and the modern world’s insistent separateness from nature” (Rowland 1). In the article, Whole Earth Mental Health (2013), Rowland presents his opinion by quoting experimental psychologist John Davis: Widespread environmental destruction and sobering realities like climate change can impinge on the mental health of the youth, taking away from the sense of having options or a positive future…. There is a learned helplessness, he says. We grow numb rather than face what’s really going on. We need to learn how to be active participants rather than bystanders to a tragedy. (Rowland 2)
Towards the end of the novel Serah says “Sometimes I think this is what happened to our country. Nobody heeded the warnings, nobody smelled the rain coming... until we were engulfed by it” (Forna 264). The novel voices the goal of Ecopsychology which is to awaken the inherent sense of environmental reciprocity that lies within the ecological unconscious. Other therapies seek to heal the alienation between person and family, person and society. Ecopsychology seeks to heal the more fundamental alienation between the person and the natural environment. This will help in creating a sustainable community which is the central goal of ecopsychology and ecotherapy. WORKS CITED Albrecht, Glenn. “Solastalgia: The Distress Caused by Environmental Change.” Australasian Psychiatry 15. S1 (2007): 41-55. Web. 30 Oct. 2016.
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Buzzell, Linda, and Craig Chalquist. “Psyche and Nature in a Circle of Healing.” Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind. 1st ed. San Francisco: Sierra Club, 2009. 17-22. Print. Henderson M. D., Joseph. “Foreward.” The Earth Has a Soul: C. G. Jung on Nature, Technology and Modern Life. 1st ed. Berkeley: North Atlantic, 2002. IX-X. Print. Kellert, Stephen R. Kinship to Mastery: Biophilia in Human Evolution and Development. 1st ed. Washington, D. C.: Island, 1997. Print. Robinson, Larry. “Psychotherapy as If the World Mattered.” Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind. 1st ed. San Francisco: Sierra Club, 2009. 2429. Print. Rowland, Katherine. “Whole Earth Mental Health.” Utne, no. 175, 2013., pp. 43-45, http://search. proquest. com/docview/1326189059?account id=175705. Theodore, Roszak. “The Voice of the Earth: Discovering the Ecological Ego.” Trumpeter 9. 1 (1992): n. pag. Web. 12 Oct. 2016. http://trum peter. athabascau. ca/index. php/trumpet/article/view/440/723 www. http://voices. nationalgeographic. com/2013/10/31/getting-to-knowafrica-50-facts/
29 The Transformative Power of Nature in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God R. Sheela Banu
From time immemorial, Nature has served as a teacher for human beings. It has bestowed knowledge and enlightenment to those who fervently learn from her (Nature) and has brought about an incredible transformation in them. For example, Siddhartha attained Enlightenment under the Bodhi tree and became transformed as the Buddha. Adam and Eve are believed to gain knowledge by tasting the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. The English poet William Wordsworth was profoundly inspired by Nature and experienced supreme joy and ecstasy in the company of Nature. Tagore saw the presence of the Divine Spirit within all creation manifested in the richness of Nature. So were Emerson and Thoreau in America. Zora Neale Hurston was an iconic black writer who is wellknown for her contribution for women’s empowerment. Her 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is a key text in the history of American literature which vociferously voices for the sexual rights of women. This novel centres around an illiterate black woman named Janie Mae Crawford’s life of entrapment and her arduous journey towards empowerment.
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Janie bears the burden of a black woman both in her race as well as her gender. As a child born of rape, she faces the stigma and trauma of discrimination not only from whites but also from her fellow blacks. Janie is brought up by her grandmother Nanny with meticulous care. At sixteen, Janie is married to an elderly man named Logan Killicks. The marriage proves disastrous and collapses fast. The young Janie is attracted to a “citified stylish dressed man” (Their Eyes 27) named Joe Starks and marries him. Unfortunately, the second marriage also proves dissatisfactory to Janie but she continues to endure her fate. After Joe dies, a man named Tea Cake steals her heart with his insouciance. Janie ventures to marry him although he is much younger than her. This marriage proves surprisingly successful but it does not last long. In a rush of events that follow, Janie accidentally shoots Tea Cake with a rifle. The novel ends with Janie’s decision to continue her life in the sweet memory of Tea Cake. Their Eyes conveys myriad meanings when read under the spy-glass of eco-feminism. Eco-feminism posits that the exploitation of the earth is symbolically linked to the exploitation of women. Man dominates all living beings on this earth, including women. Many anecdotes in Their Eyes, highlight Janie’s exploitation by the three men who enter her life. First, Logan Killicks treats her more as a mule than as a human being. He talks ill about her birth and throws abusive words on her as well as her mother and grandmother. He is never affectionate to Janie. Instead, he needs her only to maintain his home as well as his large farm. Heforces Janie to carry logs of wood from his farm to his house. One day, he tells her with authority, “You ain’t got no particular place. It’s wherever Ah need yuh” (Their Eyes 30). Further, he intimidates her thus:”Ah’ll take holt uh dat ax and come in dere and kill yuh!” (Their Eyes 31).
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Janie’s life with Joe Starks is also marked with misery, although of a different shade. Joe is a chauvinist who views women on par with children, chickens and cows. He believes that woman are incapable of thinking. He crushes Janie’s wishes and controls her in all possible ways and curtails her freedom. Once, he says, “She’s [Janie] uh woman and her place is in de home (Their Eyes 43). For example, he commands her to bun her long, beautiful hair and cover it with a scarf. He never allows her to talk to anyone. He also taunts her in front of the townspeople by passing scathing remarks about her age and beauty. One day, he slaps her for not cooking well. Above all, he often boasts that he has granted a new life to Janie. Janie’s life with Tea Cake is also not devoid of oppression. Like Joe Starks, Tea Cake envies Janie’s youthful beauty, despite her middle age, and suspects her of infidelity. Once, he slaps her just to ensure that he is her husband. Here is the description: “Before the week was over he had whipped Janie. Not because her behavior justified his jealousy, but it relieved that awful fear inside him. Being able to whip her reassured him in possession. No brutal beating at all. He just slapped her around a bit to show he was boss” (Their Eyes 147). A close reading of Their Eyes reveals that a strong green thread runs through this obviously feminist text. In fact, Nature is a “speaking subject” (Murphy 12) in this novel. It is a character within the text in its own existence. Nature functions as a friend, a mother and a teacher to the protagonist Janie. Many poetic descriptions of Nature like “The rose of the world was breathing out its smell” (Their Eyes 10), “She knew the words of the tree and the wind”…She often spoke to falling seeds… She knew the world was a stallion rolling in the blue pasture of ether. She knew that God tore down the old world every evening and built a new one by sun-up” (Their Eyes 28),
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“She received all things with the stolidness of the earth which soaks up urine and perfume with the same indifference” are suffused in almost every page of this novel (Their Eyes 77). Natural elements like the sun and the sky play a vital role in the transformation of Janie from an innocent adolescent to an empowered woman. First, the pear tree in the back-yard of Janie’s shanty plays a profound role in expanding Janie’s vision of life. Janie is fascinated by the blooming pear tree and spends most of her time with it. As an oft-used symbol in Their Eyes novel, the pear tree reveals the mystery and the ecstasy of marriage to the young Janie. One day, she experiences a revelation by watching a bee sucking nectar from a flower. Here is the description: She [Janie] sat stretched on her back beneath a pear tree soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees, the gold of the sun and the panting breath of the breeze when the inaudible voice of it all came to her. She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight. So this was a marriage! She had been summoned to behold a revelation. (Their Eyes 11)
The pear tree, thus, symbolizes change and Janie’s burgeoning sexuality. In the bees’ interaction with the pear blossoms, Janie witnesses a perfect moment in nature, full of erotic energy, passionate interaction, and blissful harmony. Whenever she is engaged in contemplation or is in need of inspiration, she goes only to the pear tree. This strong, green friend clears all her doubts and dilemmas and contributes to her growth and establishes her identity. In the company of the pear tree, she gains more and more optimism to live her life, in spite of her many trials and tribulations. The constant rebirth of the tree mirrors her constant springing back from her failures and
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return to her quest for true love, no matter what physical or emotional abuse she may have endured in the past. Three months after her marriage to Logan Killicks, Janie returns to Nanny with a tear-stained face and says “Ah wants things sweet wid mah marriage, lak when you sit under a pear tree and think.” (Their Eyes 24). After Janie leaves Logan, Joe offers her the opportunity for a new life. Yet, Janie estranges from him as she realizes gradually that there is no mutual love in their life. At last, she finds in Tea Cake, the fulfillment of her dream under the pear tree. Hurston describes Janie’s feelings thus: “He (Tea Cake) could be a bee to a blossom – a pear tree blossom in the spring. He seemed to be crushing scent out of the world with his footsteps.” (Their Eyes 106). The pear tree also symbolizes Janie’s quest for true love. Just as the pear tree must go through some pain and endure the different seasons and calamities that nature throws at it in order to bear fruits, Janie has to undertake a hard and long journey in her life in order to experience fulfillment. Once she meets Tea Cake, she discovers the joy of being herself. In Their Eyes, the horizon is often mentioned in conjunction with the pear tree symbol. In fact, the novel begins with a description of the horizon thus: “Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon [emphasis added], never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men” (Their Eyes 1). The horizon represents better things – the possibility of change and improvement. Janie dreams of the horizon for most of her life. She wishes and hopes for happiness and fulfillment, but in reality, she lives a life stifled with oppression. From the beginning, Janie’s dreams are limited
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by her external circumstances. Early in her life, Nanny deprives Janie of the horizon of marital joy by forcing Janie to marry an old man who is totally an unromantic personality. Next, Janie herself ruins her life by marrying Joe Starks. However, at the end of the book, at least, Janie’s dream of the horizon comes true. After Tea Cake dies, it is informed that Janie “pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called her soul to come in and see.” (Their Eyes 193) Apart from the pear tree and the horizon, lyrical descriptions of the sun, the moon and the sky are dotted throughout the novel. The sun demonstrates, simply by rising day after day, that life goes on, no matter how tragic the previous day was. The sun symbolizes rebirth and Janie associates Tea Cake with the Sun. That the sun rises everyday shows that no matter how hard yesterday was, life goes on. Janie tells her friend Pheoby that Tea Cake’s memory will be as enduring as the sun. as he makes her happy. Also, the novel ends with a vision of Tea Cake “with the sun for a shawl” (Their Eyes 193). In Their Eyes, the penetration of the bee into the flower is not only a very sensual imagery but it is also charged with profound symbolism. The bee-flower analogy, foreshadows what is to happen to Janie. Janie wants freedom. Her quest is to be herself and be able to express herself fully, just like the bee flies about freely. Just as the bee will conquer its quest when it finds the sweetest nectar, Janie experiences joy when she meets Tea Cake because he does not interfere in her personal freedom. She loves him as he allows her to be herself. Animals often symbolize either inhumanity or dumb beasts of burden. In Their Eyes, the mule plays a distinct role. Just as
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the mule is a hybrid creature, Janie is a mulatta, i. e., a hybrid of both black and white blood. The beasts of burden represent slavery, and often refer to the women, for example, the yellow mule who was suffering. At the beginning of the novel, Nanny tells Janie, “De nigger woman is de mule of de world so far as Ah can see. Ah been prayin’ fuh it tuh be different wid you. Lawd, Lawd, Lawd!” (Their Eyes 14). Humankind is viewed as a “literary animal” (Selvamony and Alex 7). Janie identifies with the mule, which remains stubbornly independent despite its master’s efforts to beat it down. Ironically, while Jody’s position as Mayor gives him the power to free the mule, his pride and ambition cause him to virtually enslave his wife. The incident of the mule which Joe rescues from Matt Bonner, is more than just a humorous moment in Their Eyes. The mule story serves to illustrate the strained relationship between Janie and Joe Starks. More than that, however, the figure of the mule can refer not only to Janie herself but to any black woman struggling for independence. In Their Eyes, wind which is used as a metaphor, connotes the destructive power of nature. “It also represents power that effects change – but is not always in control of the results. For example, Joe is described as “uh whirlwind among breezes... We bend whichever way he blows.” (Their Eyes 42). As the Mayor of Eatonville, Joe commands power from the townspeople as well as his wife. But, although the wind symbolizes power, it is only short-lived. Similarly, his relationship with Janie snaps fast. The hurricane, in Their Eyes, is a concrete example of the wrath of nature. It marks an abrupt transition from Janie’s idyllic life with Tea Cake. After the storm strikes, events rush rapidly to Tea Cake’s death and the novel’s conclusion. Indeed, the hurricane’s devastation is beyond human control. Janie, Tea
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Cake, and their friends merely watch in terror as the hurricane destroys their lives. The hurricane, teaches the omniscience of God, i. e., within a few moments He can cause an alarming destruction and devastation to all, without any bias. Death is a grand mystery of this universe. It unites the entire human race under a cloud of inevitable mortality. Throughout time, every major religion, philosophy, and spiritual train of thought has sought to explain this mystery. The enigma of death is so profound that despite the millennia of religious doctrine, mythology, scientific research, and the many theories and explanations that exist on the subject, people today are more confused than ever about it. One cannot overlook this natural phenomenon of death in Their Eyes. Death – both physical as well as personified, is a significant presence in this novel. Three main characters die in the novel. They are Nanny, Joe Starks and Tea Cake. The death of these three characters marks the death of three phases of Janie’s life – and marks the transition to new phases. First, Nanny’s death allows Janie to plan for her life. Second, Joe’s death frees Janie not only from the restrictions that he put on her, but of the self-imposed submission of her own thoughts and dreams. With Tea Cake’s death, Janie becomes independent in the true sense of the term and gains complete control of her life. Nature provides a space in which we can connect spiritually with ourselves and with something greater than ourselves. So nature brings us calm, balance, and connection with the divine. Not merely physical survival, but survival in a world of fulfillment, survival in a living world, where the violets bloom in the springtime, and where the stars shine down in all their mystery.
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“Man is the discoverer and not its Maker” (Selvamony and Alex 34). Janie, owing to her profound attachment to Nature, overcomes the various hurdles that are thrown on her way as a black as well as a woman, and ultimately discovers her identity in Nature. In other words, she immerses herself in the silent melodic rhythms of Nature. Nature awakens in Janie a new consciousness and bestows rare qualities of forbearance and patience on her. She draws her inner power only from natural elements. Eco-spirituality emphasizes the sacredness of nature which includes the Earth and the universe. Furthermore, ecospirituality understands the position of human beings to be inextricably related to all other life forms within an interrelated, interconnected web that is part of the Divine. Towards the end of Their Eyes, Janie learns to extricate herself from all brute power of those who try to dominate her by unleashing her inner power and thereby lead an independent life. This is possible for her because of her kinship with the natural elements. Nature guides her, impels her inner power, and endows her with immense wisdom to break away all hurdles thrown in her path. The Upanishads say, Side by side those who know the Self and those who know it not do the same thing; but it is not the same: the act done with knowledge, with inner awareness and faith, grows in power. [xiv]
Read from the light of the Upanishads, Their Eyes conveys the message that the oppressed have within them the power to annihilate oppression. Once they learn to attune themselves to the rhythms of Nature, they align all their actions with a clear inner purpose. By doing so, their actions are sure to produce a positive, transformative effect.
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Their Eyes provides a new ethos and foundation for the pursuit of a deep ecological justice for all creatures who populate this planet. This ecological justice is thus, integrative, life-affirming, circular, regenerative and harmonizing for not only Janie but all those who are oppressed and depressed. In this sense, Their Eyes exhorts readers to innovate new and creative strategies to counter oppression in its myriad form. Many of the current problems people face today – depression, anxiety, and stress, stems from their alienation from nature. Hurston’s Their Eyes, studied from an ecocritical lens, shows that this novel functions as an ecotherapy for the marginalized and oppressed women like Janie. Nature provides a healing environment for all who suffer from pain and misery. The various colors, water, sunlight, plants, natural materials, and exterior views and vistas described in Their Eyes, have gone beyond aesthetic – and contribute to healing human agony. Aligning ourselves with Nature allows us to shift our attention beyond the domain of our ego and to recognize that we are inextricably connected to the universe. Janie, in Their Eyes, reveals a deep sense of connection and an inherent fascination with the myriad manifestations of Nature. All her senses are opened and enlivened in the company of Nature. As a marginalized black woman, Janie is alienated from the people around her. Her life-long friend is the pear tree in her back yard. A feeling of wonder and discovery fills her when she sees the pear tree. She hears and listens to the nature’s song as it emerges through profound silence. Their Eyes can very well be regarded as a green novel because it kindles the ecological insight in readers. Besides, a reading of this novel hones the eco-sense of the readers and reveals the inherent spirituality in Nature. This paper concludes
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with the finding that bonding with Nature enables the oppressed to overcome their oppression. They gain more and more wisdom as well as optimism to withstand tortures of all kind with an expanded consciousness. In this sense, Their Eyes helps readers to lead a meaningful life on earth despite various challenges and hurdles. It reminds people about their spiritual duties and obligations to protect our natural systems. WORKS CITED Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Novel. New York: Perennial Library, 1990. Print. Murphy, Patrick D. Literature, Nature, and Other: Ecofeminist Critiques. Albany: State U of New York, 1995. Print. Rama Mani. Eco-Spirituality: A Foundation for Ecological Justice. World Future Council – Strategy Meeting. Sekem, Egypt. 13-17 March 2012. Selvamony, Nirmal, Nirmaldasan, and Rayson K. Alex. Essays in Ecocriticism. Chennai: OSLE – India, 2007. Print.
30 Green Therapy: A Case Study Pragyan Paramita Pattnaik
The term ‘green’ is now widely used for nature and its greenery. Nature, our habitat has always been a source of inspiration and excitement. Various examples of man embracing nature is found in ancient cultures. The Buddhist and the Hindu cultures, particularly emphasize a deep connect between humans and the natural landscape. We still have evidences of eastern orthodox monks leading a contemplative life deeply intertwined with nature. Nature has also been elevated to the level of a teacher by those who have a keen interest in enhancing their knowledge. Natural beauty as a source of inspiration, excitement and enjoyment is widely acknowledged by poets and writers. The role of nature in inspiring the poetic sensibility is clearly highlighted in almost all the poems of Wordsworth. Nature for him and many other poets has been a friend, philosopher and guide. Even Thomas Hardy in almost all his writings has portrayed Nature with attributes of living beings and has shown that nature plays a vital role in the life of his characters. Biologist E.O. Wilson has also confirmed that human beings have an innate instinct to connect emotionally with nature. Nature has been attributed as a mother figure with the exceptional qualities of love, warmth and sacrifice. The solace, the confidence, the energy that we derive in the lap of our
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mother is also found in the lap of Nature. Nature also heals up all our tensions – be it physical or mental. Above all, Nature has not only confined itself to the role of a mother and mentor, it has also elevated itself to the level of a doctor – a psychiatrist who can not only cure mental ailments but can help people develop the right behaviour and attitude. This aspect of nature has been rightly termed as ‘green psychology’, a synonym for ‘eco-psychology’ which refers to the impact that Nature has on the psychology of human beings. This therapeutic aspect of Nature has been the topic of current interest for researchers. Psychologists like Roger Ulrich, Stephen Kaplan, Francis Kuo and many others have shown keen interest in studying the beneficial effects of inhabiting in natural settings. In this context, the term ‘Green Therapy’ was used by Howard Clinebell as a synonym for ‘eco-therapy’ which refers to the growth and healing effect that is nurtured by a healthy interaction with Nature. Similar phrases like ‘green care’, ‘green exercise’ and ‘horticultural therapy’ are interchangeably used to refer to ‘eco-therapy’. Eco-therapy operates at different levels: 1.
adventure therapy (adventure activities in the lap of nature),
2.
animal assisted therapy (spending time with wild animals),
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green exercise therapy (doing exercise amidst nature),
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horticulture therapy (gardening and growing food) and
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wilderness therapy (spending time in the wilderness of nature)
IMPORTANCE OF ECOTHERAPY Ecotherapy often referred to as ‘applied ecopsychology’ by many researchers is an alternative therapeutic measure which
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can alleviate mental stress of modern man. Its importance in the present scenario cannot be undermined. Connecting with Nature can improve the mental and physical wellbeing of human beings. Eco-therapy cannot only help people manage their existing mental health problems, it could also prevent future mental ailments. So Nature or Mother Earth is the alternative source which can provide the modern machine man a respite from the commonly diagnosed mental ailments of modern era. It is hypothesized that Nature is the best healer and any kind of mental tension can be warded off if spend quality time is spent in the lap of nature. Several researches have confirmed that an individual’s connection to nature can improve his interpersonal relationship and emotional wellbeing (S Foster and M Little). Theodore Roszak (1993) along with Mary Gomes and Allen Kanner has done a lot of research on ecopsychology. Steven Foster and Meredith Little (1987) have worked on the healing power of nature through several experiments. Robert Greenway (1971) talked about the intersection of psyche and nature and coined the term ‘the wilderness effect’ to refer to the powerfully healthy impacts of deep time in nature. Ralph Metzner (1999) has developed the term ‘green psychology’ after showing the connections between eco-psychology and earth wisdom. Andy Fisher (2013) has enumerated her experiences pertaining to ecopsychology in the book Radical Ecopsychology. Howard Clinebell (1996) in her book has made it clear that eco-psychology provides a solid theoretical, cultural and critical foundation for ecotherapeutic practise. Not only psychologists and individual researchers, several studies have also been undertaken by different organizations to verify the importance of nature in healing the human psyche.
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Mind, a mental health charity organization, has been involved in several activities related to the mental health of people. The findings of a report submitted by Mind proves that ecotherapy improves mental health, boosts self-esteem, improves physical health and reduces social isolation. It has reported by them that a nature walk can reduce symptoms of depression in 71% of cases. A survey conducted by Mind shows that ecotherapy is a valid and suitable treatment for anxiety (52%), and depression (51%). All these experiments have been conducted on adults to check the effect of Nature on their psychology. Though the effects of ecotherapy on mental wellbeing of adults has been confirmed, the effect of different facets of nature on child psychology, is an ongoing area of research. This paper seeks to explore Nature’s effect on the psychology of children. This study was triggered by an interesting anecdote which I witnessed in my neighbourhood. ANECDOTE There was a kid named Sarthak in our neighbourhood who caught my attention. He was the only child of his parents. This five year old kid was very aggressive and obstinate. His social behaviour was not at all acceptable. He could not mingle with other children of his age group. He had concentration problems. If anything was not according to his wish, he would react violently with physical tantrums. His parents anticipated that their child had developed symptoms of ADHD. They took him to a psychologist but the medicines had very little effect on the boy. He continued with that abrasive behaviour. The grandmother of the child who was staying in a remote village named Bisuniapada (near Jhinti), suggested that she would take him with her to the village. Amidst a lot of protest the child was sent to the village. When he returned after two months there
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was a noticeable change. Then his parents felt encouraged and continued to send him to the village for one week every three months and after about one year the boy had developed almost all the social attributes like respecting the elders, obeying the instruction of superiors, interacting and enjoying the company of his peers etc., expected of a six year old child. THE EXPERIMENT A study was conducted by identifying two kids: one from a rural and the other from an urban setting. The characteristics of both were studied and noted down. The rural kid who was born and brought up amidst nature had all the sociable qualities and he was very sober in dealing with elders. The kid was allowed to stay in the city culture for about three months and his exit behaviour was studied. The kid did not exhibit any change in his behaviour. Because of his solid upbringing amidst natural surroundings, the urban culture could not have any impact on his behaviour. The kid who was brought up in the urban setting manifested arrogant behaviour with no heed or respect for his superiors. He had terrible mood swings and his behaviour also highlighted lack of self-confidence and self-esteem. It was decided to put the kid (urban) in a green set up. He was carried to the country side, particularly to a place called Ranpur. It is a hillock filled with greenery all around. He was allowed to stay there for around three months. It was observed that he spent a lot of time climbing small hills, climbing trees, lying down on the grass for hours together. There is a small river which was his favourite spot. He played with the water and taking the help of the care taker he learnt swimming too. Later it was observed that every day he had a
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playful bout with the river water. The boy who always retorted to any suggestion violently was always found in a joyful mood and answered all the questions put to him with a lot of patience and enthusiasm. He engrossed himself in watering the flowerplants of the guest house where he stayed. Previously he was not very happy with his meals but now he enjoyed all his meals and his intake had improved. Regular opportunities of physical exercise and spending time in the fresh air increased his energy levels, his stamina and fitness leading to a drastic improvement in his physical health. The boy who was always busy with phones and tablets now enjoyed interacting with people and spending time with them. It was undoubtedly a hint that he was developing his social skills. It was also observed that the kid spent a lot of time with the cat that was a pet at the guest house. He played with him, fed him and cleaned him. Trying new activities and learning new skills everyday boosted his self-esteem and confidence. All these activities improved the mood of the kid, his bouts of anger and depression drastically reduced. This is a pointer that nature has a therapeutic impact not only adults but also on children. CONCLUSION Ecotherapy seems to be an alternative panacea to the problems that the modern man is facing in the recent times. The physical and mental agony that we are currently experiencing is an escalation of the pain and despair felt in response to the wide spread environmental destruction. In our greed for material benefits, we have exploited nature to the brim and nature has reacted in terms of all the devastations caused to human beings (both physical and mental). Going back to nature, reviving its strength, reliving its advantages seems to be the only respite left for human beings to revive themselves, physically and mentally.
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WORKS CITED Clinebell. H. Ecotherapy: Healing Ourselves, Healing the Earth. Fortress Press, Minneapolis, MN, 1996. Print. Fisher A., Radical Ecopsychology: Psychology in the Service of Life. Suny Press, Albany, 2013. Print. Foster S. with Little M. The Book of the Visionquest: Personal Transformation in the Wilderness. Prentice Hall Press, New York, 1987. Print. Greenway R., Ecopsychology. Freestone Publishers, California, 1971. Print. Metzner R., Green Psychology: Transforming Our Relationship to the Earth. Park Street Press, Rochester, VT, 1999. Print. Mind. (2007). “Ecotherapy: The Green Agenda for Mental Health”. Retrieved from http://www. mind. org. uk/media/273470/ecotherapy. pdf Roszak, T., The Voice of the Earth: An Exploration of Ecopsychology. Touchstone, New York, 1993. Print. Roszak, T., Gomes, M. E. & Kanner, A. D. (eds). Ecopsychology, Restoring the Earth Healing the Mind. Sierra Club Books, San Francisco, 1995. Print. Wilson, E. O., The Social Conquest of Earth. Iveright Publishing, USA, 2012. Print.
Part VII. Animal Rights – Literary Representations
31 J. M. Coetzee: A Voice for the Voiceless Tanuja Kumar Nayak
J. M. Coetzee, the 2003 Nobel laureate for literature, has been considered a champion of the oppressed. The protagonists of his novels like Michael K in Life and Times of Michael K (1983), Magda in In the Heart of the Country (1977), Susan Barton in Foe (1986), David Lurie in Disgrace (1999), Paul Rayment in Slow Man (2005), and Elizabeth Costello in Elizabeth Costello (2003) whose helplessness and suffering have been poignantly and graphically depicted by Coetzee, belong to the lower rung of the social hierarchy. In Doubling the Point: Essays and Interviews (1992) Coetzee admits that “his thinking is thrown into confusion and helplessness by the fact of suffering in the world and he is disturbed by the helplessness and suffering of not human beings only” (248). Pained by the inhuman exploitation of the animals, Coetzee feels that there is something gravely wrong in the relations between human beings and the other animals. He has been so overwhelmed at the sufferings of the animals that he draws a parallel between the killings of the animals with the killing of the Jews in Germany. He wonders why the human society does not express the same horror at the treatment of animal. As a true champion of all living organisms, Coetzee advocates not for the legal rights for animals but for a change of heart towards them which would ensure peaceful co-existence
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of all living beings on the earth. The present paper attempts to analyze the works of J. M. Coetzee, with special reference to his novel Elizabeth Costello (2003), in the light of the above assumption and prove that he has been a true champion of the oppressed and the voiceless, particularly the animals. J. M. Coetzee has been one of the most renowned writers of South Africa and his writings have been studied mostly in the lights of contemporary tumultuous socio-political crisis of his country. But a closer look at his works suggests that his fictional world transcends the ephemeral concerns of his immediate socio-political experiences and they deal with broader issues having deeper ramifications. One of the most prominent aspects of his writing is an attempt to foreground the marginal voices of the society which languish ignominiously in the periphery. He is a writer with a truly sensitive heart that beats not only for the oppressed human beings but also cares for almost all life forms. In Elizabeth Costello, Coetzee raises certain fundamental questions concerning the lives of animals which could form an important part of the larger question of environmental justice. In a speech written by Coetzee and delivered on his behalf by Hugo Weaving in Sydney on 22 February 2007, Coetzee begins by stating that “it is obvious that there is something badly wrong in relations between human beings and other animals” (qtd. in Northover, 40). The speech was for Voiceless, an Australian non-profit animal protection organization. Besides criticizing the industrialized farming of animals, he also talks of other exploitative animal industries “that we might also call cruel and inhuman but for the fact that inhuman is the wrong word, such practices are all too human” (qtd. in Northover, 40). This indicates Coetzee’s sharp indignation towards man’s approach to the value of animal life. In fact, he does not find any difference
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between the lives of human beings and other organisms. Man’s tendency to treat other life forms as “mere units” shocks Coetzee. He establishes a connection between the treatment of animals and the treatment of Jews by the Nazis to drive this point home. He says: We have already had one warning on the grandest scale that there is something deeply, cosmically wrong with regarding and treating fellow human beings as mere units of any kind. It came when in the middle of the twentieth century a group of powerful men in Germany had the bright idea of adapting the methods of the industrial stockyard, as pioneered and perfected in Chicago, to the slaughter – or what they preferred to call the processing – of human beings. (qtd. in Northover 40)
He further explicates that the so called civilized human beings tried to exonerate themselves from being accused as culpable by denouncing this killing of the Jews in horror. They cried, “What a terrible crime, to treat human beings like cattle! If only we had known beforehand!” (qtd. in Northover 41). But Coetzee sees through the hypocrisy of man and strongly condemns it. He thinks “our cry should more accurately have been: What a terrible crime, to treat human beings like units in an industrial process! And that cry should have had a postscript: What a terrible crime, come to think of it, to treat any living being like a unit in an industrial process! (qtd. in Northover 41). In an interview with Satya Coetzee expresses his anguish over man’s callous attitude towards the plight of animals. He comments: It is not inherently easier to close our sympathies as we wring the neck of the chicken we are going to eat than it is to close off our sympathies to the man we send to the electric chair... but we have evolved psychic, social and philosophical mechanisms to cope with killing poultry that, for complex reasons, we use to allow us to kill human beings only in time of war. (qtd. in Northover 39)
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The above comments of Coetzee make it clear that as a writer he is rooted to the reality and does not live in an ivory tower of grandstanding. Unlike an ideal revolutionist who fights for an elusive idea, Coetzee understands the limitation of his cause and consequently focuses on achievable goals. In the same interview he explains that he is not interested for legal rights for animals but in a change of heart towards animals. So he feels his goal is “to show to as many people as we can what the spiritual and psychic cost is of continuing to treat animals as we do, and thus perhaps to change their hearts” (qtd. in Northover 39-40). The issues raised by Coetzee in his interview with Satya are clearly indicative of his points of view and his views expressed in Elizabeth Costello are an extension and elaboration of this. He feels that the European civilization is greatly responsible for shaping man’s attitude towards the animals: “Since the seventeenth century Europe has spread across the world like a cancer, at first stealthily, but for a while now at gathering pace, until today it ravages life forms, animals, plants, habitats, languages” (Elizabeth Costello 45). Coetzee takes it upon himself to draw the attention of the readers towards the cruelty and injustice being continuously perpetrated against these hapless animals. He thinks that constant exposure to such barbarities, which are being practiced regularly in the society, would ultimately make people realize the ‘spiritual and psychic cost’ involved in the very act of such cruelty and in turn that would lead to the end of such practices. Elizabeth Costello, Coetzee’s protagonist in Elizabeth Costello, visits Appleton College to deliver the annual Gates Lecture. She is at liberty to speak on any topic, but she decides to speak on animals. In her address she focuses on the cruel treatment of animals in the hands of humans. She does not accept any excuse or justification that is generally offered by the people in support
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of killing animals. She argues that the horror and cruelty involved in the killing of animals is in no way less than the horror and crime associated with the killing of human beings. She is scathing in her attack against such hypocrisy of men. She reminds her listeners that several million people were killed between 1942 and 1945 in the concentration camps of the Third Reich – “at Treblinka alone more than a million and a half ” (63). She says that the people living around Treblinka claimed that they did not know what was going on in those concentration camps. It was not only the people of Treblinka but also people from other parts of Germany, where thousands of camps were present, also made similar claims. Costello thinks people made such claims because “not every camp was a death camp, a camp dedicated to the productions of death” (64), but she does not seem to accept the excuses offered by such people and of course she cannot absolve these people for their willful amnesia. She hits the bull’s eye when she explains the causes of the Germans’ convenient amnesia: “horrors went on in all of them, more horrors by far than one could afford to know, for one’s own sake” (64). In a scathing attack on these people Costello refuses to acknowledge them as human beings. She argues that those Jews who were killed like animals in the hands of the Germans were not beasts, but the Germans who killed these Jews were the actual beasts. ‘By treating fellow human beings, beings created in the image of God, like beasts, they had themselves become beasts’ (64). Coetzee here tries to drive home a very simple principle that when the so called common men do not raise their voice against the crime that takes place around them and just become passive onlookers of a crime, they also tacitly endorse the criminals and their criminal acts. By arguing that all the people of Germans were also complicit with the killing of
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the Jews, Coetzee attempts to prove that if people do not actively oppose the wrongdoings taking place around them, they become morally corrupt and the criminals manipulate the silence of the common men into active endorsement of their crime. In “Into the Dark Chamber: The Novelist and South Africa” (1986) published in the New York Times, Coetzee speaks of his desire for a world where “humanity will be restored across the face of society,” a world where all human acts “will be returned to the ambit of moral judgment” (35). This quality of Coetzee is also acknowledged by Per Wastberg of the Swedish Academy who during the presentation speech of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003 observes: Coetzee sees through the obscene poses and false pomp of history, lending voice to the silenced and the despised. Restrained but stubborn, he defends the ethical value of poetry, literature and imagination. Without them, we blinker ourselves and become bureaucrats of the soul. (n. pag)
In Elizabeth Costello Coetzee strongly condemns the killing of animals and goes to the extent of comparing these killings to the killing of Jews in Germany. Referring to the unabated butchering of animals for the purpose of human consumption he is of the opinion that we all are ‘surrounded by an enterprise of degradation, cruelty and killing which rivals anything that the Third Reich was capable of ’ (Elizabeth Costello 65). He is of the opinion that this spree of killing dwarfs the killing of the Jews in German during the World War because this ‘is an enterprise without end, self-regenerating, brining rabbits, rats, poultry, livestock ceaselessly into the world for the purpose of killing them’ (65). He vehemently negates all those voices which would protest the comparisons between the killing of the animals and the killing of millions of people in Germany by Hitler during the World War. He takes all those philosophers and thinkers
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who try to rationalize the killings of animals hiding behind the facades and subtleties of philosophy into task and says: And to split hairs, to claim that there is no comparison, that Treblinka was so to speak a metaphysical enterprise dedicates to nothing but death and annihilation while the meat industry is ultimately devoted to life (once its victims are dead, after all, it does not burn them to ash or bury them but on the contrary cuts them up and refrigerates and packs them so that they can be consumed in the comfort of our homes) is as little consolation to those victims as it would have been – pardon the tastelessness of the following – to ask the dead of Treblinka to excuse their killers because their body fat was needed to make soap and their hair to stuff mattresses with. (66)
In Elizabeth Costello Coetzee tries to expose the naked selfishness and self-centeredness of man by removing the mask of reason which man has been using to justify all his acts of aggression and horror vis-à-vis all other elements of nature. Man has systematically rendered others powerless and poached their freedom. As Coetzee terms, “animals have only their silence left with which to confront us” (70). He also raises questions about the justification of using animals for experiments and draws the attention of the readers towards ‘animal (s) trapped in the hell of the laboratory or the zoo’ (75). He argues that experiments conducted on the animals reduce them into simply ‘an organism with an appetite’ (73). He is critical of the methods and practices of privileging of human beings over the animals on the pretext of fictitious ideas like ‘being’ or ‘reasoning’ etc. To him ‘to be alive is to be a living soul. An animal – and we are all animals – is an embodied soul’ (78). In his writings Coetzee vehemently attacks such systems institutionalized by man to justify his cruel practice towards other life forms and Elizabeth Costello carries the same line of thought forward. Michela Canepari-Labib draws the attention of
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the readers towards this aspect of Coetzee’s writing in the following manner: Although both The Lives of Animals and Elizabeth Costello do not deal directly with human beings’ oppression, the parallels Coetzee draws between the way animals are treated in our societies and colonization enable readers to assimilate animals to all the ‘Others’ who have been colonized throughout history. (Old Myths 57)
In Elizabeth Costello, Coetzee attempts to establish a connection between man and animals which is also present in his other texts like Disgrace (1999) and The Lives of Animals (1999). In Disgrace the link between the oppression of part of the South African population and the oppression of animal emerges clearly in the parallels Lucy makes between the two and her understandings of the relationship between human beings and animals in terms of colonization. In this context Michela Canepari-Labib argues that in the Lives of Animals and Elizabeth Costello, the author pursues this line of thought even further. In Canepari-Labib’s opinion: In the lessons the Australian writer Elizabeth Costello delivers at her son’s American university, Coetzee’s protagonist first draws parallels between human treatment of animals and the death camps of Nazi Germany (eliciting the outrage of a Jewish poet, shocked by Costello’s parallel between the holocaust and slaughtered animals), and then analyses the way writers and poets have used animals in their words, reducing their essential beings to linguistic signs. These texts therefore strongly suggest that in our societies animals are constructed as the Others, and as such – as the unhappy parallel with the Holocaust implies – they can be amalgamated to all the other beings that have had to face the same fate throughout history. (Old Myths 256-57)
Coetzee stands for justice to animals. In his views all the excuses, arguments, rationalizations, and euphemisms which men employ in a bid to rationalize and perpetuate the atrocities
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being perpetrated against the animals are a part of an anthropocentric discourse. But Coetzee exposes the hypocrisy involved with such discourses in Elizabeth Costello. He is not the one to be bugged down and has the guts to call a spade a spade. There is hardly an answer to his question – “If it is atrocious to kill and eat human babies, why is it not atrocious to kill and eat piglets?” (Elizabeth Costello 101). He is ready with the verdict and passes it without mincing many words: “... in history, embracing the status of man has entailed slaughtering and enslaving a race of divine or else divinely created beings and bringing down on ourselves a curse thereby” (103). In Elizabeth Costello, Coetzee expresses his concern over the larger ethical issue of justice for all in general and animals’ right to life in particular. In this book he focuses on the issues of equality, justice and every ones right to life. As a true champion of environmental justice he tries to speak for not only the marginalized sections of human society but also for the plants and animals who lack voice of their own to assert their own rights on the face of human onslaught. In this context Joesphine Donovon’s comments highlights Coetzee’s concern for the need of a society which takes care of the rights of every organisms: “Coetzee’s treatment of the animal issue suggests that although he is not an overtly political writer, he is not as some have charged an evasive one; on the contrary, he is acutely aware of the realities of creatural sufferings and addresses attendant ethical issues forthrightly” (“Miracles of Creation,” n. pag.) Coetzee’s answer to man’s callous attitude towards the ‘Others’ is sympathy. He feels the root cause of man’s cruelty is simply because he has closed his hearts. ‘The heart is the seat of a faculty, sympathy, that allows us to share at times the being of another’ (Elizabeth Costello 79). So the problems related to animals can also be solved by sympathy. In his opinion it is the
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lack of sympathy which propels man to commit such horror. He is really shocked to find the large scale killing of animals daily in the abattoirs all around and compares this to the holocaust. He urges people to have empathy towards animals and wants people to put themselves in the place of animals and think like animals to understand the grave nature of injustice being perpetrated against the animals: I return one last time to the places of death all around us, the places of slaughter to which, in a huge communal effort we close our hearts. Each day a fresh holocaust, yet, as far as I can see, our moral being is untouched. We do not feel tainted. We can do anything, it seems, and come away clean. (80)
It is not just the animals who are at the receiving end of man’s exploitation and torture. Human history is replete with instances of atrocities committed by man against man. As a sensitive writer Coetzee is acutely aware of these facts. Canepari-Labib draws the readers’ attention to this aspect of Coetzee’s writing and quotes Jean-Pearl Sartre to elaborate his point. He says, “Coetzee’s novels suggests a notion similar to that which Sartre originally proposed in 1961, when he wrote that Western humanism ‘was nothing but an ideology of lies, a wonderful justification for pillage; its tender attitudes and its sensitivity were only alibis for our aggressions’ (Canepari-Labib 96). Coetzee’s fiction presents a strong counter narrative to this marauding discourse of Western humanism which bludgeons the voices of the silent sufferers such as the animals. In him the suffering multitudes find a ray of hope as his writing lends voice to the voiceless. WORKS CITED Canepari-Labib, Michela. Old Myths – Modern Empires: Power, Language and Identity in J. M. Coetzee’s Work. Bern: Peter Lang, 2005. Print.
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Coetzee, J. M. “Animals, Humans, Cruelty and Literature: A Rare Interview with J. M. Coetzee.” Satya Magazine, May 2004. Web. 22 Sept. 2004. ......... Disgrace. New York: Penguin, 2008. Print. ......... Doubling the Point: Essays and Interviews. London: Harvard UP, 1992. Print. ......... Elizabeth Costello. 2003. London: Secker; London: Vintage, 2004. Print. ......... Foe. 1986. London: Secker; London: Penguin, 2010. Print. ......... In the Heart of the Country. 1977. London: Secker; London: Vintage, 2004. Print. ......... “Into the Dark Chamber: The Novelist and South Africa.” New York Times Book Review 12 Jan. 1986: 13 +. Print. ......... Life & Times of Michael K. 1983. London: Secker; London: Vintage, 2004. Print. ......... Slow Man. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print. Donovon, Joesphine. “Miracles of Creation: Animals in J. M. Coetzee’s.” Michigan Quarterly Review 43. 1 (2004): n. pag. Web. 11 Aug. 2015. Northover, Richard Alan. “J. M. Coetzee and Animal Rights: Elizabeth Costello’s Challenge to Philosophy.” Diss. U of Pretoria, 2009. Print. Wastberg, Per. “Presentation Speech.” Nobel Prize Winners for Literature 1 (2008): 108-111. Print.
32 Re-thinking the Non-human Animal in Select Poems of Ted Hughes: An Approach from Animal Studies Perspective Krishanu Maiti
The interest in non-human Animal1 within the Humanities is growing as an important area of critical enquiry. ‘Animal Studies’ is concerned with the many possible ways that humans think about animals and seek to bring animals into the focal point of a systematic study. By placing animals at the centre of critical enquiry we can better understand, more rigorously conceptualize and more fully account for the ways in which human life and animal life are entangled. This study can open up a wide range of issues about the ways in which humans and animals imaginatively, ethically and in other possible ways relate to one another. Eminent scholars2 in ‘Animal Studies’ challenge the critical position which regards human is the central figure of all the legitimate knowledge of the universe and bring ‘nonhuman’ animals into new and important focus. In ‘Animal Studies’ the position of animals and humans is being readdressed as well as the relationship between them is being redefined. Grappling with the complicated legacy of anthropocentric philosophy, a diverse range of theoretical approaches to animals and animality3 have emerged in the postDarwinian age. My study is inspired by the stunning explosion
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of Animal Studies in recent research and theory on the relationship between humans and non-human animals in contemporary contexts. Much debated question among contemporary scholars is how we shall rethink, rebuild and recast our relationships with non-human animals. Contemporary debates on ‘animal question’ began in 1970s and over few decades the status of animals has been inspected from completely new theoretical lens. And the relationship between humans and animals has undergone a sweeping re-evaluation. Claude Levi-Strauss wrote in Totemism that animals are ‘good to think.’ Later Derrida wrote ‘An animal looks at us and we are naked before it. Thinking perhaps begins there.’4 These two quotations are much cited among Animal Studies scholars. The ‘thinking’ begins in the confrontation between human and animal. Perhaps this ‘thinking’ has not been thought before and the confrontation with animal exposes us as humans. What animal studies suggest is that we have to first ‘unthink’ animals (to destabilize our conceptual categories5 regarding human and animal) and then rethink our conclusions about who humans are, who animals are and how we all are entangled. I have used the word ‘entangled’ deliberately because Donna Haraway uses the word ‘entanglement’ in When Species Meet to speak of the inseparability of human and animal worlds. Stereotyped thinking about animal stands on a great degree of conceptual coherence and distinction in categories as ‘man’, ‘woman’, ‘cat’, ‘snake’, ‘bat’, ‘fish’ etc. Humanism has authored these categories; it both assures the exceptionalism of human beings and denies ethical standing to animals. The nonhuman animals are marginalized in every cultural domain. The animal studies scholars resist this marginalization. This marginalization bears a long historical legacy starting from Aristotle6 to the present theorists. But there are many areas in
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cultural texts where animals are given ‘robust’ and ‘respectful’ representation. Kenneth Shapiro in his Editor’s Note to the Society & Animals journal writes very succinctly about the theoretical approach on any literary text. He writes, …we can approach any work from a critical perspective in which the treatment of nonhuman animals is the operative analytical frame. No less than feminist, Marxist, postcolonial, structuralist and formalist approaches, a literary criticism perspective on animal issues is a point of view, a form of consciousness, a way to read any work of fiction. (Shapiro, 2005, p. 343)
The task of critical animal studies is to find out the subtle ways in which literary texts have undermined the status of animal by representing them in ways that are very reductive and disrespectful of them. These kinds of representation, like animals as symbols for humans and animals talking human language, are anthropocentric and ideational exploitations. There are alternative ways to these reductive moves. Animals could appear as themselves in their own contexts; though it sounds problematic to many. How could cultural/literary texts that are always anthropocentric represent animals in their contexts that are not ours? There must have some measure of autonomy, agency, character of an animal. Animals must belong to a certain species in the nature and must have typical capabilities and limitations as human beings possess. A full-blown animal-centric interpretive theory will examine the status of the use of nonhuman animals. Animal Studies perspective stands on two approaches7: 1. Catalogue the reductive moves of representing animals and deconstruct those reductive and disrespectful ways of presenting animals 2. Explore and evaluate the point/degree to which the author presents the animal in itself; the animal must be
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represented as having an experience of species-typical way of living in the world. But Erica Fudge mentions the problems that may arise with knowing an animal in this way. “We lack a language at present in which we can think about and represent animals to ourselves as animals, in ways that are not metaphorical.” (Fudge, 2002, p. 12)
Thomas Nagel in his famous essay “What is it like to be a bat?” claims that it is quite impossible for human beings to make their entry into the world of animals. For him humans are limited to the subjective experience, here objective and unbiased state of perception are not feasible. Nagel’s claim is that animal’s consciousness is inaccessible. Yes that is true to some degree. But we all have some knowledge of the lives of animals and some ability to empathize with the world-as-experienced by animals. Though our imaginative resources are too limited, but if poets can’t at least try to imagine what it is to be other (in this case, animal), who else will do it? And Ted Hughes, the Poet Laureate, is one such poet. Elizabeth Costello, the fictitious character of J. M. Coetzee, expresses a very favourable judgement on the representation of animals in the poems of Ted Hughes in comparison with other philosophers and poets. In her second lecture, “The Poets and the Animals,” Costello opines, “That is the kind of poetry I bring to your attention today: poetry that does not try to find an idea in the animal, that is not about the animal, but is instead the record of an engagement with him.” (Coetzee, 2004, p. 96)
What Costello hints is that we should promote that kind of poetry that are ‘about animal’ and ‘with animal’ and we have to avoid symbolic overtones of Romantic Legacy where the animals stand for something else. That is anthropocentric and
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therefore is an ideational exploitation, Animal Studies scholars hammer on these points. In Hughes’ poems nature and animals as the integral part of it have a major presence. His dynamic treatments of nature and the relationship between human and animal draw a considerable critical attention and many critics8 have already labelled him as ‘nature poet’ and ‘ecopoet’. Keith Sagar, the most renowned critic on Ted Hughes, points out that animals are represented as metaphors for ‘the most typical stresses and contradictions of human nature and of nature itself ’ (Sagar 1975). Later Hong Chen, Terry Gifford, Leonard M. Scigaj and others have commented on various approaches (mythic, primitivistic, psychoanalytical, ecological etc.) on the presence of animals in Hughes. But they did not give interest in the recent debates on Animal Studies. It will be a false embellishment for me to claim that my arguments are first to Hughes’ animal poems. Few research papers9 of Claire Heaney, Sara Shahwan and Iris Ralph very recently attempt a study of Ted Hughes’ animal poems from a critical enquiry of Animal Studies and Posthumanism. Hughes’ thinking about animal is not limited merely to the concept of ani-metaphor and anthropomorphism in poetry, he rather goes beyond that. He acknowledges that animals are as vulnerable, sensitive, curious, terrifying and capacious as humans are. That means they are as complex as humans are. His presentation of animals in this way inevitably invites a critical attention from the Animal Studies scholars. There is a great number of animal poems written by Hughes. But I shall only discuss the major poems where animals have a significant presence and the poems that can be approached theoretically from the perspective of the Animal Studies. In one of his early poems ‘Meeting’10, Hughes uses animal sight which has a “long
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history in Western Philosophy of pure, objective or unbiased perspective” (Gifford, 164). In the poem a goat suddenly appears in front of the poet-speaker. The animal runs towards him and looks at him from above the mountain slope. He makes an eye-contact with the animal and finds ‘square-pupilled yellow-eyed look’ and ‘black devil head against the blue air’. The poet-speaker keeps himself in a position where he is an object of inspection. The animal watches him with a stare ‘Slow and cold and ferocious as a star’. The animal here is not flatly a projection of a devilish character, rather it is something else. In his famous essay Derrida posits that “The animal looks at us, and we are naked before it. Thinking perhaps begins here” (Derrida, 2008, p. 29). There is a sense that the human’s sight is dislocated and in the encounter human being’s self-approving perspective on the world is challenged. Hughes is such a poet who thinks that animals can have a meaningful gaze, a sight and a glance that are completely different from humans. And therefore they demand a perspective, not on them, but from them. That is how Hughes tries to avoid the stereotyped representation of animals as merely metaphor for humans, they stand in their own right of beings. In ‘The Moon-Mare’, Hughes offers his poem as a shared window through which the Mare can view the reader as well: ‘She is watching you’. When it comes to the reader to return the gaze, the poem says: What is she like? You dare not look. You sit in her stare. You dare not stir. (‘The Moon-Mare’ 19-22)
The power of observation is relinquished to the animal so as to create a human-animal encounter based on parity. Hughes
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also suggests here that respect entails subduing our pretensions of omnipotence. Hughes in his animal poems finds a brutal Darwinian struggle for survival. Poems like ‘Hawk Roosting’, ‘Pike’, ‘Thrushes’ and ‘Crow’ poems are labelled as Hughes’ representative poems of violence. Even in his ‘Hawk in the Rain’ the hawk hangs still at ‘the master-/Fulcrum of violence’. Hughes thinks that this violence is not at all negative, this is a positive violence because it is prompted by instincts and evolved by natural selection. What pike and hawk do in Hughes poems are all subject to the laws of life. Here the powerful animal kills the weak at its will. Hughes’s poems show that these animals have such power, energy and life-force that are necessary for keeping themselves alive. Hughes’ animals are not graced in Romantic tradition, but they are true to their own lives. They struggle in their lives and resultantly have victory and loss. In his poetry collections written for children, especially Moon-Whales and Other Moon Poems and Under the North Star, Hughes captures animal souls. Randy Malamud first used this term ‘animal souls’ in his book in order to discuss the agenda of ‘Eco-critical Aesthetic Ethic’11. The depiction of animals in the two collections can be said to evoke animal souls for three reasons. First, several poems endeavour to counterpoise the distorting human cultural constructs, offering an opening to real animal essences. Individual poems like ‘The Moon-Hyena’, ‘The Moon-Bull’ and ‘Moon-Ravens’ support this point. Second, Hughes’s poetry displays an array of animals’ complex behaviours, thereby reflecting the characteristic intricacy of the ecosystem. Poems like ‘The Loon’ and ‘Wolverine’ delve into the intricacies of animal behaviour. The third reason why Hughes’s animal poetry can be aligned with animal souls lies in the air of reverence that emanates from his animal poems and is
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encouraged in his child reader. Poems like ‘Lynx’ provide us with a clue to see animals without hurting them. Hughes also accepts the limitations of human epistemology and it is a necessary stance for the ideal account with which we may render of animals in human art. The respect for animals that Hughes shows grows from his conviction that each living creature is the whole of existence in little and his belief in the bio-centric12 tradition of life. The ‘question of animal’ was first confronted in the newly developed field of animal studies in the early 1990s. Hughes’ first-hand experience in farming started from 1970s. In his poetry collection Moortown Diary he describes the caring, nurturing, raising, feeding and slaughtering of farm animals. The depiction of traditional animal farming is frank, realistic and unsentimental. He presented it in a way that is denied in our post-industrial world. In the poem ‘Struggle’ Hughes describes the pain of a newborn calf: “his eye just lay suffering the monstrous weight of his head”. Sometimes the suffering of animals is inflicted by humans, as a necessary consequence of domestication, as in ‘Dehorning’: “The needle between the horn and the eye, so deep Your gut squirms for the eyeball twisting In its pink-white fastening of tissue.” (Dehorning 16-18)
In ‘February 17th’ the speaker describes how he cuts off the head of the dead half-born lamb and pushes the decapitated body back into the mother’s womb. This is a horrendous reality of traditional farming. The poem focuses on the shared fate of being in nature, the human has a greater awareness and may occasionally may able to help, but mostly can only look on in baffled sympathy. These poems can draw the attention of the animal rights activists13 who speak against the maltreatment of innocent animals in farms, laboratories and slaughterhouses. In
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his poetry collection Season Songs Hughes also describes the pain and suffering of dying creatures. In ‘Swifts’ the poet observes in precise detail a helpless bird that is fallen to the ground ‘like a broken toy’. ‘A Cranefly in September’ is a beautiful poem that describes the condition of the insect which is not likely to survive because of the seasonal change. And the man in the poem as a helpless onlooker evokes the beauty, pathos and heroism of the creature. The poem entails the detailed pathos of the cranefly. The beautiful precision makes the creature just what it is with its own limitations and its inability to adapt to conditions in which it is not evolved to survive. Hughes’ representation of the animals in these poems does not carry any stigma of anthropomorphism; the animals are unromantic, I mean, not like Shelley’s skylark or Keats nightingale because they are not only for human feelings and emotions. They have their own life, suffering and they live in their own context. Within the limitation of language Ted Hughes as a poet have tried his level best to avoid the reductive moves of representing animals though few of his poems like ‘The Thought-Fox’ (where animal serves as a totem) and ‘Hawk Roosting’ (where hawk speaks human language) create problem in this argument. Within the epistemological limitations of human beings Hughes also describes the lived experience of the animals, their own way to survive, their capabilities and limitations as natural species while they have some measure of autonomy, agency and character. His last poems point to the ethical issues in Animal Studies when he describes the plight of the creatures. Though in his young age he loved fishing and hunting very much, much later surprisingly his attitude changed and in a 1997 letter to his friend Keith Sagar he wrote very sympathetically about animals: “I’ve known for some years what a hunted deer goes through physically. And a hunted fox. And a
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fish being caught, for that matter. For years I’ve kept having an idea that I daren’t quite formulate: why aren’t wild animals simply given the legal status of ‘fellow citizens” (Sagar, 2006, pp. 147-148) Thus, I deem it fit to remark that Ted Hughes has succeeded in building an eco-critical and ethical animal-centric aesthetics by (a) making us understand how animals exist in their own contexts not in our contexts, (b) teaching about animals’ lives and natures, that can be done from the limited perspective of a poet, (c) knowing animals who they are and how their lives relate to ours; developing a culturally and ecologically complex vision of what animals mean, (d) establishing a contact zone with the nonhuman animals who share our world with us, (e) advocating respect for animals, on their own terms-not because of what they can do for us or what they mean to us. NOTES 1. Derrida in The Animal That Therefore I am (2008) argues that the word ‘Animal’ (with a capital ‘A’ in singular) suggests its difference from the Human and that is the primary means whereby the Animal/Human dualism has been reinforced. The word ‘Animal’ rejects the heterogeneous multiplicity of the living animal world and it becomes abstraction for all that walk, swim, crawl and fly. In addition the inclusion ‘non-human’ with the word ‘animal’ reminds us that humans are animals too. In fact important journal Society and Animals: Journal of Human-Animal Studies suggests in their guidelines that contributors use ‘non-human animals.’ 2. Cary Wolfe, Donna Haraway and Jacques Derrida are referred here. Their arguments go parallel with post-humanist thought that challenge human exceptionalism. 3. Scholars who lay emphasis primarily on human-animal relation prefer Animal Studies, while the theorists who go beyond the human/animal distinction favour Animality Studies. Marianne Dekoven mentions this in her article ‘Why Animals Now?’ published in PMLA.
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4. The quoted line is taken from Derrida’s essay The Animal That Therefore I am (2008) where he speaks about animal gaze. This idea came to his mind when he was in front of his cat. 5. These conceptual categories were created by Humanists through the Great Chain of Being. 6. For details one can go through Linda Kalof ’s book The Animals Reader: The Essential Classic and Contemporary Writings, specially the extract History of Animals by Aristotle. 7. Kenneth Shapiro, Board President of Animals and Society Institute sums up these two approaches in his Editor’s Note to the Society & Animals journal. 8. Keith Sagar and Usha VT are referred here. 9. Ted Hughes Society has published the abstracts of Claire Heaney and Sara Shahwan’s research papers in a Conference proceeding. Irish Ralph’s Posthumanist Reading of Ted Hughes’ poetry is collected in Terry Gifford’s 2005 book. 10. All the poems discussed in my article are collected from 2005 edition of Hughes’ poems. 11. The principles of the “Eco-critical Aesthetic Ethic” is formulated by Malamud in his book Poetic Animals and Animal Souls. Malamud offers fivefold ethics as a new paradigm for appreciating animals in literature. 12. A bio-centric view recognises the intrinsic value of all components of Earth’s ecosystems and treats humans as but one of the millions of organisms interacting to ensure planetary survival. 13. Peter Singer, Tom Regan and PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) activists.
WORKS CITED Best, Steve. “The Rise of Critical Animal Studies” in State of Nature: An Online Journal of Radical Ideas. Vol 7 (1). Summer 2009. Web. Coetzee, J. M. Elizabeth Costello. London: Random House, 2004. Print. Derrida, Jacques. The Animal That Therefore I Am (More to Follow). Translated by David Wills. New York: Fordham University Press, 2008. Print. Fudge, Erica. Animal. London: Reaktion Books, 2002. Print. Gifford, Terry (ed). Ted Hughes: A Collection of all New Critical Essays by Contemporary Scholars. London: Palgrave, 2015. Print.
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Haraway, Donna. The Companion Species Manifesto: Dogs, People and Significant Otherness. Chicago: Prickly Paradigm Press, 2003. Print. Hughes, Ted. Poetry in the Making: An Anthology of Poems and Programmes from “Listening and Writing”. London: Faber and Faber, 1969. Print. ......... Winter Pollen. Ed. W. Scammell. London: Faber and Faber, 1994. Print. ......... Collected Poems. Ed. Paul Keegan. London: Faber and Faber, 2005. Print. ......... Letters of Ted Hughes. Ed. Christopher Reid. London: Faber and Faber, 2007. Print. Kalof, Linda and Amy Fitzgerald. The Animals Reader. Oxford: Berg, 2007. Print. Malamud, Randy. Poetic Animals and Animal Souls. New York: Palgrav, 2003. Print. McCance, D. Critical Animal Studies: An Introduction. New York: Suny Press, 2013. Print. Nagel, Thomas. “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” The Philosophical Review, 83. 4 (1974), pp. 435-450. Print. Roberts, Neil. Ted Hughes: A Literary Life. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. Print. Sagar, Keith. The Art of Ted Hughes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975. Print. ......... The Laughter of Foxes: A Study of Ted Hughes. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2006. Print. Shapiro K, Copeland MW. “Toward a Critical Theory of Animal Issues in Fiction.” Society & Animals, 13. 4 (2005): 343-346. Web. Simons, John. Animal Rights and the Politics of Literary Representation. New York: Palgrave, 2002. Print. Singer, Peter. Animal Liberation. Ecco/Herper Collins, 1975. Print. Taylor, Nik and Tania Signal. Theorizing Animals. Leiden: Brill, 2011. Print. Weil, Kari. Thinking Animals: Why Animal Studies Now? New York: Columbia University Press, 2012. Print. Wolfe, Cary. What is Posthumanism? Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 2010. Print.
Part VIII. Ecofeminism
33 The Role of Gyna Sapiens in the Contemporary Society Daya Dissanayake
“Women are upholders of traditional lore, and Apastamba tells his audience that they should learn some customs from women” (A 2. 15. 9; 2. 29. 11, Dharmasutra.1)
It is time for us to listen to the female of our species, a truth realized over two and a half millennia ago in this country. The ancients were aware of this fact. They knew that it was the woman who domesticated man. It is man in his androcentric arrogance, who suffer from the misconception that man domesticated nature, woman and other animals. We are parasites living on mother earth, like ticks living on the skin of an animal. If the animal dies, the ticks can always jump onto another animal. But if we destroy Mother Earth, we have nowhere else to go. We need to save Mother Earth and take care of her, not for us, but for our future generations. I believe women will have to take the initiative and the responsibility. Leonard Shlain, a vascular surgeon by profession, used the term Gyna sapiens for the female of Homo sapiens, in his 2003 book ‘Sex, Time & Power’. He says that Gyna sapiens rose to the challenge of evolution 150,000 years ago, from Homo
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erectus, leaving her male counterpart, Homo sapiens, trailing behind. Shlain explains the new label. “So much greater were the changes in the female of the new species than those of the male that it would have been more accurate for scientists to have named our genus and species Gyna sapiens, rather than Homo sapiens”. It was the female who faced the crisis at childbirth, after she began to walk on two legs and her infant developed an unusually large brain, while the birth canal narrowed. If not for her evolutionary adaptations and the capability to nurse and care for the totally helpless newborn, human species would have become extinct, long ago. If Gyna too behaved like Homo, humankind would have disappeared from the face of the earth thousands of years ago. They would not have been able to survive. Even today the woman outlives man, under most conditions, in the most sophisticated social conditions in a city of a ‘developed’ country, or in the most underdeveloped village in an Asian or African country. Survival of the fittest is proven once again. In the U. S. women live at least five years longer than men, but the women’s life expectancy is declining, probably because they too are beginning to live more like men. In Sri Lanka women live for 76. 2 on average while men average only 68. 8. In India men average only 66. 9 years while women live for 69. 9 years. In Japan women’s life expectancy at birth is 86. 1 while for men it is only 79. 0 (2005-2010). In Mozambique average life span of women is 39. 0 years, while for men it is 38. 3. Women are still ahead even in the country with the lowest life expectancy. (UN statistics). Very often, a mother has been able to bring up her children much more successfully after her husband is gone. She is able to manage her family better when she becomes the ‘man of the house’, to use a male chauvinist phrase.
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She may be smaller in physic, and her brain size may be smaller than that of a man. But small is more beautiful and more efficient. The claim by Homo against the Gyna is like a claim that a bulky desktop PC is more powerful and efficient than a notebook. It would have been nature which domesticated the woman first. ‘Domestic’ has been defined as ‘living near or about human habitations’. We should define it as ‘living near or about natural resources’. A better term for what happened in deep history would be ‘Naturalization’, instead of ‘Domestication’. When we take the ‘Domus’ out of our mind, we can see the process much more clearly, how humankind was naturalized. It would have been the women who decided where they should settle down, selecting a space that was close to a source of water and food, as she would have been the real gatherer. Where the food supply lasted longer, she would have stayed longer. A longer stay in one location would result in erecting a more permanent shelter or finding a cave suitable for such a stay. She did not domesticate the plants around her, but nature, using the food and water sources as the incentive, domesticated the woman. A man would have been useful to the woman and her children, to provide some protection from predators, and in erecting and maintaining their shelter. In return the woman would have fed him and been his companion. It is man who would have created the myth of the heroic man hunting animals to feed his woman and children. When they found a 300,000 year old pointed fragment of wood in Clacton-on-the-Sea in England, it was immediately identified as a deliberately fashioned spear point, but it could equally well be the fragment of a digging stick, used by a woman, and probably made by her, not to kill animals, but to dig up a yam. It would have been a harmless tool, instead of a destructive weapon, as
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men wanted to believe. There is the likelihood that females among the early hominids were most likely to be the tool makers – or at least the most intense tool makers, and such tools would have been useful, not harmful. This suggests that even then men were just lazy idlers, while the women foraged, processed food, reared children and kept the family together. Not only tools, even language may have originated with the women. They needed to communicate with their children. Protospeech could have developed from a ‘vocal patter’ or ‘motherese’ with their babies.2 During such a long stay in one place, she would have noticed a new plant growing from a seed or a root she had thrown away. She would have been intelligent enough to realized the importance of her discovery. The woman would have nurtured the new plant, and perhaps settled down for a longer period around the place to reap the harvest. The next realization would have been that she need not roam around from one area to another when the food sources depleted, if she could grow her own food. The worst mistake she had probably made in the long history of human evolution was turning to grow her own food, about 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. This woman would have become the first creature to interfere with nature, and we are all still paying for it. Her next mistake was getting her man to help her in planting her crops. He would have slowly taken over the agriculture, which made him the owner and provider of the food for the family. The woman would have let him take over. The dominance of man over woman would have begun in this manner. Valmiki symbolized it in the Lakshman Rekha. It is Sita who created it around herself. It is time for all women to step out of the Lakshman Rekha now.
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Once the man took over, he would have tried to dominate nature. Yet even with all his intelligence, experience and modern technology, he has failed to domesticate his surroundings. Man is still at the mercy of nature and natural forces, which are able to destroy in a few moments, crops man had toiled to plant, and buildings he had taken months and years to erect, and what man considered as civilizations to collapse. That is probably why Jared Diamond in 1987 called agriculture as “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race”.3 and long before him, in 1920, Edward Carpenter diagnosed civilization as a disease.4 And all this was explained by the Buddha 2600 years ago, in the Agganna sutta in the Digha Nikaya, about what happened when man began to hoard his food and greed arose in him. In his mistaken attempt at domestication, man destroys his environment, cuts down all the trees, diverts water flows, digs up the earth for mineral resources, and then builds immense concrete and asphalt jungles, polluting the entire earth, and now even outer space. He believes he has conquered nature. But if he abandons such an urban space open to the natural forces, if he neglects maintaining his plantations by adding synthetic chemicals, very soon nature takes over once again. In a few years they would all revert to a real green jungle. We ignore that this solid earth we stand on, is just a thin crust, the tectonic plates that move and shift and grind. Mother Earth could be writhing in pain, as man keeps molesting her. That is what happened in 2008 in Sichuan, China, when Mother Earth could not bear the burden of 315 million tons of water which was collected behind the Zipingpo dam, probably causing pressure on a fault-line underneath. 5
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Several years ago, James Lovelock had claimed that Mother Earth, or Gaia as he preferred to call her, was seriously ill, and her condition was getting worse, and it is worsening minute by minute. In such a situation Gaia could be sending us these warnings, one after the other, but we are too blind to see them, or too arrogant to accept them as warnings. She warned us in 2004 with the Indian ocean tsunami, 2008 Sichuan and 2016 Nepal earthquakes, 2010 Icelandic volcano and 2011 Japan tsunami, which are just a few of them. Gaia has shown that nothing man-made can withstand her fury. This concept of Gaya is not new for us. We have known Gaya as Bhudevi or Prithvi Mata. But here too we try to look at all changes in our world one at a time, piecemeal, and we refuse to look at the big picture. We refuse to accept the warnings by the Cassandras. Perhaps we should think of our Mother Earth as a living entity, as Gaia, as James Lovelock suggested.6 According to those who supported this hypothesis, Gaia has continuity with the past back to the origin of life and extends into the future as long as life persists. This too was explained by the Buddha as ‘Patichcha sammupada’, Dependent origination. We are all interdependent. If we can accept that Mother earth is a living entity, then all we have to do is give her our loving kindness, practice ahimsa, try to treat her as our own mother. Then we will think twice, before doing anything that would hurt our mother, or her children. I am sure Asoka would have meant Mother Earth too, when he said people must obey their parents, Mata-Pitu. In our part of the world Mata always came first, before Pitu. Dr. Shruti Das, tells us in her poem, “Of Mountains”, “I bled when you tore my skin and broke deeper.
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The kind wind sucked away my blood and your angry tools drowned my agony. Yes, you could not reach up. So you pulled me down.”
I quoted this as an example because many of you would have read this poem, and because of what we, as writers, as poets, could do, to create awareness of the ecological crisis we face today. We are so proud of our literacy rate in our countries. But we should be ashamed of our real environmental literacy rate. We are also responsible for the ‘nature-deficit disorder’ in our children, because we have caged them as prisoners inside concrete jungles, luring them with electronic equipment, social media, cyberspace and artificial environments. Water has always been sacred to all life. “The hydrologic cycle describes the pilgrimage of water as water molecules make their way from the Earth’s surface to the atmosphere, and back again.” That is why NASA has called it a ‘pilgrimage’. But instead of worshipping, we only pollute the water cycle at every step of the way. Today Yamuna is beyond recovery. The attempts at cleaning Ganga and Godavari is not really happening. There is an annual Godavari Harathi Utsav in Rajamundry “Let us pledge for the mammoth task of keeping our Goddess Godavari River Clean and Serene.” They pledged at the Godavari Harathi. Let us all pledge to keep all the waters on earth clean and serene, because it is most sacred to all life. Let us all go back to Nature Worship, to hold all Nature as Sacred, so that we would not desecrate, abuse or violate resources offered by her. State tree planting campaigns are also nothing new. King Devanampriya Priyadarsin or Asoka, inscribed in the Seventh Pillar edict, “On the roads banyan-trees were caused to be planted by me, they might afford shade to cattle and men,
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mango-groves were caused to be planted.” on the second Pillar Edict we find, “On bipeds and quadrupeds, on birds and aquatic animals various benefits have been conferred by me to the boon of life”. Reading for the Earth is a campaign launched by the Earth Day Network to help increase environmental literacy among young readers. “I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues... Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” – Earth Day Net quotes from Dr. Seuss. America honours Dr. Theodor Seuss Geisel (March 2, 1904 – Sep. 24, 1991) by having adopted his birthday as the annual date for National Read Across America Day. It is a campaign we should start in every country. We have to speak for our trees, because they too do not have tongues to speak, or eyes to shed tears or weapons to defend themselves. Women and mothers should take the responsibility to improve the environmental literacy in our children. Unfortunately today the woman has other priorities. She is the only female animal who tries to impress the male of the species, while with almost all other animals, it is the male who has to impress and attract the female. The females of other animal species never needed any Chausath Kala. Every process by which the modern woman tries to look more feminine, is an act against nature, and the raw material used, the processing, the waste products, and finally the end product itself harms our environment, at every step of the way. Margaret Mead was also thinking like a man when she wrote about the ‘sex-reversed culture’ of the Chambri society in New Guinea, just because the men were adorned with make-up and ornaments. The real sexreversed culture had happened in human society sometime in our history when women began to demean herself by trying to attract the male of the species.
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It is the men in the family who cause grater destruction of natural resources. He consumes more meat even though it is the women who need the meat for the proteins and iron, which she has to replenish regularly due to loss of blood. Meat production, processing and consumption is one of the most environmentunfriendly acts performed by man. In India, women have survived without consuming any form of animal flesh for several thousand years, and they are as fit as any woman in the west, and far superior to their men. In most parts of the world, It is the men who consume most of the food and the women have to be satisfied with the leftovers, and yet she is healthier. If man could also reduce his consumption of food to the level of the woman’s, then the world food crisis will automatically disappear. We would not have to destroy more forests to grow more food, which also needs more and more water. We would not have to keep on poisoning the environment with agrochemicals in our greed to have bigger and bigger harvests in shorter and shorter time, so the agri-business mafia and the agrochemical industry could earn more and more filthy lucre. Even in the name of saving Mother Earth, in protecting our environment, we continue to abuse our fragile eco-system. Even to hold this conference we could have tried to reduce our carbon footprint. Next Environment conference we could do from our homes, or offices, at our desk, using webinar, publish our papers in cyberspace, and discussing them. We should make use of technology, communication facilities and our commitment to save our planet, then we do not have to burn so much fossil fuels and murder so many trees. Another myth created by man is called ‘Sustainable Development’. All material and cultural development, progress of civilization, science and technology, always means destruction – Destruction of our natural surroundings and our natural
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resources. The only way ‘Development’ can be ‘Sustainable’ is if we consider our spiritual and humane Development, devoid of desire, greed and envy. The concept that culture is superior to nature is a belief among mankind in the same manner as their belief that man is superior to woman. Nature and Mother Earth suffer all indignities and destruction in the same way most women suffer in silence. We were deceived by Vishnu into believing that Bhasmasura destroyed himself, while the Greeks were deceived that Zeus destroyed Phaeton. That is what Ovid told us in his ‘Metamorphosis’, Plato in ‘Timaeus’, Clement of Alexandria in ‘Stromata’, Suetonius in ‘The Twelve Caesars’, Lucian in ‘True History’, Dante in ‘Divine Comedy’, and more recently Shakespeare in ‘Richard II’, Forster in ‘A Room With a View’. We try to fool ourselves to believing that Bhasmasura and Phaeton are dead. But they are very much alive. They keep turning everything into ashes. It is only women who could stop this. If we are to go all the way, to really save nature, then we should follow eco-anarchism, or eco-primitivism. Then we should reread Henry David Thoreau’s ‘Walden’ and E. F. Schumacher’s ‘Small is Beautiful’, with our concern of the environment. Had Buddha lived today, he would have added ‘Samma Paribhojana’ or the Rightful Consumption’ to the Noble Eightfold Path. Or perhaps it is already there in Samma Kammanta, (Rightful Action) and in Jain Dharma as Samyakcaritra (Right Conduct). The Ecovillage is not a new concept. The small settlements dating back to about 3000 years, which have been discovered in the Haldummulla area in the central hills of Sri Lanka, were real ecovillages, within Robert Gilman’s definition, “human-scale full-featured settlements in which human activities are harmlessly integrated into the natural world
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in a way that is supportive of healthy human development, and can be successfully continued into the indefinite future.”7 In such an ecovillage, living in perfect harmony with nature, there would not have been a duality of man-woman or nature-culture. The woman would have played the major role in food gathering and caring for the family. She would not have intentionally caused any harm to the eco-system. Even man would not have caused much harm because they both lived in a culture where small was really beautiful and they would not have had any mega-visions. If we are to have sustainable development, it could be possible to some extent in a modern day ecovillage, but never in a mega city. It can never be a part of an urban community, which cannot survive without asphalt, concrete, steel and plastic, and without burning fossil fuels. Such an urban ecovillage would be like the evil of ecotourism, which is a more subtle and more expensive way of destroying nature. By trying to mimic nature too, we are only trying to fool ourselves, or fool the citizen and the consumer. Perhaps it is time for a Lysistrata to organize women to stop not only the wars against our own brothers, but against our home, Mother Earth. It is time for women to claim their due place in society, as a separate being, Gyna sapiens. The superior animal, higher in the evolutionary ladder, more intelligent and fitter than Homo sapiens to survive, and to save our environment and our Mother Earth. WORKS CITED 1. The Law of Codes of Apastamba, Gautama, Baudhayana and Vasistha. Tr. Patrick Olivelle. OUP New York. 1999 p. xliii
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2. J. M. Adovasio, Olga Soffer and Jake Page, The Invisible Sex, Uncovering the True Role of Women in Prehistory (Smithsonian, 2007) 3. http://discovermagazine.com/1987/may/02-the-worst-mistake-in-thehistory-of-the-human-race 4. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/edward-carpenter-civilisation-itscause-and-cure 5. http://www.telegraph. co. uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/4434400/ Chinese-earthquake-may-have-been-man-made-say-scientists. html 6. Dr James Lovelock. Gaia – A New Look at Life on Earth. 7. http://www. context. org/iclib/ic29/gilman1/
34 Spatialising the Black Body: An Ecofeminist Reading of Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Home Jiban Jyoti Kakoti
Both ecocritics and space theorists basically deal with space in order to foreground the problems associated with the subjectspace relationship. Ecocriticism, predominantly the second wave, brings into focus the ethical as well as the political dimension of the subject’s relationship with space. Foregrounding the issues relating to race, gender, class, and sexuality, and focusing primarily on spatial dimension of these issues, second wave ecocriticism sets the stage for a comprehensive interface between “ecofeminism” and “environmental justice”. “Affinity ecofeminism” establishes a link between the debasement of environment and exploitation of women in a patriarchal society. But this issue gets complicated with women’s diverse response to “natural space” in accordance with their difference in terms of race, class and occupation. Consequently, “affinity ecofeminism” comes under attack for upholding the essentialist argument that nature and women are inseparably connected, which, according to antiessentialist feminist critics, restricts women to the realm of the home and irrationality. It has also been accused of neglecting women’s claim for liberty to work outside the home. Stacy
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Alaimo notes: “If women’s perceived proximity to nature is responsible for her oppression, then her liberation, it would seem, is contingent on her distance from nature” (3-4). However, she contends that rigid nature-culture binary is simply a myth because the boundaries between them are fluid. Hence, feminist space is not the antithesis of natural space. In other words, essentialism in ecofeminism is an accusation that is grounded on a shaky foundation. It is simply because the distancing of women from nature is not in itself an act of liberation. As I understand ecofeminism’s so called essentialism, affinity between women and nature is upheld to highlight the predicament of women in the patriarchal society whose exploitation of nature deprives women of their daily essential requirements that they collect from nature. Noel Sturgeon contends that such essentialism was a historical and political necessity (11). This assumed affinity between women and nature, spearheaded by the common exploitation shared by them, gradually leads to the incorporation of various forms of exploitation into the domain of ecofeminism. I quite agree with Sturgeon when she maintains that “we need to look more carefully at precisely when and where both essentialism and anti-essentialism are useful, and where and to whom they may prove to be disabling” (7). To an antiessentialist feminist critic the Chipko movement, for example, might appear essentialist in nature because of the concerned women’s symbolic but forceful display of bodily affinity and attachment between them and nature (signified by the trees embraced by them). But this “essentialist (affinity) ecofeminist movement” (!) was necessary for safeguarding the trees on the one hand, and the future of the women, on the other.
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It can also be argued that this (spatial) movement reasserts Henry Lefebvre’s notion of “perceived”, “conceived” and “lived space. This spatial “trialectics” absolve space of its conventional role of merely providing a backdrop for the interplay of social activities and identify it as instrumental in shaping, directing, and determining social relations. The “perceived” space or “spatial practice” refers to the experientially assessable materialized space which we perceive through our senses. The “conceived” space or “representations of space”, on the other hand, can be understood as the mental space or imaginative space that can impose order and control over the production of coded spatial knowledge and discourse by working on “spatial practice”. According to Lefebvre, “this is the dominant space in any society (or mode of production), a storehouse of epistemological power” (67). It always tries to control and manipulate the spatiality of Lefebvre’s “lived” third space. The mental spaces of Lefebvre, according to Soja, “are thus the representations of power and ideology, of control and surveillance” (67). The “counterspaces”, therefore, cannot be produced in either of the first and second spaces of Lefebvre. Being the space of “inhabitants” and “users”, the “lived” space or “spaces of representation” always offer the prospect for generating “spaces of resistance to the dominant order arising precisely from their subordinate, peripheral or marginalized positioning” (Thirdspace 68). Here then is the space (s), where the dominant and the dominated struggle for or negotiate with power. Thus the notion of space encapsulates physical location, abstract conceptual space and “the contradictory and differential spaces yet to come” out of the fusion and friction of theses spaces in the lived experience of people in the margin (Hubbard and Kitchin 6). By fusing physical and mental spaces into “lived”
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social space, Lefebvre offers a critique of what he called a “double illusion” – “the realistic illusion” and “the illusion of transparency” (62). The “objectivist-materialist” first illusion emerges out of too much focus on material things ignoring the importance of mental ability to look beyond the surface of things in question (62). The “subjectivist-idealist” second illusion creeps up at the moment of substituting real world by discourse, as if the reality of social space rested on the representation of the real world (62). This tendency to reduce space to either physical or mental space reinforces binaries between the two and Lefebvre, therefore, attempts to overcome this dualism by providing what Soja calls “a cumulative trialetics that is radically open to additional othernessses, to a continuing expansion of spatial knowledge” (Soja 61). In the context of the Chipko movement, resistance to the contractors’ craze for felling trees and imposition of hegemonic ideology, which are the product of their conceived space, comes from the lived marginal space (occupied by the women) where the “double illusion” is overcome to pave the way for what Edward Soja calls “Thirdspace”. In this space bodily attachment between women and nature no longer remains confined to the affinity in question but to other more complex affinities in terms of inter connectedness among various forms of exploitation in the patriarchal society. These exploitations may be environmental, economic, ethnic and sexist. They are no doubt related to a particular place, but may extend beyond that spatial matrix to pave the way for more inclusive yet heterogeneous spatial entities. However, it would appear essentialist in character if we try to assess all women-nature relationship in terms of the central tenet of this movement. But this unique movement has definitely contributed to the enrichment of ecological feminism.
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It is perhaps now clear from the above discussion that the issue of the link between the body and space is crucial for ecofeminists – whether they are upholding essentialist or anti essentialist perspective. While affinity ecofeminists highlight this link as profitable to women, more recent ecocritics try to undermine this assumed connection. However, for both of them this link between the body and space is central to understanding diverse forms of exploitation. Karen J. Warren contends: “Ecological feminism is the position that there are important connections between how one treats women, people of color, and the underclass on one hand, and how one treats the nonhuman natural environment on the other” (Introduction XI). Exploitation of Sethe’s body in Beloved and manipulation of Cee’s body in Home, for instance, resemble the appropriation of colonial space by the colonizer. Just as space is appropriated for the benefit of the white (colonizers), the black body is exploited to assign animality and objectivity to it. Similarly, the black female body is appropriated for the betterment of the white body. The results of the scientific research conducted on the black body will benefit the white. The surgical eugenic experiments conducted on Cee’s body with the help of western form of medical tactics are, however, counteracted by traditional natural therapy practiced by the black community in Lotus. The mutilation of Cee’s body and her subsequent recovery from bodily disorder under the care of the black women in Lotus, make her mature enough to stand herself without relying on the dictates and guidance of others. Ecocritical thinking is based on the notion that dwelling evokes a sense of place in the minds of the inhabitants and facilitates a relationship with (natural) space. While ecocritics emphasize an ethical relationship between human and non-
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human world (between the subject and space), ecofeminists specifically deal with the gendered nature of that relationship. Space theorists are, however, concerned with describing, analyzing and foregrounding the complex nature of the subjectspace relationship. Henry Lefebvre’s theory of “perceived”, “conceived”, and “lived” space, and Edward Soja’s idea of “Firstspace”, “Secondspace”, and “Thirdspace” add a new dimension to the relationship between subjects and space. It is from this ‘lived” space or “Thirdspace” that resistance to “hegemony” or challenge to the dominance of space emerges. Both Lefebvre and Soja subscribe to the view that while social relations produce space, space in turn affect and/or produce social relations. When the space is dominated through discourse, it gradually leads to the abuse and subsequent damage of space. In this dominated space the subject becomes object or, at least, some subjects are projected as other so that they are reduced to objects of nature. In the hegemonic space of the American nation, African Americans are reduced to objects. Since they are not regarded as subjects, the black body becomes a space to be oppressed in the manner the natural space is exploited. Under such condition, the question of a balanced, harmonious and respectful relationship between the subject and space becomes absurd. Ecofeminist perspective can help us in explaining this predicament even though it concentrates on the gendered aspects of this relationship. Such a perspective not only takes into account subject-space relationship, but also highlights other more complex relationships such as object-space interaction and the relationship between the female body and space. When we place the black body in the Lefebvreian matrix of “spatial trialectics”, the ability of the “subject” (reduced to object) to convert “unlivable space” to “livable space” becomes clear. It is made
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possible from the counter-hegemonic “lived” space where the oppressed and disintegrated black body is restored and reintegrated into a whole with the help of family and community on one hand, and nature on the other. Sethe’s painful journey from slavery to freedom – from Sweet Home to 124 Bluestone Road – across the forest and the river foregrounds affinity as well as difference between the human and non-human world. This journey would not have been possible outside this natural space. Nor would there have been any sisterly alliance between Sethe and her white ally Amy Denver in the hegemonic (human?) space dominated by the white Americans. It was Baby Suggs, Sethe’s daughter-in-law, who bathed Sethe’s disintegrated body in sections at Bluestone Road in order to reintegrate her body and self into a complete whole. Sethe started recuperating from her trauma under the care and nurturing of Baby Suggs and the community. That this community lives in harmony with nature is an indication of the impact natural space has on the lives of the members of the community. It also demonstrates how the connection between body and space keeps alive the possibility of regaining self and subjectivity and saving space as well. Sethe’s body is connected to Sweet Home as well as to Bluestone Road. In the dominated space of Sweet Home Sethe is turned into an object and treated as animal. In fact, Morrison symbolically represents the affinity between natural space and the black female body as space in so far as the exploitation of both of these spaces is concerned. The Schoolteacher’s act of whipping Sethe, which resulted in the engraving of the image of a “chokcherry tree” on her back, and the stealing of her milk by his nephews are glaring examples of exploiting the black female body in the manner the objects of nature such as plants and animals are exploited. The family and community space
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represented by 124 Bluestone Road and the black community living in the area, on the other hand, helps and prepares her to counter the oppression meted out to her body and self and the hegemonic imposition of stringent law on her. Her infanticide may appear absurd to the hegemonic white culture as well as to the Black community, but an act of that kind is not rare in the animal kingdom. However, Sethe’s infanticide is a much more complex and subversive act which befittingly counters the white culture’s attribution of animal qualities to the slaves. In so far as the conceived space is concerned, it is the subject which dominates space. For example, the Schoolteacher and his nephews dominate Sethe’s body because they conceive of the black body as an animal without self. Here “the subject’s conceptions of space override the actual space” (Wilson 5). Though Lefebvre makes a distinction between domination and appropriation of space, I believe that appropriation of space may gradually lead to domination of space and vice versa because dominated space itself can be appropriated with resistance from the “lived” space. Colonizers initially appropriate space for their own benefit. But this appropriated space is later converted into a dominated space. However, the same space may sometimes be appropriated and then dominated. This aspect of space is evident in the appropriation of Sweet Home by the Garners for their own benefit while at the same time allowing the slaves a little freedom to retain some of their human characters. Interestingly, the same space is later turned into a dominated space when the Schoolteacher and his nephews start exploiting and abusing Sethe’s body. “Place attachment” and/or “sense of place” is crucial for both ecocritics and space theorists. While ecocritics maintain that “place attachment” has the potential to counter modern (postmodern?) tendency to subscribe to the notion of “non-
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place”, space theorists, relying on the fluidity of space, emphasize interaction between places and regard it as crucial for evoking and modifying place attachment. Morrison seems to subscribe to the view that in order to strengthen one’s sense of place, one must have experiences associated with other places as well, so that one can reassess the nature of one’s attachment (also detachment) to one’s original place. Once African Americans are away from their original place and have negative experiences outside that place, their sense of place is invoked. This is another aspect of “place attachment” that Morrison has upheld, which is different from, if not contrary to, the ecocritic’s view that “a personal connection to a particular place will inspire love, respect, and caretaking of that place” (Wilson 12). In Home, Frank Money’s sense of place or place attachment to Lotus emerges only after his detachment from that place. The black body is subject to exploitation in the colonial space and in order to put up a resistance to that bodily violence, African Americans will have to keep on moving from margin to centre and vice versa so that they can produce a third space from within that hegemonic space in order to subvert that spatial violence. Ecofeminists’ notion of the gendering of environmental violence is epitomized by the spatial violence Cee’s body is subject to and the restoring of the same with the help of natural therapy. Though the feminist critics of ecofeminism underscore the need for moving past the territory of the bodily and the natural to enter the sphere of rationality, Morrison rather seems to make a critique of so-called rationality that motivates the likes of Dr. Beau to exploit Cee’s body with the help of western science. Feminists (even later ecofeminists) do not subscribe to affinity ecofeminists’ notion that women are more eco-friendly, caring and nurturing. Morrison, however, seems to highlight
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these very qualities of women as one of the most lethal weapons in their arsenal to put up a resistance to the hegemonic structure intent on dominating the black body by resorting to the opportunities offered by science. Recovery of Cee’s body from the nauseating effect of the hegemonic western medical treatment as a result of the natural therapy initiated by a group of illiterate black women is indeed a counter to the so-called anti-essentialist academic feminists’ tendency to see the essentialist ghost in any interaction between women and nature. Referring to Carolyn Merchant and Val Plumwood, Christine R. Wilson notes that these ecofeminists assert that “changing the subject’s conceptions of space can effectively change the way the subject lives and acts within and toward space” (17). Morrison, however, seems to subscribe to the contrary view that the way the subject lives and acts determines the subject’s conception of space. For example, Sethe has a bitter-sweet memory of Sweet Home in accordance with the way she was made to live in that place. Her conception of that home under the Garners is different from her conception of it under the schoolteacher. Similarly, Sethe’s journey to freedom across the natural space with her white ally Amy inspires them to involve in a sisterly alliance with each other and reshape her attitude to the notion of rigid black/white binaries. Commenting on ecological thinking, Wilson contends that it “involves a relationship between the subject and space that balances the spatial triad [of Lefebvre]”. She further maintains that “ecological thinking is a synthesis of conceived, lived, and perceived space” (18). However, on the basis of the discussion already made, I would argue that ecological thinking in recent times does not simply aim at a synthesis of these spaces. It has rather moved onto a “Thirdspace” where the crucial issue is not the Hegelian triad of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis, a situation
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where synthesis is not much different from thesis and antithesis, but the Lefebvreian notion of “social space”, which encompasses both “perceived” and “conceived” spaces and yet produces something new, neither the one nor the other. As Soja has maintained, this third alternative is not an end in itself, but a means to multiple other alternatives (60). To be precise, the interaction between women and nature produces multiple possibilities – essentialists, anti-essentialists, and beyond. It, therefore, appears that in her novels Morrison positions herself on the border between feminism and ecofeminism. She straddles between these two worlds and at the same time look beyond the binaries as well. WORKS CITED Alaimo, Stacy. Undomesticated Ground: Recasting Nature as Feminist Space. Cornell UP, 2000. Hubbard, Phil, and Rob Kitchin, (Eds.) Key Thinkers on Space and Place. SAGE, 2011. Karen J. Warren, (Ed.) Ecofeminism: Women, Culture, Nature. Indian UP, 1997. Lefebvre, Henri. The Production of Space. Blackwell, 1991. Merchant, Carolyn. The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology and the Scientific Revolution. HarperCollins, 1990. ......... Radical Ecology: The Search for a Livable World. 2nd ed., Routledge, 2012. Morrison, Toni. Beloved. London: Vintage Books, 2005. ......... Home. London: Vintage Books, 2012. Plumwood, Val. Feminism and the Mastery of Nature. Routledge, 2002. Soja, Edward. Thirdspace. Blackwell, 1996. Sturgeon, Noel. Ecofeminists Natures: Race, Gender, Feminist Theory and Political Action. Routledge, 1997. Wilson, Christine R. “Ever Learning to Dwell: Habitability in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century American Literature.” ProQuest, 2008./A Dissertation submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Department of English, 2008. UMI Number: 3312754.
35 Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code: An Ecofeministic Appraisal Biswanath Das
‘PRAKRITI’ and ‘PURUSH’ are inseparable, they represent the organic whole. Marginalization of ‘PRAKRITI’ that represents nature or exploitation in any form by ‘PURUSH’ that is represented by man is horrendous and disastrous. It poses a great threat to the cosmic balance. In the exploitive and authoritative eyes of man, Nature is resourceful, abundant and bounty but unequal to man and can easily be subverted. M. K. Gandhi pertinently points out the helplessness of Nature before the greedy eyes of man when he says, ‘Mother earth has everything for everybody’s need but not for anybody’s greed’. This insatiable, patriarchal and anthropocentric attitude of man holds nature in an inescapable grip of subjugation. The position of a woman in the world is almost the same – exploited, suppressed and eliminated from the main stream. As a consequence, modern man’s life is imbalanced and position tilted. Misery and suffering obviously follow. The evidences of such a truth can be traced to history and theology. Dan Brown’s epoch making novel The Da Vince Code (2003) unravels such a truth that still remains a controversial novel, more controversial because Dan Brown states that
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everything in the fiction is based on fact. The main assertion is the deliberate elimination of the sacred feminine from Jesus by the male dominating church in a way man has delinked himself from Nature or culture from Nature. Hundreds of books have been written to attack and defend The Da Vinci Code. The paper intends to make an ecofeminist study of The Da Vinci Code that may help understand the internal logic of the narrative from a different perspective, to highlight the inevitable ‘out of balance’ life of modern man arising out of delinking of man from woman, and to focus on the necessity of fighting against ecological and women issues together. Dan Brown’s fourth novel, a ‘stunning new thriller that will provoke much debate’, a ‘smart suspense novel’, a ‘rare invertible palindrome ‘as viewed by leading USA local Dailies, The Da Vinci Code is one of the New York Times’ best seller novels that reveals ‘a mystery that challenges’ human intelligence. The plot of the novel mainly surrounds the story of the fictional truth about Jesus Christ, Catholic Church, secret societies and decoding of the cryptic code that disturbs the pivotal theological concepts of Christianity. A renowned Professor from Harvard and symbologist Robert Langdon is invited to Louvre Museum to examine a series of cryptic symbols relating to Da Vinci’s artwork, who after decrypting the code unravels the key to one of the greatest mysteries that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married, they had a daughter, the daughter gave rise to a prominent family line that is still present in Europe today. Dan Brown, in the process of search for the ‘Holy Grail’ and decrypting of the mysterious code, gives radical interpretation of Christianity by asserting that early Christianity and Jesus himself honored the sacred feminine but the male-dominating Church conspired to destroy the ‘Holy Grail’ and subvert the truth. The radical interpretations of Dan
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Brown further moves to say that ‘Church’s elimination of the sacred feminine from modern religion’, has resulted in Christianity’s ‘one-sidedness’ which has consequently doomed modern man to a life “out of balance” (Brown, 32). The delinking of man from the sacred feminine is just like mankind, for their selfish purposes have separated themselves from Nature. Man’s indifference to Nature is the cause of imbalance in the ecology. Ecofeminism being an off-shoot of feminism treats women and Nature and their issues on equal footing. Like other ecological writings Da Vinci Code focuses on ecological issues by drawing analogies between women’s suffering with Nature’s suffering. It is imperative to understand why a bulk of world literature is grossly involved in Nature and Nature’s problems. It is not far to understand how greatly the ecological problems have threatened human civilization. Such ecological issues, therefore, have drawn attention of all the branches of knowledge for finding a solution to the problem. Nature being the life sustaining source is exploited in many ways: overhauling of natural resources, deforestation for urbanization and industrial purposes, nuclear explosions, setting up of industries that emit tons of poisonous gases to the environment making the globe a burning cauldron triggering the problem of climate change and global warming. The crisis has threatened animalization of total human civilization. The gravity of the situation and impressive awareness of ecological issues, different branches of knowledge have applied multiple approaches to find strategies for solving the problem. Initially the question was left to economists and environmentalists but now philosophers, historians, theorists, social workers, litterateurs, feminist workers, policy makers, have taken it to their domain of work to find a solution. The social movements like feminism have linked up
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their issues to the ecological issues. Thus ecofeminism with other similar concepts Ecocriticism, Ecoscience, have come up to answer global ecological crisis. Literature has such a situation.
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the concept of like Ecosophy, find avenues to a role to play in
Ecofeminism is a socio-politico and philosophical theory and movement that combines concepts of ecology and feminism together and explores their interrelatedness from a feministic point of view. As a literary theory, it focuses on the exegesis of narratives from such a stand point with an objective to end all forms of oppression on woman and nature. First used by Françoise d’ Eaubonne, a French feminist in her book Le Feminismeou La Mort (Feminism or death), 1974, ‘ecofeminism’ has evolved to gain worldwide acceptance as a term describing a socio-political and even cultural movement for emancipation of women and nature as a sort of ‘symbiotic connective’ and resorts to a revolt against patriarchal establishments. It traces the roots of all ills and misfortunes in the separation of culture from nature. Within these 40 years of its inception, the scope of ecofeminism has been stretched from nature to all fields of life that involves an oppression and discrimination including the labour laws as well. In the word of Karen J. Warren ‘ecological feminism is the position that there are important connections between how one treats women, people of colour, and the underclass on one hand and how one treats the non-human natural environment on the other’, (Warren, 2014: XI). From this it is discernable that the scope of ecofeminism is not merely related to nature and women, exploitation of all variety in the society calls for an ecofeminist study. Warren also argues in-favor of holistic approach to ecological problems when he is of the opinion that ‘any developmental problem or environmental philosophy which fails
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to take seriously the connection between these issues and women will be grossly in adequate’ (XII). Feminist Andy Smith, a member of women of all red nations considers both nature and women are colonized and discusses ‘environmentalism and ecofeminism through an anticolonial prospective’ (XII). Deane Curtin in his essay ‘women’s knowledge: Indian Women and Ecodevelopment’, argues that women expertise in environmental issues, due to their agricultural practices, is much more and their issues are interrelated with environmental issues. Ecofeminist Judith Plant in her essay, “Learning to live with differences: The challenge of ecofeminist community”, argues in favor of building an ecofeminist community by scientists, ecologists, feminists, radical theologians and others. He looks forward to ‘eco-feminist community building as a strategy for healing the delicate balance of relationships that make life possible’ (quoted in Warren: XIII). Eco-feminist Karen M. Fox in his essay Leisure: Celebration and Resistance in Ecofeminist Quilt takes up the concept of leisure and relates it to the frame work of ecofeminism. He argues that leisure is an important component of women’s lives and it should be properly understood and ‘Incorporated into ecofeminism as part of an understanding of the social fabric that helps maintain health, survival and connection to nature’ (quoted in Warren, XIII). The scope of ecofeminist literature is further expanded by Ruthanne Kurth-Schai in the essay “Ecofeminism and Children”, it is argued that children’s perspectives and issues to be included within ecofeminist dialogue and activism. The concept of ecofeminism which is an off–shoot of feminism has further expanded to other branches of knowledge in addition to literature. While claiming justice for women, who are often victims of discrimination on grounds of race, caste, colour, and gender differences (Sexual exploitation is the worst of all),
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ecofeminists tend to believe that the liberation of women and ecology must be fought as an inalienable issue, for the problem as well as the solution stems from a common attitude (i. e. towards women). Exploitation of women and nature is believed to have been engendered by a misogynistic attitude and resulted in the oppression of women or at least in the marginalization of the feminine. Ecofeminists claim that such a callous attitude has divided not only the society but also the individual male-female harmony, not conflict, would ‘restore’ balance in the society, nature, and the world. Dan Brown offers a radical interpretation of Christianity by asserting that early Christianity and Jesus himself honored the sacred feminine but a male-dominated Church had relentlessly conspired to destroy the Holy Grail and subvert the truth. The ‘church’s elimination of the sacred feminine from modern religion’, Brown avers, has resulted Christianity’s ‘one sidedness’ and consequently that of the modern man, who is doomed to live a life ‘out of balance,’ delinked as he is from nature and God (32). While pleading that accepting Jesus Christ with Mary Magdalene at the center as a unifying symbol will galvanize a ‘moribund’ Christianity, Brown calls for the re-integration of the sacred feminine into all aspect of modern life, including religion, psychology, art, literature and culture. Dan Brown argues that Leonardo da Vinci, who was an alchemist (45), was once the custodian of the secret of the Holy Grail and sang the glory of the sacred feminine in his paintings. The Grail search in the novel also revolves round the Da Vinci paintings-the Mona Lisa, the Maddona of the Rocks, the Vitruvian Man, and Last Supper – together called ‘the da vinci code’ (hence the title The Da Vinci Code). Brown’s thesis states that the union of the masculine and feminine creates a balanced and integrated personality and is therefore indispensable to
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achieving selfhood. Interestingly enough, Brown is reinforcing the assumption of Alchemy that the union of the opposite princes embodied as male and female facilitates Self-realization. Brown urges Christians to accept Christ and Mary Magdalene as representatives or symbols of male and female respectively and calls upon them to (re) integrate the sacred Feminine into the socio-cultural life in order to redeem themselves. Brown seems to echo the alchemical concept of male-female unity with JesusMagdalene at the centre. He argues that this is the need of the present time and for the modern man, who is characterized by fragmentation of the self and one-sidedness of personality. Brown claims that ‘almost everything our father taught us about Christ is false. As are the stories about the Holy Grail’ (Brown, 235). He alleges that by treating the Bible as God’s words and interpreting the myths and legends of Christianity literally rather than symbolically, its followers have mistaken Christ and the Holy Grail (ibid). The real Grail quest was to seek the banished Mary Magdalene (i. e., the Sacred Feminine) and Kneel before her to pay her obeisance, to the one without whom Jesus was and is incomplete. With the help of certain historical evidences such as the Dead Sea scrolls and the Nag Hammadi texts, Brown has tried to convince his readers that it is time they questioned and interpreted their religion. Brown calls for a new, symbolic way of interpreting the myths, legends and the symbols of Christianity, the religion of 200-billion-odd people. Not surprisingly then, this provocative narrative has attracted numerous responses, many of them incisive and persuasive. Most of them either challenge the mystery novel as ‘blasphemous’ or support Dan Brown’s ‘alternative history’ of Christianity as fact. Moreover, Brown’s thesis for male-female balance strikes a choice: ‘when male and female were balanced, there was harmony in the world; its absence created chaos’ (31).
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This conviction has prompted him to revisit the history of the 2000-year old Christianity and its failure in bringing balance to modern life. Consequently, he pleads to resurrect the neglected, marginalized, and displaced Mary Magadalene, without whom Christ is incomplete and Christians are one-sided. Brown laments that the banishment of the sacred feminine (e. g. Mary Magdalene) from modern life (e. g. in art, religion, psychology, culture and literature) has plagued modern man and deprived him of selfhood. Prof. Robot Langdon, the Harvard Professor of Symbology in The Da Vinci Code and Brown’s mouthpiece, laments the predicament of modern man in the following words: ‘The days of the goddess were over. The pendulum had swung. Mother Earth had become a man’s world, and the Gods of destruction and war were taking their toll. The male ego had spent two millennia running unchecked by its female counterpart. The Priory of Sion believed that it was this obliteration of the sacred feminine in modern life that had caused what the Hopi Native Americans called koyanisquatsi – “life out of balance” – an unstable situation marked by testosterone-fueled wars, a plethora of misogynistic societies, and a growing disrespect for Mother Earth.’ (Brown, 171)
Dan Brown has tried to point out the shortcomings of Christianity, or rather “Churchianity”. In fact, Brown has built his thesis of the novel on the assumption made by Carl Gustav Jung, who found that Christianity was ‘one-sided: in it the spirit was exalted over matter, that the masculine was exalted over the feminine, that the problem of the opposites is not adequately dealt with, and that the exalted elements cast the inferior elements into the shadow realm, associated with the evil and the devil’ (cited in Smith, 243). Further one-sidedness is characteristic of neurosis, psychological imbalance and dissociation. Consequently, people in the West, particularly the
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Christians, failed to embrace wholeness (Stein, 17). Robert T. Sears, another Jungian scholar, has summed up Jung’s comments on the Church. The church, he [Jung] felt, had executed nature, as seen in its abstract art and architecture: had repressed animals. As seen in their extinction; had neglected its own inferior and dark side-sexuality, hostility – and its creative fantasy because of intellectual dogma. It had cut itself off from primitive roots and mythology and had lost its inferiority and soul. It sought an idealistic perfection rather than a realistic wholeness and the neglected side was causing alienation, wars, division between the sexes, and separation from God. (Brown, 11)
When we compare the above passages containing Jung’s views with that of Dan Brown, it becomes clear that Brown is very consciously toeing Jung’s views on Christianity and the spiritual crisis that modern man is facing. While suggesting that Christianity must re-embrace the sacred feminine into its fold, the novelist has prescribed ways to the Church to rejuvenate what he considers to be an otherwise old and ‘fusty’ religion. Brown has reinforced the claims once made by Carl Gustav Jung that Christianity, by banishing the sacred feminine, has become imbalanced and so have become millions of its followers – the men and women of modern times. As such, they are divorced from Christ. Consequently, their individuation is hindered, since in every feature Christ’s life is a prototype of individuation. In addition to this, the individuation process required the union of opposites, including the union of the masculine and the feminine. The suppression of the divine feminine, diagnosed the psychiatrist, has led to the over-rationalization of modern societies, causing psychic and spiritual illness. Jung, who is hailed to be the psychologist of the 21st century, believed that Christ is the symbolic representation of the most central archetype, the self. He is of the opinion that
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he Self or Christ is present in everybody a priori, but as a rule in an unconscious condition. Dan Brown extends the argument of Carl Jung and asserts that without a proper understanding of Christ which essentially includes an understanding of his feminine counterpart i. e. Mary Magdelene, Christians cannot achieve wholeness of personality. To conclude, we can say that in spite of the fact that Christianity has vehemently resisted the proposition that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and they had a daughter, the truth lies in the general belief that man and woman together stand for the organic whole. Marginalization of women disturbs the sacred balance as envisaged by God. In the novel Dan Brown has asserted on woman’s importance in the total system of God’s creation. Brown voices that women and Nature are integral part of our existence and their position be restored. Therein lies the benefit of mankind. WORKS CITED Abanes, Richard. The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code: A Challenging Response to the Best Selling Novel. Eugene: Harvest House Publishers, 2004. Print. Brown, Dan. The Vinci Code. Great Britain: Corgi, 2009. Print. Gruen, Lori. “Revaluing Nature”, Ed. Ecofeminism: Women, Culture, Nature. New Delhi: Rawat Publications, 2014. Print. Plant, Judith. “Learning to Live with Difference: The Challenge of Ecofeminist Community”, Ed. Ecofeminism: Women, Culture, Nature. New Delhi: Rawat Publications, 2014. Print. Warren, Karen J. (Ed.) Ecofeminism: Women, Culture, Nature. New Delhi: Rawat Publications, 2014. Print.
36 Poetry of Shruti Das: A Comparative Study in Ecofeminism Dr. Namita Laxmi Jagaddeb
Ecofeminism is yet to capture common man’s imagination. First used by the French writer Francois d’ Eaubonne in 1974 as a portmanteau term coalescing two distinct concepts and movements, i. e., ecology and feminism, it has gained currency more rapidly on critical level than in public space. The conscious section of society has more or less come to accept ecofeminist values as a compelling necessity for life and survival. Thanks to innumerable protests of environmental activist and feminist over the decades for the cause of nature and women which provided ecofeminism the desired thrust as a much needed social phenomenon. Essentially, ecofeminism perceives a significant connection between the oppression of women and exploitation of nature by a male dominated society and views the liberation of women and nature as intertwined. However, this conceptual reality has not yet stirred popular sentiments despite the stakes involved are high and grave for humanity. The reasons are many; the chief being is the opinionated patriarchal mind reinforced by the irrational greed of a consumer society. Thus, much needs to be done to straighten such archaic and anachronistic mindset. A holistic change is the need of the hour. Of course, to this end, various campaigns and movement have
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been working overtime but hardly any of them made any perceptive headway in terms of mass awakening to this urgent reality. The reason lies in their failure to connect with people. Different methods and mediums adopted by social activists of varied hues and colours pleading for the dignity of woman and nature fall short of the required intensity in getting across the message to the common man. Their endeavour is at best piecemeal when a mass movement is imperative for a course correction of history. But, unfortunately, the present-day society sadly lacks mass leaders having authentic voices. The rabble rousing rhetoric of the so called leaders do not serve any meaningful purpose. In this context, I am confident that literature can serve as an effective medium for reaching out to people to convey the message of ecofeminism in the most intimate manner by touching the inner cord in every one’s heart. This is perhaps the only agent which can appeal to the mind and heart of the common man as well as the wise and intellectual. It possesses a stirring ability, a moving power not available to any other form. It is a never failing principle. However, my point of view is not at all new. Writers being the most sensitive beings of the society have already taken this issue upon themselves seriously. Shruti Das is one such leading poet writing has shown her strength, pushing ecofeminism to the forefront of society. In this paper, I intend to show how this ecofeminist poet in her missionary zeal has produced extraordinary poems dedicated to the cause of women and nature. It is true, her poems have global favour, yet they are rooted in the soil of her native culture of Odisha. They are also steeped with the timeless values of India. Poems are pointed, intense and down to earth, most of which are written from the feminist point of view. Woman’s agony, her struggle, her feelings and
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emotions are at the core in all her poems. The poems exhibit an essential bond between woman and nature. Das celebrates nature as a feminine principle. She laments when the bond breaks and both of them suffer. She does not hesitate to hit out those who are responsible for the misery of woman and nature for ravaging the bond. While discussing ecofeminism in the poetry of Das, I feel it is pertinent to make certain references to the literary tradition of Odisha which might have nurtured her poetic sentiment. One may assume that she has imbibed the spirit of her literary forerunners who upheld the glory of nature as a living feminine principle. Three such master poets of yester years have been chosen for citation of their eloquent utterances on nature and woman that have inspired and ennobled million hearts. They are the illustrious Kabibara Radhanath Ray, Swabhab Kabi Gangadhar Meher and Pandit Nilakantha Das. Radhanath, the legendary nature poet of Odisha in his narrative poem “Chilika” has found his soul mate in the lake Chilika. The poem is, indeed, a moving record of his innate passion for nature. He was mesmerized by its panoramic beauty. In the dancing waves, the music of birds, picturesque islands, and mountains, he discovered spiritual joy and peace for a life plagued with anguish. In his emotional break out, the poet addressed the lake as his lady companion in the following lines in English rendering. “I was scared of them like a child to the teacher, but yearned for you my sweet heart day in, day out.” (Ray, p.13)
The poet earnestly longed to spend the rest of his life in the lap of Chilika amid peace and joy away from his wearied
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world. He opened his heart’s outpouring before his lady love Chilika, in the context, in some intimate lines. “If luck smiled, I could dwell on your graceful shore nestling in a cottage till my last at the foot hill of Jatia.” (Ray, p.56)
Here, nature becomes a metaphor for woman capable of offering balmy comfort to the tormented heart of a worldly man. For the poet, nature is a living feminine principle, a panacea for all the ills afflicting the society. Swabhab Kabi Gangadhar Meher, a contemporary of Radhanath, was also a fervent advocate of nature as a living feminine principle. In his masterpiece “Tapaswini”, a narrative poem, he has portrayed the moral beauty of the ideal woman “Sita” in a vibrant setting in an exquisitely intimate manner that one cannot help believing that woman and nature are the one and the same. In the cottage of sage Valmiki where, during her exile she took shelter, dawn personified comes to wake her up with palmful gifts of dew pearls. The whole nature was in a welcome mode with the cool breeze blowing, birds singing, flowers blossoming and so on. When Sita wept, her agony evoked immediate reaction in nature. Nature with all its resources started waging war on destiny for inflicting unjust punishment on an innocent woman. Trees, flower, river, clouds joined in a common fight against fate. By spreading Sita’s agony from land to water to sky, the poet has universalized her suffering as the suffering of all oppressed women of the world. This unique treatment of nature and woman as committed to each other and the ability of woman to face the challenge of adversity and rise beyond it are firm indicators of poet’s will to preserve and further the core ecofeminist attitude and values.
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Pandit Nilakantha Das, the notable poet, scholar of the Satyabadi Era in Odia literature, in his famous poem “Ramachandire Rati” (The Night at Ramachandi) demonstrated superb creative power in simultaneously producing the contrasting aspects of nature, such as the masculine and the feminine and the fury and the grace. It expresses poet’s strong desire for the feminine to prevail for the wellbeing of mankind. The context is that the poet led a group of young boys of the Satyabadi School to visit the Sun Temple at Konark. He halted for the night at Ramachandi, a place close to Konark. It was a full moon night in October, a night when the Odia people celebrated Kumara Purnima, a festival before the austere month of Kartik. To the poet’s dismay, a violent storm raged and spoiled the moon-lit night. This was simply unbearable for the poet. The emotionally stirred poet appealed to nature earnestly to stop the rain and wind instantly, and allow the full moon to come out in its full glory in the following lines rendered in English. “O wind, O rains, for God’s sake, halt and wait, I beg of you for the moon to bloom in full and reign the night in glory.. Let the stars smartly rise above the blue waves ……” (Pandit Nilakantha. P.307)
This is an incredible spectacle where nature’s fury is combined with the eagerness of a poet to recreat a benign full moon-lit night using flash back technique. Such a rare technique of projecting heterogenous realities simultaneously is found only in great literature. The poet’s thoughts were with the mothers and sisters of the young boys who had fallen asleep quite oblivious of the storm raging outside. For the poet, the moon is the natural companion of women and children. They
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belong to one another emotionally and spiritually. The soft moon light here represents the feminine aspect of nature in contrast to the fury of rain storm which is masculine out and out and disruptive of equanimity. The contrast establishes beyond doubt poet’s preference and firm recognition of nature as an embodiment of feminine principle. Although, the poetic pronouncements of these three literary masters of the bygone era have no direct bearing on the present study of the poems of Shruti Das, yet they bear certain significant relevance in so far as the poems of Das deal with nature as a feminine principle. Das has to her credit two excellent collection of poems entitled A Daughter Speaks and Lidless Eyes published in 2013, 2015, respectively. The poems have been widely read and appreciated and have also earned international acclaim. The feminist voice served in a simple idiom has acquired a unique persuasive quality usually not found in the poetry of the day. Geetha Ganapathy-Dore in the preface to A Daughter Speaks writes; “When news reports are ablaze with the victimization of women in India, here is a woman alive, aware and awake. She dares to speak, make her voice heard and give voice to the women of India, embodying their resilience in her prosody.” (1) The poems attract Padmashree Jayanta Mohapatra because of the poet’s “ability to mesh elements of herself with the hysterical outside world confronting us”. (Das, A Daughter Speaks. Comment, Back Page) Lidless Eye is no less significant than A Daughter Speaks as Dr. Tim Wenzell observes in the Introduction; “So here is her second collection of poems, picking up where she left off in her first collection in her quest to express and represent the lives of women in her country”. (Das, Lidless Eyes. Preface, 2015) In the Book Review on 30. 8. 2015 styled “Poetry as Watchdog”, Shruti Das spoke to the “Orissa Post”: “We can’t shut our eyes and
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ignore things happening in society.” (Das, Shruti. Lidless Eye. Book Review, p. 2) It needs no restatement that feminist values and feminist objective constitute the core of most her poems. It is a fact that feminism is ecofeminism or a variant of feminism, so to speak. She has very assiduously displayed in many of her poems her passion for empowering women in harmony with a flourishing nature or we may call it her pursuit of ecofeminism. Such poems while exhibiting contempt for the outrageous treatment of nature and woman invariably carry the poet’s eagerness for their early resurrection to where they belong best. For the present study of ecofeminism in the poetry of Das, I have picked up a few of her representative poems namely, “A Daughter Speaks”, “The Lonely Peepal”, “Evening”, “Of Mountains”, “A Little House”. The first three belong to her collection of poems A Daughter Speaks, the last two are from Lidless Eyes. The chief elements of ecofeminism in these poems will be discussed in the context of poet’s attitude to nature and women vis-à-vis a callous society. The basic premise of ecofeminism is that for a woman, nature and natural circumstances are close to her heart. They are her closest companions. An intimate partnership inheres between them. Anything unnatural, vicious or devilish is antithetical to her spirit. Das in her poems has explored this partnership in its manifold aspects and found how a woman responds in her true ways in the presence of nature and her natural habitat. The eponymous poem of A Daughter Speaks is the quintessential utterance of Das wherein a daughter (for that matter all daughters in her deadliest tragic moment speaks to mother in her innocent voice, “I am a girl you said”. This single line epitomizes the helplessness of all daughters, their vulnerability in a male world of lust. Woman is but a
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commodity, object of enjoyment, entertainment and utility. The poem is about a girl in her teens dancing in the lap of her mother and Mother Nature when she is snatched away by a pack of howling male hunters, who subject her to ruthless sexual torture. Neither was the mother spared by the predators. Portraying the tragic predicament, the anguished poet has sent a stern message to the man’s world as a knee jerk treatment for instant awakening and realization. In the poem, she has universalized the suffering and pathos of woman. A male dominated society devoid of any concern for her dignity and comfort. The daughter speaks; “Then they came and caught even you. I heard the sound of your bones cracking. I am helpless. I cannot say your cries from mine and her’s and her’s. I am helpless. I am a girl you said.” (Das, Shruti. 2013, p.16)
Further, in this poem of lost dream, lost mother, lost nature of a hapless girl the poet employs her unique aesthetics and highlights her pathetic plight by setting a contrast with the world of grace and innocence of nature. The daughter speaks to mother: I moved out of your body to see the sun and the bright world. You cut those bloody cords that held you and me together. You taught me to sing and dance and pick mango blossoms, until they took away my bowl of watered rice and shred of dry meat. You taught me to smile and forget. I am a girl you said. (Das, Shruti. 2013, p.15)
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These lines vocalizing the heartrending instant doom of a girl child over her ecological bliss encapsulate poet’s deepest concern for bringing ecofeminism to the centre stage with an urgent message reversing the devilish ways of society. The poem “The Lonely Peepal” is a class by itself in epitomizing the ecofeminist claims assiduously pursued by the poet. The poet has created a powerful metaphor for ecofeminism in the Peepal tree standing alone on a golden mustard field. The lonely tree imaging nature as neglected by a callous society has been envisioned as a symbol of Indian woman, capable of self-pursuit, determination in spite of loneliness. The first analogy of the lonely Peepal is with the indigenous ‘adivasi’ girl Amidst a crowd of mustard flowers She stands alone; aloof. Stalks rich and yellow pamper her. Bow at her feet; offering her fragrance and a thousand promises. Flattered yet proud, she stands Unwavering like the ‘adivasi’ girl. (Das, Shruti. 2013, p. 26)
Both belong to nature and they are blended with each other. Both show tenacity. Both stand alone. While the tree is unmoved by mustard flowers’ offer of fragrance, the tribal girl is unfazed by her distracters. This is the true essence of Indian womanhood. She has innate potential to stand by herself in adversity. Such instances are legion in Indian Culture. Very appropriately, the poet has drawn the second analogy from Indian myths. The lonely Peepal is imagined as the mythical ‘Shakuntala,’ the daughter of a sage and the wife of the mighty king Dushyanta, famed for her love lost and found.
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She waits with hope Like Shakuntala Bulbuls and woodpeckers peck on her. she waits with patience for the Kingfisher to get her lover’s ring and salvation from the deep belly of an unknown fish. (Das, Shruti. 2013, p.26)
Here, Indian woman’s inner strength and capacity for hope and patience has been highlighted by the poet to reaffirm her faith in the value of ecofeminism as an effective remedy for resurrection of woman and nature to their places of privilege with dignity. ‘Evening’ is another significant poem, remarkable for its ecofeminist characteristics. Like the “Lonely Peepal” here, evening is a merged metaphor for nature and woman. The poet has visualized a partnership of nature with the life of woman by equatiing evening, a phenomenon of nature, with Cleopatra, the beautiful queen of Egypt famous for her love for the Roman Emperor Marc Anthony. Although Cleopatra, the woman referred to, is not an Indian, the poet has appropriately perceived the basic emotion and the feelings of a woman as universal and has depicted it in the poem in the most befitting manner. The temporal context of the poem is evening hour. Evening personified, is awaiting her meeting with the moon. Cleopatra being invoked from her hoary past is kept waiting for Anthony, her lover. This equation of nature and woman imagined as celestial partners in waiting for love has been delineated in the most exquisite and ornate imagery rarely found elsewhere. The evening is spread out across the sky like Cleopatra spread out on her royal barge dressed in crimson garbs. The moon ready
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with confetti and rose petals rises gracefully from behind the dark East. Stars gently walkling up the barge carry arm loads of fragrant star blossom And star dust To weave into her long black dresses. (Das, Shruti, 2013, p.38)
The grand waiting ended in vain. The moon played truant. Anthony did not turn up. Both of them returned disappointed suppressing their pent up feelings with pride. The delicate feminine sentiment and feeling involved here has been served in a very intimate and touching manner. Long time she waits with languor for the moon to claim her as his own. But he, a wily lover favours water lilies over crimson garbs. An unrequited bride she slowly glides over the west gathering her pride with her. (Das, Shruti. 2013, p.38)
Here, while exposing the rudeness of the masculine callousness to tender feminine feelings, the poet upholds the feminine values of sincere love, patience and sense of pride and envisions an empathetic nature as a comforting partner in the life of woman. This is reminiscent of Gangadhar Meher’s portrayal of nature as a living feminine principle responsive to Sita in “Tapaswini” has already been discussed in this paper. The title of the poem “Of Mountains” appears quite funny in the first sight, for mountain is neither a living thing nor having any prima facie poetic appeal. But such casualness instantly melts as the reader gets struck with the most pertinent questions, the poet asks in the initial lines on the heartless demolition of mountains. When you blast the heart of mountains with dynamites and machines do you know how it feels? Do you ask even, how it feels? (Das, Shruti. 2015. p.12)
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The questions are definitely baffling; not easy to answer. I have also no answer. Yet, I am tempted to ask some further questions. Who are you to tear down mountains? Are not they beneficial to mankind? Do not they sustain the flora and fauna? Can you create another mountain?
Strictly speaking these are not questions. Rather, selfanswering introspection that seek no dispute. The sad spectacles of ravaging mountains in the name of development stirred poet’s feminine instinct profoundly. The way they are razed to the ground, made into chips, stones are an agonizing experience for her. The poet has heard the cry that seems subterranean. It cried its molten tears to drying streams who were too scared to protest. The green paddy fields looked on with fear at night and disgust in the daytime. ‘Just wait till the clouds come and we tell them!’ The mice, the rabbits and the baby birds ran to some friends; but Who could dare. (Das, Shruti. 2015. p.12)
To the poet, mountain has a life. It has a heart. It may seem incapable of speech but cries when hurt. The green paddy fields console it, come forward to help it. Mountain belongs to nature. Nature is a living thing; a feminine principle throbbing with life. Here, I must revert to my earlier discussion on Radhanath Ray’s “Chilika,” wherein the poet desired to spend the rest of his life at the foothill of a mountain named Jatia. In the final lines, the poet has sent a strong ecofeminist message to the so called civilized society to reflect on its civilized image.
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Couldn’t you have asked? You are civilized you saymade in God’s own image. (Das, Shruti. 2015. p.12)
Another poem, “A Little House” does not depict the poet’s house of bricks and mortar. It is a projection of poet’s desire to dwell amidst the mystifying glories of nature. The house is thus conceptual, a microcosm of nature in all its sweetness and light. It has the freshness of grass around, the colour of rainbow packed with treasured dreams and located beneath the dark clouds. A little house you built for me under the belly of dark clouds. Rain came fast and formed the rays that lit the fields and freshened the grass around. You had treasured dreams from a thousand nights and saved them in the rainbow to wind around the house under the belly of the dark clouds. (Das, Shruti. 2015. p.29)
Nature has built the house and preserved it with care, keeping it doors wide open for the poet to enter. It is a kind of spiritual gift-home for the poet in return for her unqualified love of nature. The poet is fully aware that nature is not only a living feminine principle but also a manifestation of divinity. Yet, she has to wait. She is still in the world, wedded to its entanglements. However, time is maturing but not yet fully ripe for her to accept the gifts of nature wholeheartedly. My hair had grown longer and skin a shade darker Glasses perched on my nose. my steps moved to a slower dance. Still, you held wide the open door to the little house under the belly of the dark clouds. (Das, Shruti. 2015. p.29)
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Time has taken its toll on body, but not on a house of love. A true heart’s love is not subject to temporality or materiality. Its portals are ever open wide. Here, one finds the ecofeminist elements are in its purest form. Nature is absolutely caring and responsive to the sincere love of the poet by allowing wide open the little house despite passage of time. The foregoing analysis of the poems of Shruti Das is only representative of the entire gamut of her experiment of ecofeminist values and experience in poetry. Each of her poems is a testimony to her commitment to ecofeminism. Each poem is an appeal for resurrection of women and nature to where they belong best. Each poem is refreshing and revealing to this end. WORKS CITED Das, Pandit Nilakantha. Ramachandire Rati, Nilakantha Granthabali. Cuttack, Student’s Store, 1973. Print. Das, Shruti. “Poetry As Watchdog.” Orissa Post [Bhubaneswar] 31 Aug. 2015: P. 12. Orissa Post. 31 Aug. 2015. Print. Das, Shruti. A Daughter Speaks. New Delhi, Authorspress, 2013. Print. Das, Shruti. Lidless Eye. 1st ed. N. p.: Partridge, 2015. Print. Ganapathy, Geetha. “Preface.” A Daughter Speaks. By Shruti Das. 1st ed. New Delhi: Authorspress, 2013. N. pag. Print. Meher, Gangadhar. Tapaswini. Cuttack, Friends’ Publishers, 2015. Print. Mohapatra, Jayanta. “Comment.” A Daughter Speaks. By Shruti Das. 1st ed. New Delhi: Authorspress, 2013. N. pag. Print. Ray, Radhanath. Chilika. Cuttack, Vidyapuree, 2012. Print. Wenzell, Tim. “Introduction.” Lidless Eye. By Shruti Das. 1st ed. N. p.: Partridge, 2015. N. pag. Print.
37 An Inequitable Justice: An Eco-feminist Analysis in Kamala Markandaya’s Nectar in a Sieve and Two Virgins Sibani Gantayet
Ecofeminism as a gilt-edged concept surfaced a few decades ago with an agenda to defuse the domineering patriarchal power dynamics. Around 1970s and 1980s ecofeminism emerged as an abstraction by the combination of two schools of thoughts known as Ecocriticism and feminism. Ecofeminism as a term was first used by Francoise d’ Eaubonne in her book Le Feminism Ou La Mart in 1074. Ecofeminism connects domination and exploitation of women with that of the environment. It visualizes land and lady on the same plight of servitude. Nature and women are tamed to serve man in an unconditional tone. Nature and women are exploited to the fullest extent by the capitalist patriarchs. The business of patriarchy is to utilize natural and human resources to expand its business empire to the farthest frontiers. Such expansion craze leaves the nature and poor people in general and women in particular in a debilitating condition. Nature which is the abode of all micro and macro organisms has turned into a raw material providing machine. As per a capitalist term nature is accountable to the norms and condition of human demands. Similarly, human resource is just a labour force, made to work by money
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power and muscle power. Women, as another section is just forcefully employed to look after overall pleasure of man. They are used as housekeepers, domestic-workers and child bearing machines. Such an unsympathetic treatment of nature, women and poor indigenes is an unfair act. They are denied justice for centuries to come. Ecofeminism has stiffened its cause to eliminate such injustice. Ecofeminism is an environmental critique of feminism and feminist critique of environmentalism. Feminist theorist Ynestra King, conceptualized ecofeminism as the third wave of feminism, where as other theorists theorize it as deep ecology. Ecofeminism as a theory, envelopes many issues which mutilated a major section of human society. The hierarchical, patriarchal, classist and sexist world in which we reside illustrates us certain facts with precision. The fact is that certain privileged people determine all proper behavior, action and ethics for us. The powerful and privileged people act as if they are born with a higher morality and enact themselves in an authoritative way on the colonized. The ruling class considers every other class in a subnormal way. Under this conviction, women, colored indigenes and nature are considered unequal to them. Women and nature are the worst victims of such oppression. Women have historically not been considered as having equal potentialities and rights. Women are treated as ethical non subjects, incapable of making any important decisions in their lives. The rules and regulations are designed in such a way that a woman is confined to the four walls and it is her ethical duty to please man around the clock. The condition of women is similar across the globe. They are utilized and misutilized for men’s personal and professional benefits. This utilization, though unjust is justified by male dominated society. Ecofeminism as a movement in India is still in its embryonic stage. This movement should be injected with much
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energy, so that it will advance towards the establishment of a stronger foundation in order to retrieve women, nature and aboriginals from servitude. Many women writers in India have passionately wielded their pen for the cause of ecofeminism through different genres. Among them Bandana Shiva, Medha Patkar, Maheswata Devi, Arundhati Roy, Kiran Desai, Kamala Markandaya and C. K. Janu are eminent. Kamala Markandaya though an urbanite could picturise bucolic India most realistically. She could picturise the reality of Indian society realistically. She excelled in the field of narration in a superlative degree. The concept of eco-regionalism is well portrayed in almost all her works. The inter dependency of nature and aboriginals is presented with utmost efficiency. Kamala Markandaya has mastered the skill of representing the nuance that exists in every level of Indian society. The alchemizing effect of western capitalism on indigenes is conspicuous in almost all her works such as Nectar in a Sieve, Some Inner Fury, A Silence of Desire, Possession, The Coffer’s Dam and Two Virgins. The sumptuous portrayal of peasantry in India is something extraordinary. She has also given stress to project the dissection of natural world by exploratory technology. This very paper attempts to highlight some of the sensitive issues from an ecofeminist prospective. Ecofeminism which is a combination of social feminism and holistic ecology has emerged with a majestic responsibility. According to the words of Ivone Gebara: I sense that ecofeminism is born of daily life, of day-to-day sharing among people, of enduring together garbage in the street, bad smells, the absence of sewers and safe drinking water, poor nutrition and inadequate health care. The ecofeminist issue of born of lack of municipal garbage collection, of the multiplication of rats, cockroaches and mosquitoes and of the sores on children’s skin. This is true because it is usually women who have to deal with daily
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survival issues: keeping the house clean and feeding and washing children. (Longing for running Water 2)
Kamala Markandaya was galvanized by somber aftermath of colonialism. She captured the reality on her canvas with utmost ease and felicity. The feeble condition of her female protagonists and their consistent endeavor to stay tuned with their homeland which ends in vain is much evident in most of her works. In both Nectar in a Sieve and Two Virgins, the central female characters are shown toiling hard to stay tuned to the normal day-to-day life. Globalization has changed the life of the innocent rural Indians. This change is irremediable. The rural Indians who are acquainted with the natural and simple life are suddenly driven away to a new no man’s land. In both the novels we find a drastic impact of such a global business on the simpletons. Nectar in a Sieve is the third work of Kamala Markandaya, published in 1954. She adopted writing as her profession after the liberation of India from the grip of British rule. She entitled her work Nectar in a Sieve, inspired by Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem “Work without Hope”: “Work without hope draws nectar in a sieve and hope without object cannot live”. The pandemonium that prevailed in socio, political, economic, psychological and environmental sphere is well inscribed in this novel. She projected the impact of industrialization on poor peasants and lower middle class family in both urban and rural areas. The economic threats of the commoners and their traumatized state are clearly visible in post-colonial India. Modern automation contributed towards the mayhem in the natural ecosystem and their inhabitants. Rukmani, the central protagonist and the narrator peeps into her past life, and launches into her life story, describing what it means to be poverty stricken. The narrator starts with a
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nostalgic note but proceeds gradually towards a tragic end. She expresses her sentiments and her smoldering fire for her husband’s affection as a quite normal woman. She being the fourth daughter of once-important village headman got married to a village layman as the status of her father dwindled. She married a man named Nathan without a single pie of dowry. Nathan, a poor guy but with a rich heart accepted Ruku wholeheartedly. Ruku settled into a simple farming life very happily. As a peasant woman, she joyously interacted with mother nature, and was gladdened to see the fruition of nature. Susheela Rao locates Ruku’s special relationship with nature in her “heightened awareness of nature’s beauty” as well as her connection to the rhythms of the seasons (Rao 42). Rao points too many passages in which Ruku comments on the aesthetic and atmospheric beauty of the landscape. She was immensely happy with both her partners. Her husband’s affection was priceless to her and the accompaniment of land was quite contending. But change is the law of nature. Everything is transient. At times nature acts in an adverse way. Nature’s fury is beyond comprehension and control of human beings. In Ruku’s word, “Nature is like a wild animal that you have trained to work for you” (Nectar in a Sieve 43). Ruku was always less demanding kind of woman, who always knew how to do with the situation and be jolly. Her personality is best reflected in these lines of Nectar in a Sieve: When the sun shines on you and the fields are green and beautiful to the eye, and your husband sees beauty in you which no one else has seen before, and you have a good store of grain laid away for hard times, a roof over you and a sweet stirring in your body, what more can a woman ask for? (Nectar in a Sieve 8)
Rukmani shifted from one identity to another throughout the entire novel. In this process of change one thing is persistent, her state of ambivalence. The journey of Ruku from
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girlhood to motherhood was extremely adventurous. She had experienced some flabbergasting changes in her life. Initially Ruku and Nathan were blessed with a baby girl named Ira. The birth of daughter was an unexpected and inexplicable blow of nature. Birth of a daughter is a liability to the parents rather than a matter of joy. This very stereotypic thought is still alive in Indian society. The moment a girl is born in a family the headmen start framing prototypes for the girl. Different laws are legislated to monitor the code of conduct of the girl. Since childhood they are trained to be an introvert, polite and submissive. As per the societal norms, a girl is supposed to know all domestic work to please her family and fit into the social structure. All these rules are manmade. It is very much unfair to mould and modify a person’s life as per one’s own will. Another sarcastic practice of Indian society is to give dowry at the time of marriage of the daughter. From the day one of the daughter’s birth parents start preserving wealth for the final day of marriage. In the words of Ramesh Chandra: The birth of a daughter in India is not considered an occasion for rejoicing. A son could have continued Nathan’s vocation whereas the daughter would take dowry and leave only a memory behind. This attitude arises partly out the rigors of the dowry system (Rukmani herself had suffered it) and partly due to the traditional view that a son is his father’s prop. This view is also supported by religion. A son is the savior of the ancestors, as he alone has the right to offer oblation. (Chadha 1988)
Just like many prejudiced Indian couple Nathan and Ruku craved for a son, who will be a support in their old age. They dreamt like other parents that a son would help to multiply their income. After the birth of Ira, Ruku suffered from infertility. She got herself treated for that furtively by a white doctor. She was blessed with a series of sons, who simply brought curse to her life instead of boon. Meanwhile a tannery was established in
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the village which assured jobs to the youngsters, but at the cost of ecological destruction. Tannery brought some acrid changes in the natural environment. The wave of modernization enveloped the entire village. The serene and sublime village ambiance was spoiled by this tannery, which not only polluted the physical environment but also destroyed mental balance of the mundane people. The establishment of tannery spoiled the pastoral life. The meadow lost its charm. The birds stopped chirping. Animals stop turning to the valleys. Ruku was conscious of the dwindling presence of living beings in the environment. In the words of Ruku: “Atone time,” she recounts, “there had been kingfishers here, flashing between the young shoots for our fish; and paddy birds; and sometimes, in the shallower reaches off the river, flamingos, striding with ungainly precision among the water reeds, with plumage of a glory not of this earth. Now birds come no more, for the tannery lay close.” (Nectar in a Sieve 69)
Hunger and poverty can make a person work in any situation. Sometimes people brush aside their ethics and work in an adverse and unadvisable condition just for few rupees. Within a month of tannery’s establishment some people lost their land. Buildings appeared here and there. Thousands of animals were slaughtered. Disintegration prevailed in the atmosphere. A series of misfortunes engulfs Ruku’s family. Her newly wedded daughter is dumped by her husband due to infertility. That very year brought draught hits and a barren land empties their storehouse. Two of her sons, who took tannery as their profession are driven away due to their misconduct. One of her son is beaten to death on the charge of theft. Her husband’s infidelity makes her condition intolerable. Throughout her life Ruku worked really hard just for a contending and self-sufficient life. In return of her devotion and dedication, she received never ending pain.
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Two Virgins is another splendid novel of Kamala Markandaya, a story of two sisters of contradictory nature. Lalitha and Saroja are two sisters, who belong to an appeased family. The entire family is happy with their existing fortune. Lalitha and Saroja are born and raised in the lap of nature and nurtured by their doting parents in an age old culture. Lalitha was schooled in a modern English medium school whereas Saroja was trained in the village school. Both the girls had different ideas and outlook about the world. Saroja admired the traditional village life, whereas Lalitha rejected the gray-haired tradition and was much allured towards the modern world. The intense crave for modern life, which was nourished by modern thoughts turned fatal for her. Lalitha’s life was smudged in peasantry, which she wanted to get rid of. She was an epitome of beauty and was enticed by the film world. She wanted to be an actress, was well-versed in acting and dancing, whereas Saroja was fond of countryside life. She enjoyed the scenic beauty of nature. She loved riding her bicycle and talking to the wind. She observed the activities of cows and buffalos. Since time immemorial, human beings are dependent on Mother Nature and animals for survival. According to Ivone Gebera, “Nature is somehow subject to the divine will. In that sense it is by divine command that nature gives us what we need in order to live” (Longing for running Water 16). Manikkam and aunt Alamule are the brightest examples of it, who depend on buffalos for their bread and butter. Animals are domesticated for different benefits of human beings. For the sake of meager profit humans are animalized and animals act in a humanized way. Mute living creatures undergo different kinds of human exploitations. Animals serve the human even after their death. Saroja had strong feeling for such mute creatures.
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Her sympathy and empathy is evident from these lines of the text: Saroja felt it was wrong, felt the calf had an entitlement to its mother’s milk, but the boys said, what entitlements, the way society is organized there is no entitlements. Which society Saroja wanted to know, not being sure if it was the same Appa often found fault with. Society generally, they replied, but especially western society, which is a spreading thing, one cannot escape it, and they hold her about things which were done in the west which made what Manikkam did seem a lot less heinous. (Markandaya Two Virgins 50)
Homo-Sapiens know how to make the best use of submissive creatures. Mother Nature is no exception to such expropriation and exploitation. Massive deforestation and lumbering of trees have decentered entire ecosystem. Apart from these water pollution, air pollution, soil pollution and nuclear wastes of war have added rich dividends to struggle quotients of human society. There is a reference in the text where the buffalos eat plastic and roar all night out of pain. Their pain can never be understood by human beings. A minor section of the society, the elite make the major section of the mass suffer for their experimental benefits. The apocalyptic effect of such imprudent technical operation in natural ecosystem has made the poor people lead an oppressed life. In the following lines of Elizabeth Gould Davis’s book The First Sex: Man is the enemy of nature to kill, to root up, to level off, to pollute, to destroy are his instinctive reactions. Woman is the ally of nature, and her instinct to tend, to nurture, to encourage healthy growth, and to preserve ecological balance. She is the natural leader of society and of civilization, and the usurpation of her primeval authority by man has resulted in uncoordinated chaos. (335-336)
Lalitha, who was schooled in Miss Mandoja’s school has grown elegantly rebellious by nature. She could convince her parents for a sophisticated and ultra-modern career in films.
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Though she was criticized for being outspoken and insurgent by her aunt but she did not pay heed to any such words. She got trapped in the words of a lusty film director. She was offered a documentary film. After celebrating this chunk of success, her dreams magnified. Lalitha wanted to shift to the city so that her career can be furthered. But this daydream turns into a nightmare. The ceaseless habitude of man is to gratify the unethical desire at any cost. The film director was hypnotized by the grace of Lalitha. In order to satiate his smoldering fire of lust, he trapped the pastoral beauty by offering different superficial job opportunities. Lalitha in order to create a new identity landed in a wrong land. She was seduced by the director and got pregnant. Suddenly, a sense of insecurity and depression crept into her personality. Her faith started fading and helplessness prevailed. Though she came back to village but she could not prolonged her stay being afraid of her scandal. She did not want to be the talk of the entire village. She escaped the place. She fled for the city. She wanted to end herself. Her poor innocent parents wanted to rescue their lovely daughter from such awkward and doleful situation. Though she was chased but she could not be caught. She was lost in the city lights and crowded streets. The entire family tried every possible means to get their daughter out of this tragic situation. They ran from pillar to post seeking justice for their daughter. The destitute rural people were cheated with urban techniques. The unjust treatment of Lalitha is beyond the imagination of the poor villagers. The efforts of Saroja, Amma and Apa to find their lovely Lalitha ended in vain. The family members returned to their village empty handed. The modish predilection for urban life was too farfetched for Lalitha. Modernism has muted the agrarian life. The victims of such urbanization are nature and innocent people. In both the
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novels we find the impact of modernization. The ceaseless desire of human beings for development has engendered such menace in natural world. The effects of globalization are crystal clear when we come across natural disasters and ecological crisis. Apart from environmental disasters, human resource exploitation, deployment of women and children in hazardous places are some serious effects of this global development. The establishment of tannery in Nectar in a Sieve and intervention of modern missionary schools and exploration of film director in search of rural beauty in Two Virgins has actually contaminated the natural equilibrium of the villages. The inequitable justice imposed on nature, women and poor indigenes cannot be justified by any patriarchal terms and conditions. The capitalists forget that the environment they are destroying is the base for their own survival. They are destroying their own abode. Mechanization has metamorphosed the natural world. The terrible truth is that the entire human civilization along with the natural world is reaping the consequences. This is the reward of man’s insensitive and unfair conduct. WORKS CITED Chadha, Ramesh. Cross-Cultural Interaction in Indian-English Fiction. New Delhi: National Book Organisation, 1988. Print. Davis, Elizabeth Gould. The First Sex. G. P. Putnam Sons New York: 1971. Print. Estok, Simon. “Theorising in a space of ambivalent openness: Ecocriticism and eco-phobia. “Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment. 16. 2 2009:203-25 Print. Gaard, Greta. Ecofeminism: Women, Animas, Nature. Ed Philadelphia: Temple UP, 1993. Print. Gebara, Ivone. Longing For Running Water: Ecofeminism and Liberation. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1999. Print.
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Griffen, Susan. Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her, San Francisco: Harper and ROW, 1978. Print. King, Ynestra. “Healing the Wounds: Feminism, Ecology, and the Nature/ Culture Dualism”. Gender/Body/Knowledge: Feminist Reconstruction of Being and Knowing Eds. Alison M. Jagger, Susan Bordo Rutgers UnivPres, 1989. Print. Markandaya, Kamala. Nectar in a Sieve. New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 2007. Print. ......... Two Virgins. Penguin Books, 1973. Print. Rao, Sushella N. “Nature in Kamala Markandaya’s Nectar in a Sieve and the Cofeer’s Dams”. The Literally Half -yearly. 1995: 41-50. Print. Warren, Karen J. Ecofeminist Philosophy. New York: Rowmanand Littlefield Publishers, 2000. Print.
38 Woman and Nature: An Ecofeminist Reading of Sarah Joseph’s Selected Novels Nitesh Narnolia
In the context of developing countries, especially India, ecofeminism is vital to reveal the exploitations and invasions over our ecology and its resources by the developed countries in the names of globalization, urbanization and development. In the same way, gender issues can be questioned and analysed by looking into our relationship towards nature, other living beings and the opposite sex. People and nature at margins are the first victims of any form of disaster or devastation; therefore it is relevant to analyse this connection between woman and nature. Vandana Shiva in her book Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Survival in India (1988) tries to criticise the western ideology of development and its negative impacts on women and nature of the third world countries. She calls this Western concept of development irrelevant to the third world countries as it is less concerned with the well-being of humans and other living beings surviving at the margins of society. In the book Ecofeminism, Vandana Shiva and Maria Mies condemn the existing theories of ecofeminism and propose a practical as well as an ideological ecofeminist perspective, rooted in the practice of everyday life.
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Ecofeminism and feminist literary criticism have contributed to the linguistics as well as to the literary aspects of theories and ideologies in literature. In this paper, the authors would be focusing on the selected novels of Sarah Joseph, which are enriched with the essence of ecofeminism especially with its post-colonial lineage in the Indian socio-political and cultural milieu. This paper will look at the novels of Sarah Joseph as means of resistance to the invasion of land and life, towards the hope for the possibility of an eco-friendly world order. This paper deals with three novels of Sarah Joseph, including The Scent of the Other Side, Gift in Green and The Vigil. The aim and main objective of the present study is to analyse and interpret the textual and conceptual essence of ecofeminism in brief in the selected novels of Sarah Joseph. To achieve this, it is essential to explore relevant ecofeminist theories and perspectives through a thorough and vast literature survey. The eminent French feminist Francoise d’Eaubonne coined the term ‘ecofeminism’ in her book Feminism or Death in 1974. She explained the important role of feminism in addressing environmental and gender issues. The late 20th century has identified Ecofeminism as a movement that gave voice to women, environment and all the marginalised sections of society including queers. Cultural or Spiritual Ecofeminism explores the connection between women and nature and supports the concept of ‘Mother Earth’ and ‘femininity of nature’. The ecofeminists of this wing argue over practicing the traditional wisdoms of preserving and protecting nature as well as respecting women in the contemporary society. Vandana Shiva in her book Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Survival in India describes that: Forests have always been central to Indian civilization. They have been worshipped as Aranyani, the Goddess of the Forest, the
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primary source of life and fertility, and the forest as a community has been viewed as a model for societal and civilizational evolution. The diversity, harmony and self-sustaining nature of the forest formed the organisational principles guiding Indian civilization; the aranyasamskriti (roughly translatable as ‘the culture of the forest’ or ‘forest culture’) was not a condition of primitiveness, but one of conscious choice. (Shiva 53)
Renowned radical lesbian feminist Mary Daly in her book Gyn/ecology explains the concept of femininity, its origin and roots. She explains with the help of theology, that ‘how notions of virtuous womanhood have arrived and perpetuated which forms the basis of patriarchy’ (Krishna 104). Queer Ecofeminism envisions a wide spectrum of gender ranging from superman to superwoman, including lesbian, gay, bisexuals, transgenders and cyborgs, and emphasizes their connection with environment. In the essay “Toward a queer ecofeminism”, Greta Gaard points out that: The goal of this essay is to demonstrate that to be truly inclusive, any theory of ecofeminism must take into consideration the findings of queer theory. Similarly, queer theory must consider the findings of ecofeminism. To this end, the essay examines various intersections between ecofeminism and queer theory, there by demonstrating that a democratic, ecological society envisioned as the goal of ecofeminism will, of necessity, be a society that values sexual diversity and the erotic. (Gaard 137)
Another queer ecofeminist, Donna Haraway, explains it further in her book A Cyborg Manifesto that “It is also an effort to contribute to socialist-feminist culture and theory in a postmodernist non-naturalist mode and in the utopian tradition of imagining a world without gender, which is perhaps a world without genesis, but may be also a world without end” (Haraway 292). Constructivist ecofeminists like Simone de Beauvoir and Sherry B Ortner reject the essential connection between women
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and nature by stating that the connection is a mere social creation; not natural. In her book The Second Sex, Beauvoir points out how man is equated with culture and women, nature, animals are separated from it. The other wing of ecofeminism called Socialist ecofeminism stands somewhere in between the Cultural and Constructivist ecofeminism. It neither accepts nor rejects the natural connection between women and nature. Socialist ecofeminists, like Karen J Warren and Maria Mies, focus on the critical analysis of the western philosophies of development. Mies writes about this nature-culture dilemma in her book Ecofeminism by stating: Since the Age of Enlightenment and the colonization of the world the White Man’s concept of emancipation, of freedom and equality, is based on dominance over nature, and other peoples and territories. The division between nature and culture, or civilization, is integral to this understanding. From the early women’s movement up to the present, a large section of women has accepted the strategy of catching-up with men as the main path to emancipation. This implied that women must overcome within themselves what had been defined as ‘nature’, because, in this discourse, women were put on the side of nature, whereas men were seen as the representatives of culture. (Mies 65)
Sarah Joseph is considered to be one among the most renowned contemporary female writers in Kerala, India. She is considered to have contributed to ‘Ecriture Feminine’ stream in Malayalam Literature, which literally means ‘Women’s writing’. It continued as a movement, which paved the platform for women writers and critics to meet and form a fraternity. Sarah Joseph is considered to be the God-Mother of this movement in Kerala. Sarah Joseph’s first novel Aalahayude Penmakkal was published in 1999, which grabbed prestigious awards like Central Sahitya Akademy award, Kerala Sahithya Academy award and Vayalar Award. She has published Maattathi and Othappu in 2003 and 2005 respectively so as to form a trilogy. Othappu has been
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translated into English by Valson Thampu which got Vodafone Crossword Translation Award in 2009. Her fifth novel Aathi and its English translation Gift in Green were written and published simultaneously in 2011. The Vigil is translation of her novel Oorukaaval based on the character Angada from Ramayana. For the present study, the authors have selected three novels of Sarah Joseph which are translated into English. The novel entitled The Scent of the Other Side depicts the story of a woman unveiled, both literally and metaphorically. It is the journey of a woman in search of her sexuality and spirituality and the interconnection between these two contradictory phases. Through the struggle of the protagonist Margalitha, Sarah Joseph proposes that realisation of womanhood is a spiritual process and spirituality could flourish through feminine virtues. The novel questions how the calling of one’s own soul can be addressed to the inner flame of womanhood and selfhood. This novel explores the possibility to attain spirituality naturally through the celebration of womanhood, body and sexuality, rather than denying their needs and essence. Margalitha’s yearning for finding godliness outside the closets of convent and releasing herself to the nature and natural life processes is narrated and amalgamated with the concept of ecofeminism. When Margalitha left Kasseessa’s house and was deserted from the society, she chose to go to the woods to meet Father Augustine. The peaceful, healing atmosphere of wilderness helps her to ease the pain and move forward in life. She makes love to Karikkan, proclaiming her feelings towards him and nurses Naanu who has evoked motherliness in her. She also witnesses Augustine’s struggle to build a water reservoir uphill for marginalized people living there who have difficulty in getting drinking water. This evidently creates a spark in
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Margalitha to face the world boldly and confidently for choosing a life she wished for. In the novel Gift in Green, Joseph narrates the story of Aathi, an island which lies with its natural beauty and primitive purity untouched by the outside life. Kumaran, who has left Aathi for a better life, comes back after years to transform Aathi into a city, for a huge profit. Conflict of people, while facing threats of pollution, diseases, displacement and migration and their forms of resistance to the invasion are the central parts of the novel. The novel points fingers at the various kinds of invasions, ecological destructions, aftermath of environmental degradation, and the possibilities of a united fight against human right violations. By narrating the unique practices and eco-friendly culture of Aathi, the novel opens up possibilities for life practices based on mutual love and care, respecting Mother Earth so on and so forth. The storytelling nights in Aathi, selling and buying land strictly to the inmates of the place, not allowing greedy developers to put their feet on the land, preservation and sustainable use of natural resources etc. are channels of independence and empowerment for the people. When certain sections of people violate these rules, the whole village had to pay for the huge loss and catastrophe. Gitanjali comes to Aathi seeking a cure for her daughter Kayal’s mental turbulence and Shailaja leaves her bridegroom and his polluted village to remain attached to the purity of Aathi. The irony of Shailaja’s village getting more polluted later on than that of her husband, points to the critical analysis of environmental destruction and its huge and wide-spread negative impact on the whole living and nonliving system. Gift in Green is a novel with a warning; it emphasizes the need to understand development not only as physical, but also as the well-being and happiness of people, the
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foresight needed for any activity concerning environment and the impact of invasion over nature and women. There is a nameless female character in the novel, which is the village herself. The plight of the village is depicted through her worries, anguish and helplessness. The novel The Vigil is based on Angada’s conflict on being forcibly assigned the duty of finding the wife of his father’s murderer. He is afraid inside because he is legally eligible to be the next king and, thus, Sugriva’s enemy. The novel describes the huge ecological destruction due to the building of Sethu (bridge) in order to conquer Ravana and regain Sita. While building the bridge, thousands of trees, hills and rocks were uprooted. In the Ramayana, it is described that they were waiting to be uprooted for Rama and Rama demanded their sacrifice. When a habitat is destroyed, millions of living beings associated with it will be finished. The same thing happened with sea life also. And when we ask the question why the bridge is being built, the answer is, ‘for a war’; destruction for another destruction. The Vigil is a novel written against wars, or any kind of invasion. Queer Ecofeminist elements are concerned while narrating Angada and his mother Thara. Thara’s plight was to get married to Bali’s brother Sugriva once when he announced that Bali was killed in a fight with a monster. She then re-married Bali when he returned back without getting hurt in the fight. But when Rama killed Bali, she had to marry Sugriva. She had bitter hatred and hostility towards Sugriva. Yet she went to his bedroom every night to ensure her son Angada would not get killed. Sita, in Angada’s eyes, is also depicted in the novel with all her wounds and hurts after being asked to prove her chastity. Sarah Joseph has written this genre of novel after constantly thinking
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about the underprivileged or the subalterns while reading the Ramayana. CONCLUSION Sarah Joseph interweaves various ecofeminist and feminist theories in her novels, at the same time she also seeks possibilities and solutions for empowerment of women and environment. She clearly makes a picture before the readers about the irreparable aftermaths that can develop from the oppression of women and nature. She also suggests that only through changing our day-today relationships and activities towards sustainability, we can contribute to the well-being and overall empowerment of the whole ecological system. The literary aspects of these novels have to be explored in detail, by liberating them from the limitations of a research paper. The linguistic links can also be identified and analysed for a deeper study. WORKS CITED Daly, Mary. Gyn/ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism. Massachusetts: Beacon Press, 1990. Print. Gaard, Greta. “Toward a Queer Ecofeminism”. Hypatia. 12. 1 (1997): n. pag. Print. Haraway, Donna. “A Cyborg Manifesto”. The Cybercultures Reader. Ed. David Bell and Barbara M. Kennedy. London: Routledge, 2000. Print. Joseph, Sarah. Gift in Green. Trans. Valson Thampu. India: Harper Collins, 2011. Print. Othappu; The Scent of the Other Side. Trans. Valson Thampu. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print. The Vigil. Trans. Vasanthi Sankaranarayanan. India: Harper Collins, 2014. Print. Mies, Maria and Vandana Shiva. Ecofeminism. New Delhi: Rawat Publications, 2010. Print. Shiva, Vandana. Staying Alive; Women, Ecology and Survival in India. New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1989. Print.
List of Contributors
1.
Ajumeze Henry Obi is a Research Scholar at the Centre
for African Studies, University of Cape Town in South Africa. 2.
Alan Johnson, Ph. D., is Professor of English, Idaho
State University, USA 3.
Aleena Manoharan, Ph. D., is Assistant Professor in
CMS College in Kottayam in Kerala, India 4.
Annie Jane C. Mawkhiew is a Research Scholar in the
Department of Meghalaya
English, NEHU, Tura Campus,
5.
Asis De, Ph. D., is Associate Professor and Head of the Department of English at Mahishadal Raj College in Kolkata, West Bengal
6.
Auswyn Winter Japang is an independent researcher and is the Sub-editor of The North East Today (TNT) from Shillong, Meghalaya
7.
Bhagabat Nayak, Ph. D., is Associate Professor in the Department of English, Rajiv Gandhi University, Arunachal Pradesh
8.
Biswanath Das, Ph. D. is Lecturer in English in Indira Gandhi Womens’ College, Cuttack, Odisha.
9.
Chinmayee Sahu is a Guest Lecturer in English at
Khallikote Cluster University, Berhampur, Odisha
List of Contributors
441
10. Chittaranjan Misra, Ph. D., is Associate Professor in the Department of English, BJB (Autonomous) College, Bhubaneswar, Odisha 11. Daya Dissanayake is an author, a critic, an activist and a journalist from Sri Lanka 12. Deepshikha Routray is a Lecturer in English in Ganjam College, Ganjam College, Odisha 13. G. Chenna Reddy, Ph. D., is Professor of English, Acharya Nagarjuna University, Andhra Pradesh 14. Gagana Bihari Purohit, Ph. D. is Lecturer in English, R. N. College, Dura, Berhampur, Odisha 15. James Joseph, is Assistant Professor in Saint Mary’s College in Kerala, India 16. Jiban Jyoti Kakoti, Ph. D., is Associate Professor of English at Golaghat Commerce College in Assam 17. Kali Kinkar Pattanayak, Ph. D., is Associate Professor at Khalikote Cluster University, Berhampur, Odisha 18. Krishanu Maiti is a Research Scholar in the Department of English at Vidyasagar Universiy, West Bengal 19. Maitrayee Misra is a Research Scholar in the Department of English at Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Chhatisgarh 20. Minakshi Prasad Mishra, Ph. D., is Assistant Professor in CET, Biju Patnaik University of Technology in Bhubaneswar, Odisha 21. Mousam is a Research Scholar in the Central University of Gujarat, Gujarat 22. Munira Salim is a Research Scholar in the Department of English in Ravenshaw University in Cuttack, Odisha
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Re-Thinking Environment: Literature, Ethics and Praxis
23. N. Lakshmi, Ph. D., is Assistant Professor in English in Govt. Degree College in Tuni, Andhra Pradesh 24. Namita Laxmi Jagaddeb, Ph. D., is Lecturer in English at Mahima Degree College in Bargargh, Odisha 25. Nishamani Kar, Ph. D., is Associate Professor of English at the National Defence Academy (Ministry of Defence, Govt. Of India), Pune, Maharashtra 26. Nitesh Narnolia is a Research Scholar in the Central University of Gujarat, Gujarat 27. O. Arun Kumar is Assistant Professor in the Department of English at N. S. S College in Kerala 28. P. C. Roy, Ph. D. is Assistant Professor in Saint Mary’s College in Kerala, India 29. Preetha M. M, Ph. D., is Associate Professor and Head in the P G Depatment of English and Research Centre in Sree Kerala Verma College in Thrissur, Kerala 30. Pritha Banerjee is Assistant Professor of English in Sundarban Mahavidyalaya, West Bengal. 31. R. Sheela Banu, Ph. D., is Associate Professor of English at Govt. Arts College (Autonomous) in Salem, Tamil Nadu 32. Ramesh K. G., is Assistant Professor in Saint Mary’s College in Kerala, India 33. Ranjit Kumar Pati, Ph. D., is Associate Professor, Department of English, SKCG College in Paralakhemindi, Odisha 34. Samita Misra is a Research Scholar in the Department of English in Berhampur University, Odisha
List of Contributors
443
35. Shrabanee Khatai is an M. Phil scholar in the Department of English, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, Odisha 36. Shruti Das, Ph. D. is Associate Professor in the Departme006Et of English, Berhampur University, Odisha 37. Sibani Gantayet is a Research Scholar in the Department of English in Berhampur University, Odisha 38. Sr. Innyasamma Gade fmm, Ph. D., teaches in the Department of English in Maris Stella College in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh 39. Suranjana Bhadra, Ph. D., is Assistant Professor in MUC Womens’ College in Burdwan, West Bengal 40. T. Eswar Rao, Ph. D., is Assistant Professor in the Department of English, Berhampur University, Odisha 41. Tanuja Kumar Nayak, Ph. D., teaches English in Navodaya School in Kalahandi, Odisha 42. Veena R. Nair is Assistant Professor in the Department of English at N. S. S College in Kerala