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Jhanvi Heera

Dr. Punyashree Panda

Humanities and Social Science

December 20, 2021

Eco – Literature

Eco-literature is a very new theory it is still in its infancy. Eco-literature is eco-criticism.

Eco-criticism is divided into two parts. ‘Eco’ refers to as ‘ecology’. Ecology means the

environment, surroundings, nature, animate or inanimate, living or non-living, biotic or non-

biotic everything comes under ecology it’s a very vast entity it cannot be defined so easily and

man can’t live in isolation all the chemical or the physical entities are all included in ecology. So,

man has ever felt the need of surroundings the trees, leaves, animals, mountains everything.

When man started writing he felt the need of the environment from Chaucer to Shakespeare to

Hardy to Frost to Wordsworth and so many others. All the writers they includes the studies of

Nature. They express through the different entities of nature Chaucer in his “Canterbury Tales”

says that April is the best month when pilgrims decides to go on a pilgrimage because it is spring

season neither too hot nor to cold and again T.S. Eliot in his “Waste Land” discussed April

because it is spring season and it brings life back in man and therefore be guilty of his evil acts.

In Shakespeare play like King Lear where he has given the instance of the storm scene where the

internal turmoil of the kings mind is shown through the external entity that is a storm. Again in

tempest the title itself is being taken from the ecology or the environment or nature what

Wordsworth is a biggest example who has written every word with a physical or philosophical.

He has taken the help of nature to express the complete life of man. Robert Frost, he takes the
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philosophical aspect in his poem “Birches”he says that its good to escape from life by climbing

up the birches but then he loves to come back because the earth is the right place to live. He says

that

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep, 

And miles to go before I sleep.”

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Works Cited

Eco-criticism is the study of literature and the environment from an interdisciplinary point of

view where literature scholars analyze, text that illustrate the environmental concerns and

examines the various ways literature treats the subject of nature. Some ecocritics brainstorm

possible solutions for the correction of the contemporary environmental situation, though not all

ecocritics agree on the purpose, methodology or scope of ecocriticism. In the United States,

ecocriticism is often associated with the association for the study of literature and

environment(ASLE) which hosts bennial meetings for scholars who deals with environmental

matters and literature. ASLE publishes a journal Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and

Environment (ISLE) in which current international scholarship can be found.

When we look at the term eco-literature we find that this term have two creatures one is Eco-

criticism and the other is Green Studies. The term Eco-criticism is particularly used in America

and Green Studies is used in Britain (UK).

Now let us see how Eco-criticism is originated in America, when we look into that we find that

this concept have been evolved in America in 1980s. According to “Michael P. Branch” , the

roots of this Eco-criticism can be stressed long before in 1974 in the writing of “William

Ruekert” he composed a collection called ‘Literature and ecology: an experiment in Eco-

criticism’ which is published in 1974 and according to Branch this concept for the first time used

by William Ruekert. The similar term called ecology is used by “Karl Kroeber” in his article

‘Home at Grasmere: ecological holiness’ published in 1974. Now here there are two terms

Ecology and Eco-criticism. According to Branch, Eco-criticism is used by William Ruekert and

Ecology is used by Karl Kroeber. But later this term was revolute by Cheryl Glotfelty an
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American ecocritic in 1958 and when she was graduate student of Cornell University. She

attended a conference of Western Literature Association from there she gain this concept of Eco-

criticism and later she built this concept of Eco-criticism and studied this field of theory in detail.

When she became a professor she also urged to the literary world that this term should be

included in the Theory of Literature or in the Theory of Criticism and then this term became very

popular. So this term got popular only because of Cheryl Glotfelty.

It is found that Cheryl Glotfelty and Harold Fromm edited a collection in 1996 called “The Eco-

criticism Reader” landmarks in the literary ecology. In this particular collection they developed

the theory of Eco-criticism and wrote detail about this criticism. Again Cheryl Glotfelty had a

great contribution in this theory of Eco-criticism. She cofounded an association in 1992 called

“Association for the Study of Literature and Environment” briefly it is called as ASLE and it has

its own journal called “Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment” (ISLE) . This

journal and association contributed in the development of Eco-criticism.

So, according to Cheryl Glotfelty the very simple definition of Eco-criticism is that it is nothing

but “The study of literature and environment”. So there is correspondence between literature and

environment and that should be explored in Eco-criticism.

In Eco-criticism there are three major authors or writers who made the foundation for this Eco-

criticism or considered most significant writers for Eco-criticism in America.

The first significant writer we have Ralph Waldo Emerson who wrote a book called “NATURE”

in 1936 and in this book we found that particularly he builds the empire or nature or how nature

is significant or everything rotates around this nature.

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The second significant writer in this Eco-criticism or who created base Eco-criticism is Margaret

Fuller and she wrote a very comprehensive kind of book called “SUMMER AT LAKES” during

1948. In this book she describes the landscapes in America. For example: Landscape of Niagara

Falls and when she visited this Niagara falls she describes her mental experience about Niagara

Falls.

The third significant American writer we have is Henry David Thoreau and he wrote a book

called WALDEN. This book is later published in 1999.

These three books and three writers are considered as the best for Eco-criticism in America.

Eco-criticism usually opens with the sense of place. There are two extracts one from William

Wordsworth, ‘Tintern Abbey’ the sense of place here is Nature mediated by the poet-speaker’s

consciousness. Place is both nature and perception in Wordsworth’s lines. The other extract is

from Derek Walcott, ‘Ruins of a Great House’ Walcott’s sense of place here is structured around

man-made objects, not Nature, but also around history: the house and its artifacts remind him of

the horror-colonial rule, plantations, labor. The reference to leprosy implies the tropics-where

these plantations were set up.

Now, British Green Studies or The Scene of Eco-criticism in UK. Actually many ecocritics have

claimed that this Eco-criticism is existence before the term ecocrtisim is used and here they

referred to the ROMANTIC AGE that is from 1798-1832 according to them there are many

concerns about nature and ecology in the writings of the writers from this ROMANTIC AGE .

They give an example of William Wordsworth, Shelley. They also set an example of Elegy

written in a Country Churchyard by Thomas Grey and they say that their setting of nature in this

writers works. So this concept already existed in the Romantic Age according to many ecocritics.
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These concerns about ecology and nature is found in the book of Raymond Williams The

Country and City which is written in 1973 and in that book he talks about the concerns of

ecology and nature. Hence, many ecocritics in Britain claims that the concern of this ecology has

been already there before the use of this term Eco-criticism. when we think about the this green

studies is famous in Britain (UK) and we find that there are many courses best on this green

studies and criticism which are offered for Undergraduate and Postgraduate students and there

are many ecocritics and many professors who teach these ecocritisism and green studies in

various colleges and universities. These scenes are not seen in America.

We found a very significant collection by a very famous ecocritic Laurence Coupe who taught in

many universities in Britain and he composed this collection called The Green Studies Reader:

From Romanticism to Eco-criticism which is published in 2000. In that book we found that the

development of this green studies in Britain very elaborately discussed. If we think about this

Eco-criticism and green studies we find that it is the theories like new historicism and cultural

materialism. Cultural materialism is a counter past to new Historicism in Britain and in the same

way here we also find that we can say in a way that green studies is a counter part to Eco-

criticism from America because here we find that there is no dedicated general or dedicated work

force on this Eco-criticism in Britain which is brought from America so the same journal we

found in Britain “Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment” (ISLE). This journal

branch is there in the Britain. We have a very prominent comparative statement regarding

American Eco-criticism and British Green Studies.

Peter Barry (Beginning Theory): “Generally, the preferred American term is ‘Eco-criticism’

whereas ‘green studies’ is frequently used in the UK, there is perhaps a tendency for the

American writing to be ‘celebratory’ in tone (occasionally degenerating into what harder-left

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critics disparagingly call ‘tree-hugging’),whereas the British variant tends to be more

‘minatory’ ,that is, it seeks to warn us of environmental threats emanating from governmental,

industrial, commercial, and neocolonial forces. For instance, Bate’s more recent book, THE

SONG OF THE EARTH (Picador, 2000), argues that colonialism and deforestation have

frequently gone together”. Here we found a very prominent difference between these two

movements from these two regions. In Britain or in British green studies we see that there is

concern regarding the nature and they warn us about the devastation of nature this thing is not

found in the Eco-criticism in America.

Prominent Features / Elements of Eco-criticism:

Many theories are said that they have socially constructed or linguistically constructed and this

notion is rejected by ecocritics. According to them there is a great force in the nature and

whatever happens it happens according to nature and we cannot go beyond the force of nature.

So they give excessive importance to the nature and they reject the notion of social or linguistic

construction.

The popular statement which is quoted by Kate Scoper-What is nature? “It isn’t language which

has a hole in its ozone layer” the tone of this statement is directly to the nature and it also refers

to the nature. Language is not significant according to ecocritics but the nature and they directly

that it is not the language which made hole in the ozone layer but it is the devastation,

deforestation, global warming which made the hole in the ozone layer. So there is the direct

comparison in language and the forces of nature or the devastation of nature.

This theory is a Major intervention in the theories of humanities and it is rejected in the social

constructiveness in the same way it also rejects the traditional theories in the humanities and it
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has its own kind of implementation in the field of literature. Hence, here we found the rejection

of social constructiveness and linguistic constructiveness. So it also challenged these theories in

the humanities. Example till today we have discussed many theories from the theories based in

language, social. All this notions are challenged in this theory and it has new prospective in the

literature and in the very literary criticism.

There are many heating debates among ecocritics and linguists and other critics. According to

linguists or social critics this kind of criticism or theory naturalize the inequality.

There is an agreement between ecocritics or other critics and there is a middle way according to

many critics there is a close correspondence between human culture and ecology which are based

on social things and the linguistic, language or society things. These relationship will helps to

enhance the theory in literature and both theory should be given equal importance are the wishes

arised by some critics or ecocritics.

We found an accepting path for all in this Eco-criticism.

Characteristics of Ecocriticism:

1. It is primarily concerned with the application of the rules of criticism and ecology to

literature. However, what is important here is that how writers typically and selectively

write about environment in literature and the principles of ecology and criticism are

applied to literary texts.

2. Ecocriticism also attempts to find out environmental concerns voiced by writers in

literature.

3. Most important it foregrounds nature and environment in literary texts. There are number

of writers, poets and thinkers who have actually been responsible for writing about nature
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and environment literary texts. They give importance to the nature in the foreground

writers such as William Wordsworth, Henry David Thoreau, Thomas Hardy have always

written about nature. That plays an important role and this is a part and parcel about there

texts.

4. Re-reading of major literary works from an ecocritical perspective

5. Emphasis on relevant factual writing especially topographical material such as essays,

travel writing, memoirs and regional literature.

Peter Barry (Beginning Theory): What ecocritics do?

1. They re-read major literary works from an ecocentric perspective, with particular attention to

the representation of the natural world. Whenever ecocritics any texts they finds the ecological

concept and the elements which are found in the nature. For example: what kind of elements of

nature are present in that particular book.

2. They extend the applicability of a range of ecocentric concepts, using them of things other

than the natural world. They use many concepts in this Eco-criticism for example energy, nature,

sustainable or unsustainable use of energy.

3. They give special canonical emphasis to writers who foreground nature as a major part of their

subject matter. As it is discussed that there are three major writers who made the foundation for

this Eco-criticism in America: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller and Henry David

Thoreau. In the same way they analyses these kinds of texts which foreground or background the

nature prominently.

4. They extend the range of literacy-critical practice by placing a new emphasis on relevant

‘factual’ writing, especially reflective topographical material considers new form of writing for
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example such as essays, travel writing, memoirs and regional literature. They give more

importance to travel and writing which foregrounds the nature in its writings.

5. They turn away from the ‘social constructivism’ and ‘lingustic determinism’ of dominant

literary theories and instead emphasis ecocentric values of meticulous observation, collective

ethical responsibility and the claims of the world beyond ourselves. They reject social

constructiveness and linguistics determinants and they emphasis on the study of nature, on the

study of ecology, on the study of concerns in the nature and the relationship of nature and human

beings with literature. These kind of things are analyzed in Eco-criticism.

Critics associated with ecocriticism:

Cheryl Glotfelty, Harold Fromm, Lawrence Buell, Scott Slovie, Kate Soper, Karla Ambruster,

Ursula Heise and Dana Phillips.

Critics like Raymond Williams, Jonathan Bate, Laurence Coupe, Greg Garrard, Richard

Kerridge and Terry Gifford have also strengthened the study of ecocriticism with their research

pn this subject.

In India, ecocriticism was largely shaped by Prof. Nirmal Selvamony who spoke about it through

the concept of “Tinai” in literature.

Organizations like ASLE and OSLE have deepened the study of ecocriticism.