 Ecocriticism-Scholarly study of Literature with special attention to the significance of Nature in it

 Study of the relationship between literature and physical environment

 World wide emergent movement Coined by William Reuckert in 1978 , popularized by Chyrill
Glotfelty in 1990s

 US calls “Ecocriticism”

 UK calls “Green Studies”

 Ecocriticism is a term used for the observation and study of the relationship between the literature
and the earth’s environment. It takes an interdisciplinary point of view by analysing the works of
authors, researchers, and poets in the context of environmental issues and nature. Since the
purpose, scope, and methodology of this theory are a bit confusing, it is difficult to have all
ecocritics agreed to this. However, some of them also propose the solutions to the current
environmental issues.

In the context of scope, the critics call this term as a broad approach that is also by several other names,
i.e. Environmental literary criticism, green studies, and ecopoetics. It is also referred to by some other
fields such as ecology, social ecology, biopolitics, sustainable design, environmental history,
environmentalism, and others. Ecocriticism was first defined by Cheryll Glotfelty in simple words
making it clear for the other critics and writers. Considering the definition, it can be called an
“increasingly heterogeneous movement” that takes an entirely earth-centered approach. It is mainly about
the literature on the environment. So, it is mostly seen in association with the “Association for the Study
of Literature and Environment” this is also referred to as ASLE and it holds biennial meetings for the
scholars writing about the environmental issues in their literature.

EcoCriticism as a literary theory:

The easiest way to understand this trend in literary theories would be to learn what these people do. As
you must be aware that traditional theories in literature put emphasis either on linguistics or on the
cultural and social background, the Eco-Critics put all the weight on the ‘nature’ and believe that nature
exists as a force which affects our evolution directly as a society. For the intellectuals involved in the
development of ‘green studies’ the world is not (only, if not entirely) made of language and social
‘elements’. They tend to bring out the part which nature plays – either in writings or in general purview.
However, as it entered into the field of literary theory, a part bifurcated and established itself as solely
devoted wing concerned with the (re)reading of literary texts and bringing out the role of nature,
representation of nature and natural elements in the literature produced worldwide. It’s a fact that the
major foci of green studies intellectuals are the regional literature of different places as we know it
contains a lot of fusion of nature. Nevertheless, the well-known authors, poets and literary figures always
remain the central source which feeds the thoughts and findings of these studies.

What is Nature

 It’s the whole of the physical environment. Humans and the non humans are a part of nature

 How Nature is represented in literature

 Ecocritics ask questions like

 “How is nature represented in this sonnet?

 What role does the physical setting play in the plot of this novel?

 Are the values expressed in this 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?” (Glotfelty xviii-xix) Ecocriticism As

Celebration of Nature

 Ecocriticism celebrates the outdoor environment-

 1) wilderness (deserts, oceans, uninhabited continents etc.),

 2) the scenic sublime (forests, lakes, mountains, cliffs, waterfalls etc.),

 3) the country side (hills, fields, woods etc.), and

 4) the domestic picturesque (parks, gardens, lanes etc.)

 Interconnections

 “Ecocriticism takes as its subject the interconnections between nature and culture, specifically
the cultural artifacts of 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” The present ecological crisis is a bi-product of human culture.

 Our global crisis is not because how ecosystems function.

 It is because how our ethical systems function.

 Getting through the crisis requires understanding our impact on nature. Nature as Actor in
Drama

 “Worster and other historians are writing environmental histories, studying the reciprocal
relationships between humans and land, considering nature not just as the stage upon which the
human story is acted out, but as an actor in the drama” (

Ecosophy definition
 Ecosophy or ecophilosophy (a portmanteau of ecological philosophy) is a philosophy of
ecological harmony or equilibrium. The term was coined by the French post-structuralist philosopher and
psychoanalyst Félix Guattari and the Norwegian father of deep ecology , Arne Næss .
ecosophy (countable and uncountable, plural ecosophies) Ecological philosophy, particularly of the type
associated with the deep ecology movement
 deep ecology
: a movement or a body of concepts that considers humans no more important than other species and
that advocates a corresponding radical readjustment of the relationships between humans and nature.
deep ecology is already accomplished, behaviors of people or cultures, connected to farming/agriculture

Ecocide definition is - the destruction of large areas of the natural environment as a consequence of
human activity.  the destruction of large areas of the natural environment by such activity as nuclear
warfare, overexploitation of resources, or dumping of harmful chemicals.

Ecospirituality

1. has been defined as "a manifestation of the spiritual connection between human beings and the
environment. Ecospirituality connects the science of ecology with spirituality. It brings together religion
and environmental activism. Ecospirituality has been defined as "a manifestation of the spiritual
connection between human beings and the environment. Eco-spirituality is based in a fundamental belief
in the sacredness of nature, Earth and the universe.
2.
Ecotheology is a form of constructive theology that focuses on the interrelationships of religion and
nature, particularly in the light of environmental concerns. Ecotheology generally starts from the premise
that a relationship exists between human religious/spiritual worldviews and the degradation or restoration
and preservation of nature .

 Ecofeminism tries to find out a link between

 feminism and ecology.

 It emphasizes how women and nature are similarly treated, devalued and oppressed in a
patriarchal society.

 Vandana Shiva, Maria Mies, and Evan Bondi - some of the ecofeminists.

 Ecofeminism

 First Stage in Fem/Eco Criticism

 The “images of women” stage, “concerned with representations, concentrating on how

women are portrayed in canonical literature.”

 “Analogous efforts in ecocriticism study how nature is represented in literature. “

 Stereotypes of nature: “Eden, Arcadia, virgin land, miasmal swamp, savage wilderness”

Absences are important: “where is the natural world in this text

• Second Stage in Fem/Eco Criticism

 • The “women’s literary tradition stage…serves the important function of consciousness
raising as it rediscovers, reissues, and reconsiders literature by women.”

• Ecocriticism reconsiders “neglected genre of nature writing.”

Ecocritics draw from “existing critical theories—psychoanalytic, new critical, feminist, Bakhtinian,
deconstructive

• Anthropocentric v. Biocentric

• “In ecology, man’s tragic flaw is his anthropocentric (as opposed to biocentric) vision, and his
compulsion to conquer, humanize, domesticate, violate, and exploit every natural thing”
(Rueckert)

• Anthropocentric: “assumes the primacy of humans, who either sentimentalize or dominate

the environment” (Martin 217-218)

Biocentric: “decenters humanity’s importance… explores the complex interrelationships between the
human and the nonhuman

First and Second Waves

Several scholars have divided Ecocriticism into two waves (Buell)(Glotfelty), recognizing the first as
taking place throughout the eighties and nineties. The first wave is characterized by its emphasis on
nature writing as an object of study and as a meaningful practice (Buell). Central to this wave and to the
majority of ecocritics still today is the environmental crisis of our age, seeing it as the duty of both the
humanities and the natural sciences to raise awareness and invent solutions for a problem that is both
cultural and physical. As such, a primary concern in first-wave ecocriticism was to “speak for” nature
(Buell 11). This is, perhaps, where ecocriticism gained its reputation as an “avowedly political mode of
analysis” (Gerrard 3). This wave, unlike its successor, kept the cultural distinction between human and
nature, promoting the value of nature.
The second wave is particularly modern in its breaking down of some of the long-standing distinctions
between the human and the non-human, questioning these very concepts (Gerrard 5). The boundaries
between the human and the non-human, nature and non-nature are discussed as constructions, and
ecocritics challenge these constructions, asking (among other things) how they frame the environmental
crisis and its solution. This wave brought with it a redefinition of the term “environment,” expanding its
meaning to include both “nature” and the urban (Buell 11). Out of this expansion has grown the
ecojustice movement, one of the more political of ecocriticism branches that is “raising an awareness of
class, race, and gender through ecocritical reading of text” (Bressler 236), often examining the plight of
the poorest of a population who are the victims of pollution are seen as having less access to “nature” in
the traditional sense
• Three Approaches
• Domination Model: “The anthropocentric view…exemplified both by the pastoral and the
literature of territorial expansion…humans dominate the environment”
• Caretaking Model: “…still anthropocentric, positions humans as caretakers of the earth.”
Biocentric Model: “rejects anthropocentric views… [explores the] connectedness of all living and
nonliving things.”
• Rhizomatic Thinking
 • “A rhizome has no beginning or end; it is always in the middle, between things, interbeing,
intermezzo. The tree is filiation, but the rhizome is alliance, uniquely alliance” (Deleuze and
Guattari 1609).
• Rhizomatic thought: a rambling nonhierarchical network, without genesis or endpoint; the
rhizome is subterranean, interconnected, associative, omnidirectional, always in the process of
becoming.
The rhizome is a useful ecocritical tool; it expands theoretical possibilities by dismantling hierarchical
thought and proposing a generative, egalitarian model
Interestingly, ecocritic William Howarth draws our attention to the roots of “ecocritic”: “Eco and critic
both derive from Greek, oikos and kritis, and in tandem they mean ‘house judge,’ . . . So the oikos is
nature, a place Edward Hoagland calls ‘our widest home,’ and the kritos is an arbiter of taste who wants
the house kept in good order…” (Howarth 69).
Roots of “ecocritic
 Anthropocentric Vs Biocentric
 Anthropocentric is opposed to bio-centric vision
 Anthropocentric - assumes the primacy of humans, who dominate the environment
 Bio-centric - de-centers humanity’s importance…..explores the complex interrelationships
between the human and the nonhuman
What do the EcoCritics do?
Well, that’s a question I would always suggest my readers to turn to Peter Barry for an answer. The book
Beginning Theory by Peter Barry is a great tool, if I may say, to understand the literary theories. The
chapter given in the book that deals with EcoCriticism is way advanced and comprehensive than most of
the other items I have read on the subject. I will follow his style and would let you know what does an
Ecocentric reader or the Eco-Critic do.
As an Eco-Critic, a person would:
1. Read or re-read the major as well as other works of literature with a viewfinder to trace the natural
representation in the writing.
2. Praise the authors, poets and intellectuals who put nature on a higher pedestal than other themes.
3. Give importance to the writings with an eco-centric perspective, such as, travel memoirs, essays about
places, intellectual writings containing visual landscape in text etc.
4. Not conform to the traditional notions of literary theory that suggests linguistic or the social build and
thus walking through the classic lane of ‘world beyond ourselves’.
Now, I will try to simplify the works of the Eco-Critics. They don’t simply give importance and read the
literature from an ecocentric perspective. They look for the natural representation, no doubt, but, in rather
a larger perspective. Life in proportion to nature, human civilization along with nature, importance of
natural resources in our lives, our deeds which harm the ecological balance, wars and their adverse effect
on our society, and many other things come within the purview of an ecocentric reading of literature. As
rightly observed by Peter Barry:
“The ecocentric reading, by contrast, focuses outside, on the house and its environs, rather than the inside,
on the owner and his psychology.”
The practices of ecocriticism tend to give more importance to the people like Wordsworth, Walt
Whitman, Thomas Hardy and other Romantic Poets (mostly British). There is a public domain
understanding behind this because we all know these literary figures gave more importance to nature and
its role in life than any other thing. Wordsworth, for instance, always subscribed to the notion that nature
is the best teacher. His seminal work, Prelude, is full of the illustrious role of nature in human upbringing.
Ecocritics work to trace those examples and present it to the common readers.
As a reader or a student curious about the theory of Ecocriticism, you can also work out to bring out the
most exemplary instances. For a simple instance, suppose the novels of Thomas Hardy, Under the
Greenwood Tree, Far from the Madding Crowd and others as your subject. His novels are also called the
Wessex Novels. His novels are set in the lap of nature and you will see it playing an important role. His
characters grow with nature, mature with nature and eventually die with it. In simple terms, nature, as an
active force in our life, is permanent and our life is ephemeral in a sense! Thus, giving more importance
to nature and preserving it becomes our moral duty. Another great example of the permanence of nature is
the poem Rainbow by William Wordsworth. I will let the task of inquiring into it and bringing out the
element which suggests nature is permanent to you. Hope you will find it easily.
Major figures in the field:
Jonathan Bate (considered widely as the father of Ecocriticism in England)
Cheryll Glotfelty (father of Ecocriticism in the USA)
Laurence Coupe
Patrick D Murphy
Important books:
The Green Studies Reader: From Romanticism to Ecocriticism by Laurence Coupe
The Song of the Earth by Jonathan Bate
The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology by Cheryll Glotfelty
Literature of Nature: An International Source-book by Patrick D. Murphy
What is Nature? Culture, Politics, and the Non-Human by Kate Sope
Laurence Coupe is Senior Lecturer in English at Manchester Metropolitan University, where he teaches
a course in ecological literary theory. He is the author of the 'Ecocriticism' and 'Myth' sections of the
Annotated Bibliography for English Studies, and the author of Myth Spiritualism

Ecocriticism does not only pay external importance to nature rather the movement
pleads for the inherent worth of natural environment. The ecocritics look upon nature as a
living spirit which has a pervading influence on all beings. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry
David Thoreau, Robert Frost- all considered nature on a spiritual level. The romantics also
deal with the spiritual aspects of nature. Thus Keats is known for his Hellenism, Shelley for
pantheism and Wordsworth for mysticism.
Common man theory
Ecocriticism pleads for the simplicity because simple living reduces the consumerist
approach. This also helps in the preservation of nature due to less use of natural resources.
Nature should not be exploited except urgent vital needs of the humans. The Romantics also
used common man as the characters of their writings. Thus Lucy, the innocent village girl
and the solitary reaper, the peasant woman, Michael, the shepherd get a place in
Wordsworth’s poetry.
The animals
Ecocriticism advocates the preservation of animals that are the indispensible part of
the ecosystem. Every organism has its role to play in order to keep up ecological balance.
According to Barry Commoner’s first law of ecology, “Everything is connected to
everything.” The romantic poets also have made use of animals in their writings. Wordsworth and Shelley
have written beautiful poems on the Skylark. Keats has written a beautiful ode on Nightingale bird. Like
ecocriticism, Romantic literature also explores the interconnection between the human and the non-
human and often focuses on the animals extending our moral obligations towards animal rights.
Deep Ecology
The core principle of ecocriticism is deep ecology which pays equal importance to all
organisms irrespective of their instrumental value. Every object has an intrinsic importance
which helps us to keep up ecological importance. The romantics have paid importance to the
commonest objects of nature. They with a certain colouring of their imagination have made
the most ordinary things look uncommon. Thus, the common bird, the river, the green field,
the hill, the mountains, the rain, the wind- all get a place in the romantic poetry. Deep
ecology criticises man’s anthropocentric attitude that pays importance to the primacy of the humans. But
all creatures deserve human respect because the environment constitutes a
complex mutual relationship in which everything is connected to everything else

Definition of Ecofeminism
This approach combines the ecology and feminism and explains the feminist nature to help understand the
ecology. Feminists have given the concept of gender theory to analyze the relationship between the
human and nature. So, it can be considered a branch of ecocriticism and is the field of studying the
interconnection between the oppression of women and nature.

The land is often considered as a feminine in nature because of its fertility that nurtures the life and is
owned by the man as a property. So, the feminists draw the lines of comparison to understand the
similarity of dominant nature of man over women and the domination of land in the context of gender
relationships.

Pastoral
This is basically a lifestyle of shepherds and strongly states the duality of urban and rural life and is deep-
rooted in the western culture. This trope has presented itself in the genres of literature, art, and music
which shows the rural life in such an idealized manner that can attract the attention of urban audiences.
The author displays the complex life or pastoralism of the rural areas in a simple way in the literature by
using various techniques.

Since the pastoral literature maintains a firm view towards nature, authors like Paul Alpers describes it as
a mode instead of a genre. It is apparent in different types of literature like poetry, drama as a mode and
pastoral elegy as a genre.

Well-known literary theorist Terry Gifford in his book Pastoral has defined the pastoral in three ways.
The first way is the historical literary perspective which recognizes the lifestyle of shepherds and
discusses their hardship. The second way is about the literature that explains the country life in an
opposite context to the urban life explicitly or implicitly. The third way is about the way of classification
of the country life that can be said as that of derogative manner.

Greg Gerrard, a best seller author of ecocriticism, has divided the pastoral theory into three branches. The
first branch is Classic Pastoral which takes into consideration nature as a place where human gets peace
of mind and identifies the self. The second branch is Romantic Pastoral that describes the post-industrial
revolution period that signifies the importance of rural independence which is more desirable instead of
the urbanization.

And the third is American Pastoral which explains the farmland as a boundary between the wilderness
and urban area. This considers the land as a resource which can be used for farming. Many authors
including Greg has worked to define pastoral in literature that is very helpful for the aspiring students of
ecology and nature.

Wilderness
Wilderness is the environment naturally existing around us on the Earth that is not affected by the human
activities yet. In a more comprehensive meaning, they are the areas which humans does not control and
where they have not created any disturbance by making roads and installing pipelines or developing
infrastructures for the industries and are still intact as there were. In recent times, the marine wilderness
has also gained attention as its area is continuously being affected by human activities.

However, efforts are also being done to maintain them and protect from the intervention, and some
governments have already started paying attention to them. Governments and global organizations are
actively working to restrict the motorized activities of human on the lands that are not yet modified for
the use of cultivation or transportation or industrial production.

Literature has paid enough attention to develop and define trope to understand the wilderness. How the
wilderness is developed and plays a valuable role in nature and life on the Earth is the subject of
examination in this approach. This has also successfully attracted the attention of ecocritics.

However, it is also seen with two different beliefs in the American and the British cultures. According to
the first belief, wilderness is considered as a threat. This is evident in the early British culture and Biblical
tales of creation. According to the early American pieces of literature, wild-land is mentioned as the place
for demonic activities.

But in the modern literature, it is seen as a sanctuary where animals can be kept safe and in their natural
way of life. People of the modern world has documented the encounters with the wilderness to help
understand it from a more positive perspective. Many novels have described the life in the wild which has
changed the way the world used to see the wild-land and its environment.

We have tried here to describe and discuss the ecocriticism as an approach to seeing and interpreting the
cultural attitude towards nature and environment in the literature. We hope this article will be useful for
those curious about this theory and the students of the literature covering ecology and green studies

WORDSWORTH’S NATURE

A great example of an ecocritical reading of Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” is Scott

Hess’s article “John Clare, William Wordsworth, and the (Un)Framing of Nature.”

Hess argues that Wordsworth treats the daffodils like a photo on a postcard. Wordsworth doesn’t involve
himself in nature. Instead, he looks at nature from afar (like a cloud), and leaves as soon as he has had his
fill. In other words, Wordsworth acts like the tourist who comes by once and snaps a quick picture before
moving on. In the end, Wordsworth seems more concerned about his own feelings than about nature:

The narrator composes the landscape into aesthetic form from a single point, located outside that
landscape, exactly in the manner of a picturesque viewer, and in the process constructs a purely visual and
seemingly disembodied subjectivity. Even as he claims to connect to nature, he views that nature through
a kind of invisible frame and turns it into a resource for the construction of his own seemingly
autonomous self. (Hess 33)

Hess concludes that by framing the scene as a moment of nature at its best–beautiful, restorative,
sublime–Wordsworth is being too selective in his representation of the environment. In fact, Hess
compares Wordsworth’s attitude to the way Americans treasure their National Parks as perfect and
pristine natural places, while caring less about the degradation of nature everywhere else (40).
Yet is this fair to Wordsworth? Should he have mentioned that he saw some garbage on the side of the
road, or that he was planning to spend a Saturday planting an urban garden?

With any theoretical approach there is always the danger that we misrepresent the text in order to further
our own agenda. In this case it might be pointed out that Wordsworth is at pains to describe the
communion he has with nature. He is not simply a solitary observer, watching from a distance. The
personification of the flowers suggests a kind of kinship between people and nature. As Ralph Pite points
out, “In Wordsworth’s work, ‘the natural world’ is always social, both in itself and in its relation to man.
Consequently, nature does not offer an escape from other people so much as express an alternative mode
of relating to them” (181).

From this perspective, Wordsworth sees nature as a teacher, a friend, and a mirror of what it means to be
human–and yet he also respects nature’s independence, the distance and difference between humans and
their environment (193).

CONCLUSION

It is not easy to tell which view is correct. Is Wordsworth selfish or not? Even if we can’t offer a
definitive answer, the ecocritical perspectives sampled here demonstrate that Wordsworth’s poem is more
relevant than ever.