Ecofeminism and the Indian Novel Routledge Explorations in Environmental Studies Series

Ecofeminism and the Indian Novel tests the theories of ecofeminism against the background of India?s often different perceptions of environmental problems, challenging the hegemony of Western culture in thinking about human problems. This book moves beyond a simple application of the concepts of ecofeminism, instead explaining the uniqueness of Indian novels as narratives of ecofeminism and how they can contribute to the development of the theory of ecofeminism.

In examining a selection of novels, the author argues that Indian texts conceptualize the ecological crisis more as a human problem than as a gender problem. The book proposes that we should think of ecofeminism as ecohumanism instead, seeing human beings and nature as a part of a complex web. Novels analysed within the text include Kamala Markandaya?s Nectar in a Sieve (1954), Shivram Karanth?s Return to Earth (2002) and Na D?Souza?s Dweepa (2013).

Ecofeminism and the Indian Novel will be of great interest to students and scholars of ecofeminism, ecocriticism, ecological feminism, environmental humanities, gender studies, ecological humanities, feminist studies and Indian literature.

Introduction: Ecofeminism and the Indian Novel

Introduction

Ecofeminism: Environmental Studies and Feminism

Ecofeminism: Indian Polemical Discourse

Indian Novel

1 An Interface between Human Beings and Nature

1.1 Introduction

1.2 The Genealogy of Ecofeminism

1.3 Indian Polemical Discourse: Environment and Ecofeminism

1.4 The Genealogy of Indian Novel

1.5 The Discursive Formation of the Environment in Indian Novel

1.6 Rumination on Indian Environment Movements and Protest

1.7 Conclusion: The Formulation of Framework

2 Agriculture as an Ecofeminist Concern: Nectar in a Sieve,The Upheaval, Return to Earth

and Gift in Green

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Nectar in a Sieve: The Impact of Tannery on Pastoral Life

2.3 The Upheaval: The Impact of Mining on Farming Community

2.4 Shivram Karanth’s Return to Earth: The Impact of Modernization on Agrarian Culture

2.5 Sarah Joseph’s Gift in Green: A Toxic Discourse

3 Dam Construction and Ecological Crisis: The Coffer Dams and Dweepa

3.1 Introduction

3.2 The Project of Dam Construction and Ecological Crisis in India

3.3 Kamala Markandaya’s The Coffer Dams: Modern Juggernaut

3.4 Na D’ Souza’s Dweepa: An Island of Destruction

4 The Industrial Disaster: Animal’s People

4.1 Introduction

4.2 The Bhopal Gas Tragedy: A Backdrop

4.3 Patriarchal Developmental Attitude: Industrial Disaster

4.4 Women as Victim of the Industrial Disaster

4.5 Rhetorical Tropes

4.6 The Uniqueness of Animal’s People as an Ecohumanist Narrative

5 Animals as Absent Referents: The Man from Chinnamasta

5.1 Introduction

5.2 The Mythological Background

5.3 The Ethnography of Animal Sacrifice

5.4 Patriarchy and Animal Sacrifice

5.5 Women’s Concern for Animals

5.6 The Uniqueness of The Man from Chinnamasta as an Ecofeminist Narrative

6 Reconceptualizing Ecofeminism: From Ecofeminism to Ecohumanism

6.1 Introduction

6.2 An Overview of the Ecofeminist Concern

6.3 Reconceptualizing Ecofeminism: From Feminism to Humanism

6.4 Conceptual Framework

Dr Sangita Patil is an Assistant Professor at LBS Govt First Grade College, Bengaluru, India. Her research interests include Ecofeminism, Literary Theory, Cultural Studies and Liberal Education.