This document provides an overview of ecocriticism theory. Some key points: - Ecocriticism examines the relationship between literature and the physical environment from an earth-centered perspective. - It emphasizes the importance of considering how human activities impact the environment and how nature influences culture. - Ecocriticism encourages raising awareness about environmental issues and the need for sustainability through analyzing how nature is portrayed in literature.

1. ● Presented By:- Aditi Vala
● MA Sem:- 03
● Paper no. :- 204: Contemporary
Western Theories and Film
Studies.
● Topic :- Eco-criticism Theory
● Roll no. :- 01
● Submitted By:- S.B.Gardi
Department of English , MKBU

2. Eco-Criticism Theory

3. ★ What is Eco-criticism ?
● The term 'ecocriticism' was coined in 1978 by
William Rueckert in his essay 'Literature and
Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism'.
● Eco-Criticism 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, eco-criticism takes an earth
centered approach to literary studies.(Glotfelty xviii).

4. ❖ Eco-criticism Importance in
Literature :
● Several critics have considered the importance of the
environment in the literature (e.g. Leo Marx and Raymond
Williams), it was not until the late 1980s and early 1990s
that it became a recognizable sub-branch of literary and
cultural studies.
● Ecocriticism defines itself as a practice of reading
literature from an earth-centered perspective.
● There is also an activist dimension to ecocriticism: at least
part of the reason ecocritics want to discuss the centrality
of nature in literature is to raise awareness more generally
about the need for concern and indeed action concerning
the environment.

5. ● In Ecocriticism Nature is the center, not the man
● It is the study of literature and physical environment
● It is an earth-centered approach to the literary study
● Ecologically man is the ultimate villain
● Eco criticism says that we all are equal.
● The main purpose is to protect the earth
❖ Key Points :

6. ❖ Why it is important to study ?
❏ It gives importance to the relationship
between human beings and nature, how
are human beings affecting nature and
vice versa.
❏ In a broader perspective, Ecocriticism
guides us to examine the world around us
and critiquing the mannerisms of society
in the treatment of nature

7. ❖ Eco-Criticism as a Literary Theory :
➢ The 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’.
➢ 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.

8. “Much ecocriticism has taken for granted that
its task is to overcome anthropocentrism, just as
feminism seeks to overcome androcentrism.
The metaphysical argument for biocentrism is
meant to sustain moral claims about the
intrinsic value of the natural world, which will
in turn affect our attitudes and behaviour
towards nature.”
― Greg Garrard, Ecocriticism

9. ❖ Nature and Culture :
● “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” (Glotfelty xix).
● Literary theory, in general, examines the relations
between 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.

10. ❖ 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?

11. ❖ Example :
➢ "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" is a
lyric poem by William Wordsworth.
➢ It is one of the most popular poems of
Wordsworth.
➢ The poem was inspired by an event on
15 April 1802 in which Wordsworth and
his sister Dorothy came across a "long
belt" of daffodils while wandering in
the forest.

12. ❖ Sherni Film :
❏ ‘Sherni ‘is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language
action thriller film directed by Amit V.
Masurkar and produced by T-Series and
Abundantia Entertainment.
❏ The film stars Vidya Balan in the leading
role of an Indian Forest Service officer .
❏ The film deals with the subjects like
human–wildlife conflict and wildlife
conservation.

13. ❖ Banned Pepsi in India :
● Kerala banned pepsi because
of over using of ground water.
● Kerala to restrict use of
ground water by Pepsico.

14. ❖ Some books that were important in
the founding and development of
ecocriticism :
❏ Leo Marx, The Machine in the Garden:
Technology and the Pastoral Ideal in America
(1964)
❏ Roderick Frazier Nash, Wilderness and the
American Mind
❏ Donald Worster, Nature’s Economy: A History of
Ecological Ideas (1977)
❏ John Elder, Imagining the Earth: Poetry and the
Vision of Nature (1985)
❏ Robert Pogue Harrison, Forests: The Shadow of
Civilization (1992).
❏ Thoreau’s , Nature Writing, and the Formation
of American Culture (1995).

15. ❖ What can we do ?
1. Save Plants and animals.
2. Change your habits for using
technology.
3. Notice how you use water. ...
4. Reduce the amount of paper in
your life.
5. Use a refillable water bottle and
reusable lunch containers. ...
6. what you throw in the dustbin.

16. ❖ Conclusion :
Eco critics encourage others 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.

17. How can we characterize nature writing as a genre?
❖ Refrence :
❖ References :
➢ “Ecocriticism Quotes by Greg Garrard.” Goodreads, Goodreads,
https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1734571-ecocriticism-new-critical-idiom.
➢ Glotfelty, Cheryll and Harold Fromm. eds. ‘The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary
Ecology’. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1996.
➢ Lawrence Buell. “Ecocriticism: Some Emerging Trends.” Qui Parle, vol. 19, no. 2, [Duke
University Press, University of Nebraska Press], 2011, pp. 87–115,
https://doi.org/10.5250/quiparle.19.2.0087.
➢ Maity, Supriya. “What Is Ecocriticism and Its Importance in Literature.” Literary Ocean,
19 Mar. 2020, https://literaryocean.com/what-is-ecocriticism-and-its-importance-
in-literature/..
➢ "'Sherni' Film Review: Vidya Balan's Stoic And Subtle Act Keeps The Man-Animal