Literature has an important role to play in exploring the relationship between humanity and the physical environment.
Fires and floods in Greece, wildfires in the United States and Australia, and floods in KwaZulu-Natal are all fairly recent events that have been linked to human activity resulting in climate change and the loss of habitat for various species of animals and plants.
Research in these matters tends to be in the disciplines of science; however, there is an associated discipline in the humanities that looks at the relationship between literature and the physical environment: it’s called ecocriticism.
A literary focus
Although the focus of ecocriticism is literature, there is also a clear connection to science, in that scientific ideas inform many of the cultural responses that are examined in the discipline. For example, nature writer Rachel Carson did pioneering work on how humans relate to the ocean and water.
Her work is perhaps best remembered for her research and opinions about the use of DDT in human attempts to reduce the problem of mosquitoes. However, as Carson showed in her book Silent Spring (1962), human activity had the unintended consequence of polluting rivers and lakes which resulted in the deaths of many animals which were reliant on these stretches of water for their sustenance.
Theories of ecocriticism
The researcher Greg Garrard, from the University of British Columbia, in Canada, is a significant researcher in the field of ecocriticism. He identifies several theoretical positions as central to the field, which include: cornucopianism, environmentalism, deep ecology and ecofeminism.
Garrard makes the point that cornucopians only value nature in terms of its usefulness to human purposes. By contrast, environmentalists tend to recognise that there is value in the environment, and argue that humans should act to support nature. However, they tend to see institutions such as governments as being primarily responsible for addressing the need for action.
Deep ecology, meanwhile, was developed by the Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess. For Naess, human and non-human life have intrinsic value, irrespective of their value to human purposes. Then there is ‘ecofeminism’ which has been foregrounded by several researchers, perhaps most notably Val Plumwood.
Ecofeminism is a position that presents several ideas, and is not supported by all the researchers. The central idea is that there is a dualism in the ideas of men/women and there is an issue of control or dominance in the way in which these two groups tend to view the environment.
However, Plumwood makes the point that a dualism of men/women and the perceived unjust dominance of women by men is probably reductionist – the topic is possibly far more complex.
Key concepts of ecocriticism
These various positions provide a range of possible ways to approach the reading of literary texts. However, Garrard adds that there are key concepts to consider when reading a literary text in terms of ecocritical theory. The concepts are: pollution, wilderness, apocalypse, and animals.
The idea of pollution has already been addressed in terms of Carson’s work, above. In this concept there is an Eden-like place which is compromised because of human activity which leads to destruction or degradation of the place. Wilderness is a concept that holds contradictory ideas at the same time: for example, a wilderness can be seen as pure because it is seen to be removed from human cultural influence. However, it is also seen as menacing because it is ‘wild’ and beyond human influence.
Apocalypse is a concept that is linked to the end of the world. Literary examples include Stanley Kubrick’s Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, in which atomic weapons destroy the planet.
Another example is Richard Matheson’s I am Legend, in which a virus changes the human population to vampires. In John Christopher’s The Death of Grass, a virus kills all grain-based crops and a small group of people survive by growing and eating potatoes.
The topic of animals is reflected in many literary texts. These include Nana, the dog in Peter Pan. All of Beatrix Potter’s work has strong connections to animals. In many cases literature presents animals as realistic, as in The Call of the Wild by Jack London.
However, there are many cases of anthropomorphism, as in The Wind in the Willows (Toad wears clothes, talks, and drives a car). A realistic representation of human and animal interaction is Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, or the dogs in J. M Coetzee’s Disgrace and Craig Higginson’s The Dream House, both of which have been taught in IEB schools for Grade 12. Another South African example, which addresses ecofeminism and animals, is Zakes Mda’s The Whale Caller.
Nature according to the bard
William Shakespeare also has an ecocritical dimension to his work. Perhaps the most well-known example is A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in which the fairies are in conflict and therefore do not address nature as they should. As a consequence the rivers burst their banks and other natural breakdowns occur.
Another example of the breakdown of nature occurs in Macbeth, in which the king’s horses eat each other after the death of Duncan. The murder of Duncan is a breakdown of natural order and the behaviour of the animals reflects this. There are many other examples, including the meddling of Prospero in weather patterns in The Tempest.
The Oklahoma dust bowl
One of the literary works that foregrounds nature is John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. The first chapter is devoted to the effects of the Oklahoma dust bowl, in which the lack of rain results in failed crops for the farmers of Oklahoma and they choose to relocate to California. Human action to leave home and travel to another state is a result of natural destruction.
Another writer who foregrounded environmental activism is Edward Abbey, whose novel The Monkey Wrench Gang presents the adventures of a group of saboteurs who wish to dismantle structures that harm the environment.
It is possible to address ecocritical concepts in many literary texts that are taught at school. In choosing this approach English teachers would be addressing current affairs in their literary lessons and probably making the literary works more relevant for many of the students in their classes. I recommend that teachers address the ideas of people such as Greg Garrard and then find ways to include these ideas in their classes.