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Can Books Save the Earth?: A digital anthology of green literature

Article Summary by Bren M.

          An interesting work of literary ecocriticism is “A Survey of the Phases of Indian Ecocriticism” by Rayson K. Alex. In the article, Alex discusses the progression of ecocriticism in third-world countries such as India and discusses the preconceived notion of the two waves of the ecocritical movement. The first wave was more focused on the concepts of Romanticism and nature writing and the analyses of the more personalized and experiential content of a work. In particular, the first wave had a more anthropocentric ideology than contemporary works. The second wave changed to a more environmental focus and instead of studying the human vision of the landscape, it hones in on humanity’s impact on the environment as a whole. Alex states clearly, “The two objectives of this article are to analyze critically the past and present areas of ecocritical/environmental engagements in Indian scholarship in the context of the large body of ecocritical scholarship in the West and to express concerns for the future of Indian ecocriticism.”
          One of the aspects of the article that make it so interesting is Alex’s use of a soil metaphor and the bedrock, regolith, subsoil and topsoil layers to explain the difference between the individual efforts of the Indian ecocriticism movement. He explains that although soil comes together to form one substance, it is also composed of multiple different layers with different aspects to each of them. Alex determines that the soil metaphor is a better representation of the ecocritical movement than the previously accepted idea of the two waves. Whereas the concept of waves of ecocriticism puts the movement on a timeline, the soil metaphor exemplifies the movement as something that is both fluid and dynamic.
          The base layer, or the bedrock, signifies the initial meeting between Alex and a few other academics and their decision to form a group with the intent of establishing an ecocritical movement in India and in other third-world countries. The second layer, or regolith, symbolizes the unification of the groups that arose after the initial meeting and their beginning production of academic essays and journals that supported the ecocritical conversation. The third layer, or subsoil, emphasizes the anthropocentricity of the word ‘environment’. Environment literally means one’s surroundings; therefore, the use of this term is too centered on people and humanity’s relationship with the world instead of with the world itself. The subsoil argument justifies that a better term to use would be ecology. The fourth and final layer, or topsoil, studies the socioeconomic issues that might interact with ecocritical issues such as religion, terrorism, international politics and land/water issues and how these issues might be addressed and possibly solved in the future.
          The article concludes with an examination of the Indian efforts to expand their ecocritical efforts both nationally and internationally. It also glosses over all of the progress that has been made in such a short time period. Although the Indian ecocritical movement is not consistently organized, it helps to publish works and encourage research on the matter, which is especially important in developing third-world countries such as India. If India can fully develop this movement, it will help the general public to understand the importance of protecting nature and the ecological implications of people and communities as the country develops economically. The article closes explaining that some influence from Western scholarship is good, but it needs to keep its identity as Indian; therefore, ensuring that India as a country will be able to contribute to global ecocriticism.


Alex, Rayson K. “A Survey of the Phases of Indian Ecocriticism.” Purdue University Press. (2014). Web. 25 February 2016.
 

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