ECOCRITICISM THEORY

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

I.          Background of the Theory

In studying literary criticism there are a lot of theories that can be applied in literary works such as Structuralism, Post-structuralism, Marxism, Feminist, Post-colonialism, Psychoanalytic, Lesbian/Gay, Ecocriticism and so on. Those theories are interesting to be discussed and also they have their own weak and strong point. However, in this paper the writers will talk about one of those theories which is Ecocriticism theory. Ecocriticism term is generally preferred by American, whereas Green studies term is frequently used in the UK. Both are the same subject of Literary Criticism.

As a concept, Ecoctricisim first arose in the late 1970s at meeting of the WLA (The Western Literature Association a body whose field of interest in the literature). In the USA Ecocriticism was officially heralded by the publication of two seminar works, both published in the mid-1990s: “The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology” edited by Cheryll Glotfelty and Harold Fromm, and “The Environmental Imagination” by Lawrence Buell. However, William Rueckert was the first person who used the term Ecocriticism. He published an essay titled Literature and Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism in 1978. His intent was to focus on “the application of ecology and ecological concepts to the study of literature”.

By contrast, in the UK Ecocriticism or Green Studies takes it bearings from the British Romanticism of the 1790s. The founding figure on the British side is Jonathan Bate, the author of Romantic Ecology: Wordworth and the Environmental Tradition (Routledge, 1991).

The word Eco is short of ecology, which is concerned with the relationships between living organisms in their natural environment as well as their relationships with that environment. Ecocriticism is concerned with the relationships between literature and environment or how man's relationships with his physical environment are reflected in literature. These are obviously interdisciplinary studies, unusual as a combination of a natural science and a humanistic discipline. The domain of ecocriticism is very broad because it is not limited to any literary genre.

We can take a look to this table below to distinguish the Ecology study and Ecocriticism study.

Ecology	Ecocriticism
Ecology	Deep ecology
Physical environment	Environmental imagination
Biodiversity	Global environmental culture
Endangered species	Ecocultural habitat
Pollution	Literary hazards

Table 1. Ecological Terms as a Source of Ecocriticism

CHAPTER II

THE THEORY OF ECOCRITICISM

I.                   Definition of the Theory

According to Lawrence Buell, Ecocriticism is a study of the relationship between literature and the environment conducted in a spirit of commitment to environmentalist praxis.

Simon C. Estok on “A Report Card on Ecocriticism” page 220 stated that Ecocriticism has distinguished itself, debates notwithstanding, firstly by the ethical stand it takes, its commitment to the natural world as an important thing rather than simply as an object of thematic study, and, secondly, by its commitment to making connections.

Meanwhile according to Cheryll Glotfelty Ecocriticism 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, Ecocriticism takes an earth-centered approach to literary studies.

II.                The main Concept of the Theory

Ecocriticim focuses on the relationship between literature and the physical environment; how the environment affects human being, and how the environment effected by human being in purpose to takes an earth-centered approach to literary studies.  According to Cheryll Glotfelty, most ecocritical work shares a common motivation: the troubling awareness that we have reached the age of environmental limits, a time when the consequences of human actions are damaging the planet's basic life support systems. This awareness sparks a sincere desire to contribute to environmental restoration. Therefore we are facing a global crisis nowadays. In fact, it’s not because of how ecosystems function but rather because of how our ethical systems function. Getting through the crisis requires understanding our impact on nature as precisely as possible.

According to Peter Barry there are five point that Ecocritics do. First, they re-read major literary works from ecocentric perspective with particular attention to the representation of the natural world. Second, They extend the applicability a range of ecocentric concepts, using them of things other the natural world – concepts such as growth and energy, balance and imbalance, symbiosis and mutuality, and sustainable or unsustainable uses of energy and resources. Third, they give special canonical emphasis to writers who foreground nature as a major part of their subject matter. Fourth, they extend the range of literary-critical practice by placing a new emphasis on relevant ‘factual’ writing. And the last they turn away from the ‘social constructivism’ and ‘linguistic determinism’ of dominant literary theories and instead emphasis ecocentric values of meticulous observation, collective ethical responsibility, and the claims of the world beyond ourselves.  

III.             The Important Figure

There are so many ecocriticism experts, but the important one is Cheryll Glotfelty, Associate Professor of Literature and Environment at the University of Nevada, Reno. She with her co-editor; Harold Fromm are the acknowledgement founder of Ecocriticism in the USA. Which by her seminar “The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology” (University of Georgia Press: 1996), the term Ecocriticism is heralded. She was also the co-founder of ASLE in 1992.  ASLE is Association for the Study of Literature and Environment which hosts biennial meetings for scholars who deal with environmental matters in literature. ASLE publishes a journal—Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment (ISLE)—in which current American scholarship can be found. Besides, her theory of Ecocriticism is simpler and easier understood than the others, so that the theory is widely known. Hence she becomes the most important figure in Ecocriticism.  

IV.             Examples of Ecocriticism Theory

The literary taken for Ecocriticism examples are William Wordsworth’s poems and Bliss Carman. William Wordsworth is a worshipper of Nature, Nature’s devotee or high-priest. Wordsworth had a full-fledged philosophy, a new and original view of Nature. Some points in his creed of Nature may be noted:

1.         He conceived of Nature as a living Personality. He believed that there is a divine spirit pervading all the objects of Nature as shown in the A Flower Garden At Coleorton Hall, Leicestershire

And, though the jealous turf refuse

By random footsteps to be prest,

And feed on never-sullied dews,

'Ye', gentle breezes from the west,

With all the ministers of hope

Are tempted to this sunny slope!

2.      Wordsworth believed that the company of Nature gives joy to the human heart and he looked upon Nature as exercising a healing influence on sorrow-stricken hearts. It can be seen in his poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

The other example is a poetry of Bliss Carman that seems as a really ecocentric concept titled Earth Voices.

I HEARD the spring wind whisper

Above the brushwood fire,

"The world is made forever

Of transport and desire.

"I am the breath of being,

The primal urge of things;

I am the whirl of star dust,

I am the lift of wings.

"I am the splendid impulse

That comes before the thought,

The joy and exaltation

Wherein the life is caught.

"Across the sleeping furrows

I call the buried seed,

And blade and bud and blossom

Awaken at my need.

"Within the dying ashes

I blow the sacred spark,

And make the hearts of lovers

                              To leap against the dark."

           

A whole poetry has a strong ecocenteric concept, especially at the end of the poetry;

Then Earth to them made answer,

As with a slow refrain

Born of the blended voices

Of wind and sun and rain,

"This is the law of being

That links the threefold chain:

The life we give to beauty

Returns to us again."

            Beside remind us about the power of nature, this poetry also remind us to be wise in life because everyone will die at last, and back to the ground; the place they came from.

  

CHAPTER III

CONCLUSION

            From the explanation about Ecocriticism theory and examples of its application on poetry by two poets, the writers conclude that the Ecocriticism theory is a theory of literary criticism with concern about the relationship between environment and human being. Ecocriticism encourage people to think seriously about the relationship of humans to nature, about the ethical and aesthetic dilemmas posed by the environmental crisis.

            The other point could be taken from the theory is that human being and environment need each other; it is likely a mutualism symbiosis. To save the next generation lives people should save the environment, unless the next generation will live in a very bad condition. In another word; save the environment, save the world, save people’s lives.