LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 20:1 January 2020
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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Copyright © 2020
M. S. Thirumalai

Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
11249 Oregon Circle
Bloomington, MN 55438
USA
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The Role of Climate Change Fiction in the Anthropocene Era

M. Shanmuga Sundaram, Ph.D. (PT) Scholar
Dr. U. Sumathy

Abstract

It is an undeniable fact that human beings have made an unalterable impact on earth in this era and hence the present era has come to be called as the Anthropocene era. The expectation is that literature which reflects life should also project man’s negative impact on the environment. Environmental literature and by extension ecocriticism have dealt with man’s relationship with ecological systems. However, ecocriticism has not managed to occupy the top rungs of the literary canon. The first part of this paper analyses the possible reasons for the relegation of ecocriticism and also gives an overview of the seminal texts published by eminent critics with an aim to bring ecocriticism to the forefront. The second part of the paper throws light on climate change fiction, the role it could play in spreading awareness about global warming. The advantages and disadvantages with which climate change fiction claims its place in mainstream fiction genre are pointed out. The fact that the climate change novelist travels the extra mile to make the story believable and real is underscored. The final part of the paper gives an outline of Barbara Kingsolver’s novel Flight Behaviour as an illustration of how the author creates awareness about extinction of butterflies due to climate change by superimposing her story on a realist and mundane backdrop.

Keywords: Anthropocene, Climate Change Fiction, Ecocriticism, Environmental literature, Barbara Kingsolver, Flight Behaviour

When The Ecocriticism Reader was published in 1995, Cheryll Glotfelty felt the need to emphasize the role of ecocriticism and by extension environmental literature in creating awareness about environmental degradation. In her introductory essay titled, “Literary Studies in an Age of Environmental Crisis” Glotfelty laments about the state of academic scholarship that had remained “scholarly to the point of being unaware of the outside world ”(xv) and justifies the collection which she and her co-editor Harold Fromm have put together with an aim to expand the notion of “world” in such a way that it includes the entire ecosphere. As a result, nature and its non- human components ceased to be looked upon as mere backdrops but as actors with equal importance in the human drama.

The Environmental Justice Reader published in 2002 aims to expand the umbrella of ecocriticism by adding the dimension of social justice. R. V. Reed in his seminal essay, “Toward an Environmental Justice Ecocriticism” argues that issues of race and class which are important in any history or future of environmental thought and action have to be dealt with in ecocritical discourse. The essays in this anthology serve to address the question of marginalization of the colored, poor whites and people of the Third world and how they are made targets of environmental injustice. Thus, The Ecocriticism Reader had presented its case demanding justice for the non- human other and The Environmental Justice Reader widened the scope of the canon with its polemic in favour of the colored and poor people who directly face the consequences of environmental degradation and hazards.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Shanmuga Sundaram

M. Shanmuga Sundaram, Ph.D. (PT) Scholar
Postgraduate and Research Department of English
Government Arts College (Autonomous)
Coimbatore-18
realsundarji@gmail.com
Mobile: 7871189059

Dr. Sumathy

Dr. U. Sumathy
Associate Professor and Head
Postgraduate and Research Department of English
Government Arts College, (Autonomous)
Coimbatore-18
udaysumathy@gmail.com
Mobile: 9789457025
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Language in India

LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 20:1 January 2020
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

HOME PAGE

Click Here for Back Issues of Language in India - From 2001

Celebrate India!
Unity in Diversity!!

BOOKS FOR YOU TO READ AND DOWNLOAD FREE!

REFERENCE MATERIALS

BACK ISSUES

  • E-mail your articles and book-length reports in Microsoft Word to languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.

  • PLEASE READ THE GUIDELINES GIVEN IN HOME PAGE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE LIST OF CONTENTS.

  • Your articles and book-length reports should be written following the APA, MLA, LSA, or IJDL Stylesheet.

  • The Editorial Board has the right to accept, reject, or suggest modifications to the articles submitted for publication, and to make suitable stylistic adjustments. High quality, academic integrity, ethics and morals are expected from the authors and discussants.

Copyright © 2020
M. S. Thirumalai

Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
11249 Oregon Circle
Bloomington, MN 55438
USA
Custom Search

Abstract

Keywords:

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Custom Search
  • Click Here to Go to Creative Writing Section

  • Send your articles
    as an attachment
    to your e-mail to
    languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.
  • Please ensure that your name, academic degrees, institutional affiliation and institutional address, and your e-mail address are all given in the first page of your article. Also include a declaration that your article or work submitted for publication in LANGUAGE IN INDIA is an original work by you and that you have duly acknowledged the work or works of others you used in writing your articles, etc. Remember that by maintaining academic integrity we not only do the right thing but also help the growth, development and recognition of Indian/South Asian scholarship.