LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 17:5 May 2017
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
         Renuga Devi, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Ecocritical Exploration in Vikram Seth’s Poem,
The Elephant And The Tragopan

S. Bharathi, Ph.D. Scholar


Abstract

Eco-centrism in the external world is not a new thing in Literature, it has been prevailing from times immortal. However, in Thomson’s The Seasons, nature, for the first time has been made the pivotal theme instead of remaining subordinate to man. Return to nature plays a very prominent role in the revival of the Romantic spirit of the Elizabethan age and it has contributed to a great literary era in English Literature. The Romantic Period English Litterateurs have never failed to express the aesthetic and invigorating life of the world of flora and fauna. The longing of the people for the freshness of nature to extricate themselves from the suffocating and crowding ambience of the urban and semi urban city have become the point of discussion in Eco-critic literary theses. The world of literature not only throngs with the works dealing with the beauty and power of nature, but it is also well known for reflecting the contemporary issues. With the continuous threat to our precious ecology, the zest, love and passion for nature among the literary writers have been progressing insistently into a matter of motherly concern which in turn has started reflecting in their works of art. This paper explores the eco-critical perspectives in Vikram Seth’s Poem The Elephant and the Tragopan – precisely, it is this sense of concern towards the environment and its reflection in the works of literature that has given rise to a new branch of literary theory called Ecocriticism.

Keywords: Ecocriticism, Ecology, Ecosystem, Anthropocentric, Bio-centric and Ethical System

1.1 Introduction

The word “Ecocriticism’ first appeared in William Rueckert’s essay “Literature and Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism” in 1978. It was not a sudden outburst but the result of long, gradual growth and development. At present ecocriticism is in full swing and it is a readily accepted theory worldwide. As far as Indian Literature is concerned the poetic works of Rabindranath Tagore, “The Tame Bird was in a Cage” pictures the pathetic condition of the bird which has forgotten even to sing and “I Plucked you Flower” portrays the selfish attitude of every human that plucking flowers is their own right which are imbued with ecological elements. In Kalidasa’s Meghaduta and A.K. Ramanujan’s “A River”, Man’s selfish use of the river by obstructing its natural flow i.e. making dams, throwing garbage and many other human atrocities have been visualized by the writers. In the above works one gets a glimpse of man’s selfish motives.

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


S. Bharathi, Ph.D. Scholar
PG Assistant
Government Higher Secondary School
Kallipatti 638503
Erode District
Tamilnadu
India
bharathimla@yahoo.in
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