Ecocriticism '21

Nature and Creations: Eco-human Representations in Literature

Nature is undoubtedly the greatest provider and protector of ecosystems, the giver and sustainer of life on earth and the most powerful nourisher of all living things. Ancient Indian tradition had gone to the extent of attributing divinity to Nature and the people thought their lives had been inseparably fused to the environment. The influence of even the Elements of Nature on human life is vividly portrayed in ancient literature; hence it is not surprising that they have been conceptualized as Gods/Goddesses. Such archetypes still reappear in our literature even today and continue to define our relationship with nature. Of late, there is a renewed vigour in our quest for exploring/ understanding eco-human interactions depicted in literature and other fields of activities. All this has now culminated in the emergence of Green Studies. All creations, when they organically spring from nature, radiate great beauty and charm. Literature is no exception as it involves the imaginative, idealistic recreations of relationships. The lament today is that human recreations and interventions have gone to the extent of destroying nature and its attributes. In this context, it is relevant to explore how these changes in representations find expression in literature and how poetic imagination unfolds in the form of the metaphors of nature in literary expressions. Literary studies should, therefore, rediscover the environmental perspective that had somehow been relegated to the peripheries in the recent past. The kinship between nature and culture is an ever debatable topic that has great interdisciplinary relevance too. Hence this webinar aims to bring to light the much-needed re-orientation of the representation of nature in literature along with other disciplines of study. We sincerely hope this forum brings together all those who realize the subtlety and gravity of these issues transcending the barriers of disciplines.

Thrust Areas (Not limited to):

• Green Studies

• Ecocriticism

• Ecofeminism

• Eco aesthetics

• Eco linguistics

• Eco spirituality

• Eco poetics

• Pastoral and Wilderness

• Myth and Oral Tradition

• Technological Intervention in Natural Processes and its Effects