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The Importance Of Ecocriticism

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Ecocide is the most predominant concern of ecocritics. It forms a major concern of ecocriticism that brings forth the ecological destruction caused by the human world to nature and human beings alike. Ecocriticism plays an important role in the study of human association with nature. Cheryll Glotfelty, one of the pioneers of Ecocriticism defines Ecocriticism as, “the study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment” (xviii). Glen A. Love a major ecocritic identifies various modes of ecological disaster that take place in the physical environment. Love in Practical Ecocriticism maintains:
The disquieting fact is that we have grown inured to the bad news of human and natural disasters. . . .Actual instances of radiation poisoning, chemical or germ warfare, all rendered more threatening by the rise of terrorism. Industrial accidents like that in Bhopal, India, where the death toll lies between 20,000 and 30,000. Destruction of the planet’s protective ozone layer. The overcutting of the world’s remaining great forests. An accelerating rate of extinction of plants and animals, estimated at 74 species per day and 27,000 each year. The critical loss of arable land and groundwater through desertification, contamination, and the spread of human settlement. Overfishing and toxic poisoning of the world’s oceans. (14-15)
The environmental devastation consequent upon the colonization involving social and cultural transformations has altered representations of
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In Part One of American Colonies, author Alan Taylor accentuates the natural disharmonies that transpired due to humanity, throughout the colonization of the New World. Taylor attributes humans as the most endangering species to the environment, both Native Americans and the settlers. Prior to and during the settlement of the North American colonies, all of humanity’s survival depended on the environment and how they used it. If the Natives or the settlers did not use their surrounding to the fullest advantage, themselves or others potentially could die. The first example of environmental demise that Taylor illustrated was the “…the extinction [of] two-thirds of all New World species…including the giant beaver, mammoth…” and others,” (Taylor 8).

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Throughout the book we are given an interesting look into the role that the Native Americans played in the environment. Before the colonist arrived, the Native Americans lived a life of traveling from place to place depending on the season. They had a system of land ownership that was fluid and varied depending on the environment and on their source of food for that season. This was a stark contrast from the colonization strategies of the new settlers that we have seen. As the colonists continued their development of the environment the traditions that the Native Americans lived by began to deteriorate.

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When analyzing the development of the Americas, people often overlook the fact that simple geography and environment was one of, if not the biggest influences in shaping the future of the Americas after colonization. For example, The geography and environment of the coastal colonies impacted the settlers’ very way of life. The most prominent geographical differences that affected colonial development and growth were between the Northern and Southern regions. The middle region contained environmental factors from both the North and South and consequently was less radical in the way that it shaped colonial development. The Northern and Southern areas differed and as the way of life in these regions shifted to adapt to the environment, one prominent

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When people think of the environment they think of many things. To some, the environment could mean nature while others may consider it to be an entire ecosystem. In the book, “The Spell of the Sensuous,” philosopher David Abram discusses how humanity needs to reconnect with the environment and that the solution is to reduce our use of technology. He believes that once we are one with the environment, we can then proceed to treat it correctly and fix our mistakes. In the book, “Animal Liberation” the author, Peter Singer, defines “speciesism” and how animals and humans should be considered equally due to the fact that they both feel pleasure and pain.

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A consistent fact of both human and environmental history is the ability of man to utilize the natural resources available to them from the environment to ensure their own survival and cultural prosperity. This fact remains consistent in the development of civilizations within North America between the indigenous Native Americans and European and European-American colonists. Between both groups, specifically the indigenous Ahtna and Koyukon, dissimilar perspectives and goals lead to varying transformation of the continent. The fundamentally contrasting viewpoints between the Ahtna and Koyukon groups and American settlers regarding the natural world lead to significant impacts on the environment. Therefore, these consequences on the environment

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England began colonizing the Americas in the early 1600’s, the first step in creating the United States we know today. The development of these colonies, historians argue, was most greatly affected by environmental and geographic variations. I support, yet modify, this statement to be that the individual culture of each colony was shaped by the area’s geographical features and surroundings. It was not the people that determined the culture, but the peoples reaction to their geography that molded the culture. Therefore, the main influencer was the geography and natural features of the land.

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“By a mix of design and accident, the newcomers triggered a cascade of processes that alienated the land, literally and figuratively, from its indigenous people.” (Taylor, American Colonies,

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