"The Age Of Kali": From the Ecocritical Perspective
Abstract
‘Ecocriticism’ is one of the most effective theories of modern times. For one thing, we are not certain about its specific time of origin. Raymond Williams in his The Country and the City (1973) explored notions of nature, countryside, poverty, season, thus it is supposed to be the starting point of an ecocritical theory. Ecocriticism opened up new vistas and initiated fresh exploration in areas of arts, literature and science. Ecocriticism largely signifies a drastic change in our traditional attitude and mental setup. The term ‘ecocriticism’ itself was coined by William Ruckert in 1978. The history of ecocriticism can be divided into three waves by Cheryll Glotfelty in The Ecocritical Reader. According to western thought, it believed that nonhuman world was valueless. Later thinkers believed that betterment of one can be brought about by betterment of nature.
Furthermore there was a fundamental connection between the health and prosperity of individual and country. With Charles Darwin’s work on evolution, the bondage between human and non-human life forms was changed in western thought. In the course of time, ecocriticism integrated with the other theories of literary criticism as Deep ecology, Marxist environmentalism, Apocalypticism, Ecofeminism, socialist Ecofeminism, Ecofeminism spirituality, literary ecology etc.
The concept of ecocriticism appeared as an important area of research in the development of literature and social sciences. Urged by their affinity towards the culture, tradition, history and above all the splendor of this ancient civilization called India, many foreign travelers and historians had treaded the Indian soil from time to time. William Dalrymple first came to India accidently, but after that he fell for its charm. He was eager to discover, to explore and to see the oriental society through his occidental lens. He is a historian and travel writer, art historian and curator, as well as prominent broadcaster and critic. He has largely written about India and the Indian sub-continent. His book The Age of Kali contains journalistic essays. At the same time it is an example of his love towards nature. The title of the book refers to the Indian concept of four ages – The present, Kaliyuga is said to a time of decay and disorder when evil dominates goodness.
Key Words: - Eco criticism, Deep ecology, Marxist environmentalism, Apocalypticism, Ecofeminism, Socialist ecofeminism, Ecofeminism spirituality, Literary ecology, Kaliyug.
Methodology: -The research paper is based on systematic, objective and analytical research technique using a secondary mode of data collection. The primary sources are William Dalrymple’s The Age of Kali and Pramod K. Nayar’s Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory. Dalrymple’s book The Age of Kali has been analysed in the light of Nayar’s interpretation of the theory of Ecocriticism.
The secondary sources include websites, books and articles on ecocriticism. Internet has been a major secondary source for searching about climate change and global warming related environmental problems.
The present study has been undertaken with an objective to understand the problem faced by environment and importance of literature to solve the connecting problems.
Introduction
Above poem is written by Gulzar ji, for film ‘Kadvi Hawa’, which is based on climate change and its adverse effects. Now a days vivid environmental problems like climate change and global warming are the general issues for discussion in public interest. Urbanization, industrial progress and digitalization are seen as the symbol of development, and they also give us comfort in all walks of life. But we forgot that we are going far from nature and health. The growing exploitation has had had ominous impact not only on the human world but also the nonhuman. Anthropocentric nature of human upon world is pushing us to environmental imbalance and affects human health. Furthermore many species of flora and fauna are going to be endangered which cause loss of biodiversity. There are many more problems related to environment, these are earthquake, tsunami, cyclone, flood, drought, landslide and wildfire etc. All these affects on environment are alarms which show it is the time to be aware about it.
It is not only the responsibility of scientist and political parties to search invent or make law for reaching solutions of environmental problems but also each and every stream of knowledge including arts, humanities social sciences and literature.
As we know literature has an immense effect on mankind. A study of the past literature can lead us to solutions for the present environmental problems.
What is ecocriticism?
Ecocriticism is a critical theory that applies at the representation of nature and landscape in cultural texts. Ecocriticism has been influenced by the theories of philosophy, sociology, ecology (in science), feminism, Marxism and other discipline and approaches.
A basic definition of ecocriticism was provided by an early anthologist, Glotfelty in his book The ecocriticism Reader (1996), according to which- “Ecocriticism is the study of literature and physical environment…”
So it can be said that ecocriticism takes an earth-centered approaches. Literary theories are applied in general with the relations between writer, literature and the world, ‘the world’ denotes society- social sphere. Ecocriticism expands the notion of “the world” to include the entire ecosphere.
Literature is not only ethereal quality but also part of global system i. e. energy, matter and ideas.
Waves of Ecocriticism
The history of ecocriticism is divided into three waves by Cheryll Glotfelty in The Ecocriticism Reader. In the first wave portrayal of nature became the focus of attention. According to Buell, the first wave writings were rooted in deep ecology focus on the bonds between human and the non-human. Important writers during this period are William Wordsworth, Henry Thoreau, Robert Frost and Thomas Hardy. The second wave recovered the nature-writing texts. The eocritics utilized critical theories as Deconstructive, Feminist, Marxist, Psycoanalytic and New criticism. Glotfelty marks the third wave to ecofeminism and binaries as nature/culture, men/women etc.
The Age of Kali and Ecocriticism: -Deep Ecology: - The introducer of the term Deep Ecology to environmental literature was Norwegian philosopher and mountaineer Arne Naess in 1973. According to him, there are two different forms of environmentalism. One he called “long-ranged deep ecology movement” and the other was “shallow ecology movement”. The long range, deep approach enhances reconstructing our whole system to approach to preserve the ecological and cultural diversity of natural system. The short time, shallow approach stops before the root level of change. The purpose of Deep Ecology is to bring us as a whole and unite, and create balance between human and non-human world.
In The Age of Kali, William Dalrymple has interviewed people from different areas. He has describribed the opinions, views, and opinions of different people and places with a gap of 10 years. He visited many cities and palaces to show how these splendid buildings get ruined with the passage of time. During wandering to different places Dalrymple’s observation shows his love for nature and environment. He has depicted the conditions of great cities like Lucknow, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai (Madurai as in the book), Gwalior and Goa. It is analogous to a predator and prey relationship between human and nature because of Urbanization and Industrialization of the cities.
“In thirty years all sense of aetheistics has gone from this town,’ he replied. Once Lucknow was as the Garden of India. There were palms and garden and greenery everywhere. Now so much of it is eaten up by concrete, and rest has become a sum. Lucknow, the capital of the kingdom of Awadh, was later known as the city of Nawabs. It has an amalgamation of different cultures. Dalrymple’s essay on Lucknow shows how it lost its beauty and culture in the course of time. There were beautiful gardens in the Mughal era. In contrast now there is a thick smoke of sugar factory across the fields. According to Dalrymple no country tolerates such kind of pollution by the illegally erected factories.
Dalrymple portrays Bangalore, his portrayal as the hub of information technology. Bangalore has been nicknamed as ‘silicon valley’ since the 1990’s based on specialization in research and development, electronic and software production. He depicted Bangalore’s culture, cuisine, remarkable for botanical garden and old colonial bungalows.
“Everything changed overnight when the city gained the reputation of being the cradle of India’s high-tech revolution. Everywhere the old colonial bungalows began to be pulled down and replaced by towering office blocks… the city’s glorious green rounds about where all bulldozed. Banglorians were horrified by what was happening to their once beautiful city. ” (Kali,167) Dalrymple has much more generous conception about the environment. As a Deep ecology vociferous environmentalist, he is not anti-human and even not against the industrial development. Although he led us to flourish and realize ourselves in harmony with other beings and cultures. He emphasizes on vegetarian diet
“Scientific investigations have firmly established that vegetarian diet is far better and ideal for one’s health and environmental protection’…Some outstanding personalities such as G. B. Shaw, William Shakespeare, Percy Shelly and Isaac Newton were vegetarian. To preserve health and environment, the people should prefer vegetarian diet. ”(Kali, 166)Ecofeminism, Socialist (materialist) Ecofeminism and Ecofeminist Spirituality: - Ecofeminism was established by French feminist Francois d’Euabonne in 1970. Ecofeminism denotes phenomena that effect contemporary society, specially gender equality and environmental protection to understand oppression and to eliminate domination.
Socialist Ecofeminism and Ecofeminist Spirituality are next steps of Ecofeminism. Materialist Ecofeminism attempts to focus on social arrangements and gendering discourses which promote women’s marginalization. Ecofeminist spirituality is related tolder myths and religious beliefs in which nature worship has been thought to be akin to goddess worship in Hinduism. William Dalrymple has borrowed from the Hindu mythology for naming his book The Age of Kali. Dalrymple represents women power and authority in society in chapter ‘Warrior Queen: The Rajmata of Gwalior.
“If you ask people in India what they think of Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia – the Dowager Maharani of Gwalior, Vice-President of the world Hindu Council and doyenne of India’s growing army of militants Hindu revivalist- you will many different replies. (Kali,61)
The oppression of women has been depicted in the chapters The city of Widows ‘Vrindavan’, The sad tale of Bahveri Devi and Sati Mata. Dalrymple also shows protests against the circumstances related to Bahveri Devi of Rajasthan. He observes India and presents Indian natural diversity. On the one hand has described ecofeminist spirituality as Parashakti and on the other he wrutes the bold female writer Shobha De.
Conclusion
Ecocriticism is a term that is interdisciplinary in nature. It builds a bridge between the sciences and the humanities. Ecocritical theory forces towards strong bondage between human and nonhuman communities. There is a compulsive need for Participation of women, nonhuman and nature to form healthier and pleasing environment for today and for future. Dalrymple’s The Age of Kali is an excellent description of ecocritical studies in India and Indian sub continent. It heralds the age where it seems to be written as the walls. Now is the time to go towards nature.
