Promulgating Environmental Awareness in
Mamang Dai’s River Poems
Dr. S. Sudha
Assistant Professor of English
Dr. N. G. P. Arts and Science College
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
Abstract
Literature is considered as fine arts with
aesthetic expression. It foregrounds many hidden voices and it attacks the
institutions both at theoretical and also at practical level. In the field of
literature, ecocriticism plays an important role. It is the study of
relationship between literature and the physical environment. Romanticism is
said to be the rudiment of Ecocriticism. The main notion of romanticists is
that they want humans to be a part of nature and so they have communion with
nature. In the past, Romanticists did it and in the present Ecocritics strive
to do it. Plight of Ecocritics is that they want humans to consider land as
space which has so many voices and it should be seen in the sense of
personification not in metaphysical sense. Ecocriticism as the theoretical
discourse stresses the fact that man has forgotten that he is connected to the
nature and he is destroying it. As a voice of all the Ecocritics, Mamang Dai, a
renowned poet and a short story writer culls out the significance of natural
resources and how these resources were in the past and how it is in the present
through personification from her River
Poems. This paper, on the whole, culls out the consequences of human
beings’ violence towards nature and how human should protect the nature.
Keywords: Ecocriticism; physical environment; romanticists; protection
Literature is said to be a culture specific
production. It showcases so many untold and unfolds truths. Literature as a
tool foregrounds many hidden voices and it attacks institutions both at
theoretical and also at practical level. Marginalized literatures gain momentum
in the academia and it brings out so many unheard voices. In the field of
literature, theories and criticisms are considered as important and paved way
for many researchers to have a philosophical discussion on various studies.
Amidst all these theories and criticism, Ecocriticism or sometimes referred as
‘green studies’ focuses on natural world.
Ecocriticism
as a critical approach began in USA in the 1980s and it began to creep up in UK in
the early 1990s. Cheryll Glotfelty has defined ‘ecocriticism is the study of the relationship between
literature and the physical environment’ (Glotfelty xviii) who instigated ecocriticism along with
co-editor Harold Fromm in the essay entitled The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology (University
of Georgia Press, 1996). She is also one of the pioneers of ASLE (Association
for the Study of Literature and Environment). Ecocriticism first arose in the late 1970s and William Rueckert
coined the term ‘ecocriticism’ in 1978
in his essay Literature and Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism.
Ecocriticism
becomes an important critical approach in America by three major nineteenth
–century American writers, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller and Henry David
Thoreau. Their works have focused on natural world. In UK, Romanticists have
introduced ecocriticism in 1790s. Poets of romantic age have the art of
mysticism and through this art they have brought out the hidden beauty of
nature. The main notion of romanticists is that they want humans to be a part
of nature so that they can have communion with nature. The founding of
Ecocriticism in UK is Jonathan Bate. Laurence Coupe’s the Green Studies Reader: From Romanticism to Ecocriticism divulges
the issues of nature from romantic period to the present. Jonathan Bate’s The Songs of the Earth, proclaims the
environmental consciousness and the argument for the essential requirement of
literature in a time of ecological crisis.
In the
past, Romanticists brought out the hidden beauty of nature and in the present
ecocritics strive to do it. An important thing to be noted is that ecocriticism
is highly a proactive tool and it can be used in all spheres of life. In the
world of post modernism, fragmentation is being celebrated which paves way for
chaotic disorders. Anthropocentrism at its peak makes man to think that he is
the crown of all creations and this has paved way for Ego vs. Eco. Ecocritical
approach paves way for multidimensional approach in literature. In the present
society, land is being subjected to various issues.
Ecocritics
want the humans to consider land as space which has so many voices and it may
be seen in personification sense and not in a metaphorical sense. Encompassing
everything in one roof is the mystical beauty of ecocriticism. Though
ecocriticism does not focus on philosophical discussion of literature, it strives
hard to unfold the truth of an existing modernized world using literature as a
significant tool. There are many ecocritics who exhibit the present scenario of
natural world. Among all these critics, Mamang Dai is a renowned Indian journalist, poet and a short story writer
who document the customs and culture of her land
in her works.
Mamang
Dai lives in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh. She is the former member of the
Indian Administrative Services. She has chosen journalism over Indian
Administrative Services. Dai has received “state’s Verrier Elwin Award” for her
book Arunachal Pradesh – The Hidden Land in
2003. Dai’s poems and writings are
published in many journals and anthologies. Dai is awarded the “Padma Shri” in
2011 for her contribution in the field of literature and education. Her other
major works are The Legends of Pensam,
Stupid Cupid, El balsam del tiempo – The balm of time.
According
to Cheryll Glotfelty, “all ecological criticism shares the fundamental premise
that human culture is connected to the physical world, affecting it and
affected by it” (xix). Cheryll Glotfelty promulgates the fact that human beings
are connected with the physical world but in
this present scenario, man plays
a central role and controls the entire world. In other words, it is said
to be
‘Anthropocentrism’. The word ‘Anthropocentrism’ consists of two words
‘Anthropos’ and ‘centric’. ‘Anthropos’ means
‘man’ and ‘centric’ means ‘centre around’. It speaks about the
centrality and superiority of man. The
term ‘Anthropocentrism’ focuses only
on human beings’ interests, values and
practice rather than any species in the
world. It considers human being as the centre of universe because of his
analyzing capacity. As mentioned in Anthropocentrism, man has shown himself
superior to all the non-human creatures and exploited nature. In the ancient
period, man has worshipped nature
and he is dependent on nature. Due to the development of science and
technology, human beings’ attitude towards nature has been changed.
Mamang
Dai, as a nature poet, brings out the life of her homeland, its tradition and
culture and the heritage of her land in her collected poems entitled River Poems. As a representative of
tribes, she foregrounds the consequences of people in this modernity. Mamang
Dai expresses her feelings and emotions through personification. She emphasizes
that the old faith, heritage, culture and identity seem gradually fading due to
modernization. According to her, nature has no end, due to the development in
technologies and urbanization, man has forgotten this truth.
One
of Dai’s poetry titled “Sky Song” speaks of the present condition of nature:
I
thought I saw you waving
In
greeting or farewell
I could
not tell,
When
summer
changed
hands again
only
the eastern sky remained;
One
morning
flowering
peonies
swelled
my heart with regret. (22)
As an
ecocritic, Mamang Dai has used nature as her central theme in her poem “Sky Song”, she has explained that human beings’
perspective on nature are different in ancient
times. They have appraised nature as deity and respected what nature has given
to them. She grieves at present because physical environment is shifting rapidly and human considers
nature as a profit and alienated from
it.
Mamang
Dai, as a tribe, acknowledges that tribal communities have become the victim of
urbanization. Tribal groups are tender towards nature. According to them,
universe is encompassed with natural elements such as earth, water, air, and
light. They have credence these elements by which the world has been created.
As claimed by tribes, water and air are the primordial elements of this
universe. They consider water as the primary need of man in all the stages of
life. They believe that unpolluted pure air is an origin of healthy and
prosperous life.
Many of these tribal societies have gone
through a process of transition from changing agriculture to settled farming
from clan land ownership to land commoditization. Tribes have suffered torments
that are unheard because of violence, and deforestation. Tribes live primarily
in the dense forest but the forests have been destroyed due to modernization.
Most of
the tribal community resources are inevitably dispossessed. Tribal people are
the first to suffer ecological crises due to climatic disorder and other
human-caused problems. Relationship between men and physical environment
gradually transformed from Stone Age, subjugation of animals, domesticating
fire to cultivation, currency, industrialization, innovations in science etc.
According to T.V. Reed, “aesthetic appreciation of nature has not only been a
class-coded activity, but the insulation of the middle and upper classes from
the most brutal effects of industrialization has played a crucial role in the
environmental devastation (151)”. The frontier between nature and human being
is relocating rather than fading.
Contemporary
world is considered as the period of science. Technological mentality and crass
materialism have dominated environmental ethics in the world. Humankind faces
the consequences of natural calamities, environmental degradation and
ecological imbalance at present because they are totally embedded in
materialistic ambitions, self motives and become insensitive towards ecological
surroundings.
In one
of Mamang Dai’s poetry titled “Broken Verse,” she says:
Once so
precious
your
embrace
like
faith and laughter,
now
wraps itself
around
a question mark. (39)
Every
species is dependent on nature in the world. Every species believe and embrace
when they follow a natural course of evolution but it has begun to affect this
natural order. The condition of nature between industrialization and capitalism
become questionable. Being a poet, Mamang Dai delivers her ideas regarding
changes occur in the present scenario. There is an abundance of nature and used
imageries in all her nature poems. As a critic, Dai brings out the traumatic
conditions of nature in the anthropocentric world. She remarks that human is
also the integral part of nature. Thus, all living organisms directly or
indirectly depend on nature for their shelter. Consequently, devastation of
nature leads to the destruction of universe. For the sake of living, to keep
the ecosystem healthy, human must protect nature and planet.
Works Cited
Bocking, Stephen. Ecologists and Environmental Politics: A History of Contemporary
Ecology. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1997. Print.
Dai, Mamang. River Poems. Calcutta: Writers Workshop, 2004. Print.
Ecology.
Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1996.
Print.
Glotfelty, Cheryll and Harold, Fromm. The Ecocriticism Reade: Landmarks in
Literary, United States:
University of Georgia Press, 1996. Print.
Reed, T.V., Google books. Environmental
Awareness and the Design of Literature. Web. 29 January 2020.
</https://books.google.com/books/about/Environmental_Awareness_and_the_Design_/>.