From Folktale to Eco-tale: Rethinking
Vijaydan Detha’s Baatan Ri Fulwari in the Light of Environmental
Humanities
Shankar Lal Seemawat,
Assistant Professor,
Department of English,
Motilal Nehru College,
New Delhi, India.
Abstract: This paper explores Vijaydan Detha’s Baatan Ri Fulwari (Garden of Tales)
comprising Rajasthani oral folktales sourced from rural Borunda (Jodhpur),
through the lens of environmental humanities, in the interdisciplinary approach
reinterpreting it as an eco-tale. Rereading these stories through the lens of
environmental humanities uncovers ecological sensibilities, human-animal
interrelations, reverence for nonhuman beings, adaptations within arid
landscapes, and symbolic exchanges between humans and nature. All these relationships
foreground sustainability, resilience and environmental ethics. It argues that
Detha’s storytelling implicitly advocates for ecological balance, respect for
biodiversity and ethical coexistence with the more-than-human world before the
rise of modern environmentalism. Drawing on theorists such as Cheryll Glotfelty
(advocating a shift from anthropocentrism to eco-consciousness leading towards
an earth-centered orientation) and Lawrence Buell (suggesting the legitimacy of
non-human environment as co-participant paving a processual sense of
environment), the paper will analyze how Detha’s tales critique
anthropocentrism, highlight human-nature interdependence and reimagine
folktales as eco-tales.
Keywords:
Environment; eco-criticism; oral folktales; desert ecology; indigenous
knowledge
Introduction
We have
witnessed that the emerging field of environmental humanities demands
interdisciplinary inquiry into human-nature relations, especially in the
context of escalating ecological crises. Revisiting traditional narratives
(often oral folktales), reveals latent ecological wisdom and indigenous
environmental ethics. These ethics would be often overlooked in mainstream
discourse. Vijaydan Detha’s Baatan Ri Fulwari (Garden of Tales), a
seminal collection of Rajasthani folktales rooted in the arid Borunda region of
Jodhpur, stands at this intersection of cultural preservation and ecological
consciousness. While traditionally we value it for its rich portrayal of
Rajasthani identity, morality, social justice and gender, yet we also find that
it embodies a profound, though underexplored, environmental dimension in
essence.
Detha’s tales transcend not only cultural documentation
but actively challenge anthropocentric and dualistic frameworks also that
separate humans from nature. By foregrounding elements like trees, animals,
rivers and seasons as sentient and dynamic participants in the narratives,
these stories articulate a worldview where nature is interwoven with human
existence - inviting a rethinking of dominant exploitative paradigms of modernity.
This ecological (environmental) lens reveals Baatan Ri Fulwarias a site
of resistance and alternative epistemologies, aligned with indigenous
cosmologies emphasizing reciprocity, sustainability and coexistence.
The central metaphor of the garden (fulwari) in
these tales embodies both physical and symbolic significance - representing
fertility, care and resilience amid Rajasthan’s fragile water-scarce ecosystem.
The gardener’s persistent nurturing amidst environmental and social adversities
mirrors human hope and stewardship in the metaphorical sense. Through detailed
descriptions of flora, climatic challenges and community interdependence, the
garden emerges as a liminal space where human agency and natural forces
interact dialectically towards the rekindling of ecological awareness and
preservation.
When we re-examine Baatan Ri Fulwarithrough
eco-critical frameworks, we underscore its potential as an ecological pedagogy
that critiques industrial modernity and colonial exploitation. Thus, I argue
that Detha’s folktales function not only as cultural artefacts but as eco-tale
narratives that rethink human-nature relations and advocate for sustainable,
holistic coexistence by making them profoundly relevant in contemporary
environmental humanities discourse.
Theoretical Framework: Folktales, Eco-criticism and
Environmental Humanities
Environmental
humanities, as an interdisciplinary field, challenges “entrenched
anthropocentric paradigms” by emphasizing relationality between humans and
nonhuman entities (Glotfelty, 1996, p.92). Eco-criticism, a pivotal strand
within this domain, “investigates literature as a terrain where environmental
ethics and awareness are negotiated” (Buell, 1995, p.163). Folktales, once
marginalized within Western literary canons, have recently gained recognition
as “carriers of indigenous ecological knowledge, embedding ethical frameworks
grounded in local biodiversity and sustainable practices” (Berkes, 2012,
p.145). We are familiar that they are important cultural treasures that connect
people to their heritage and provide insight into human nature and society
inculcating the spirits of culture, values and beliefs.
Indigenous narratives like folktales encode deep
environmental understanding through metaphor and allegory by fostering respect
for interspecies interdependence and land stewardship. In the Rajasthani
context, oral traditions have long served as “repositories of community
knowledge on resource management, seasonal cycles and ethical norms toward
nature” (Dube, 2010). While Baatan Ri Fulwarihas been traditionally
examined for cultural and linguistic significance (Detha, 1991; Wagle, 2014, p.
132), applying an eco-critical lens reveals its rich ecological substratum.
Glotfelty’s foundational definition of ecocriticism
underscores the study of literature’s relationship with the physical
environment. He insists on analysis of texts within environmental, socialand
historical contexts to uncover constructions of human-nature interaction.
Buell’s framework stresses that environmental literature must portray nature as
more than mere backdrop. He incorporates nonhuman perspectives and reflect
ethical accountability to the environment.
Plumwood’s critique further enriches this perspective by
emphasizing indigenous knowledge systems that perceive trees, animals and
landscapes as moral and emotional agents woven into a holistic ethical fabric.
Folktales’ cyclical, community-driven narrative structures mirror ecological
processes of interdependence and resilience.
By synthesizing environmental humanities with folkloristic,
Baatan Ri Fulwari emerges as an “eco-tale” corpus - where nature
functions not as passive setting but active moral agent and epistemological
force. This approach reframes Detha’s work as narratives of ecological resistance
and reverence. It also challenges anthropocentric worldviews and expanding
environmental humanities’ canon to include indigenous epistemologies of
sustainable coexistence.
Ecological
Imagination in Detha’s Tales: Portraying Environment as Moral Agent
Vijaydan Detha’s Baatan Ri Fulwari exemplifies
profound ecological imagination that elevates nature from mere backdrop to a
moral agent endowed with agency and voice. Through animistic portrayals of
animals, trees and water bodies, his narratives dismantle anthropocentric
hierarchies by inviting an ethical recalibration grounded in interspecies
reciprocity and relationality. This dynamic narratology aligns with Lawrence
Buell’s call for “the environment’s active presence in literature” and Plumwood’s
“concept of co-agency”, presenting natural elements as interlocutors in human
fate and morality. We find that Detha’s storytelling thus enacts an indigenous
environmental epistemology, where ecological and cultural worlds coalesce,
affirming nature’s intrinsic worth and ethical sovereignty.
Central to this narrative ecology is a decisive
de-centering of anthropocentrism, aligning with Lawrence Buell’s insistence
that environmental texts “feature the presence of the non-human environment as
a living agent” (Buell, 1995, p.87). In The Camel’s Complaint, for
instance, the camel transcends its conventional role as mere beast of burden,
articulating pain and ethical grievance. This animal subjectivity destabilizes
human-centered narratives. This narrative also invites us (as readers) into an
ecocentric paradigm grounded in interspecies empathy and shared accountability.
"To starve the earth is to starve ourselves; the parched roots cry out for
mercy, but deaf ears answer only with greed" (Detha, 1972, p. 23). Similarly,
Detha’s portrayal of trees in Bijji ka Ped and sacred groves in Panchotan
Ki Chhaya underscores the moral agency of flora by reinforcing Cheryll
Glotfelty’s call for a shift “from human-centered to earth-centered” literary
approaches (Glotfelty, 1996, p.127). "The flowers bloomed like scattered
stars in the arid dust, each petal a triumph over the desert’s cruel
embrace" (Detha, 1972, p. 14). These vegetal entities become not just
environmental resources but repositories of cultural identity and ecological
continuity. These entities reflect emblematic of indigenous stewardship and
resistance against commodification.
The narrative voice extends this agency to water sources,
as exemplified by The Spirit of the Well, where a well’s drying
signifies ecological imbalance caused by human greed and enclosure. This tale
critiques privatization and resource hoarding through an ecofeminist lens,
resonating with Plumwood’s critique of domination and the necessity of
respectful coexistence with nature. The community’s eventual recognition of the
well’s spirit reflects indigenous environmental ethics that emphasize
relationality and sacredness rather than ownership and exploitation.
Further, during our research we also note that Detha’s
tales dismantle the human-animal dichotomy by celebrating animal intelligence
and ecological wisdom. In The Clever Parrot, the parrot’s instinctual
knowledge enables communal survival. It embodies Buell’s vision of an
“environment bearing equal narrative and moral weight” (Buell, 1995, p.113).
This inversion of hierarchy not only valorizes non-human epistemologies but
also echoes Robin Wall Kimmerer’s principle of “reciprocal relationships with
the more-than-human world” (Kimmerer, 2013, p.33). "He knew the secret
whispers of the wind and the silent thirst of the earth, and with every seed
sown, he wove a promise of life" (Detha, 1972, p. 17). Through motifs of
talking animals, enchanted forests and nature-deities, Detha’s folk narratives
operate as ecological allegories that reject anthropocentric supremacy by
fostering instead “a worldview premised on relationality, reciprocity and
vernacular environmentalism” (Guha, 1989, p.44).
Importantly, Detha’s storytelling also embodies a
decolonial approach to environmental humanities, countering Western
romanticized notions of “pristine nature” that often exclude indigenous
practices and knowledge systems. His tales are deeply embedded in the
socio-ecological realities of Rajasthan’s desert communities, where survival
depends on sustainable and communal management of scarce resources. They also reflect
the ecological imprint of cultural practice. By preserving these stories as
performative acts of communal memory, Detha safeguards an ecological
consciousness that transcends textuality to inform collective identity and
resilience.
The narratology of Baatan Ri Fulwari is inherently
dynamic and participatory. The collection reflects the oral tradition’s role in
transmitting environmental ethics across generations. This narrative fluidity
not only preserves cultural essence but also ensures the tales’ relevance in
addressing contemporary ecological crises. Detha’s rich metaphoric language and
local idioms encode ecological knowledge. His work thus contributes a vital
textual ecology that expands environmental humanities discourse by integrating
indigenous voices and vernacular ethics.
These tales serve as a compelling corpus for exploring
the intersections of folklore and environmental humanities through an
ecocritical lens. Detha’s folktales situate within a complex symbolic ecology
where the natural world - embodied by desert landscapes, animals, trees and
water bodies - is not a passive backdrop but an active moral and narrative
agent. Drawing on Plumwood’s concept of “co-agency between humans and
non-humans” (Plumwood, 2002, p.154), Detha reimagines Rajasthan’s arid terrain
not as an inert wasteland but as an ecotone of resilience and interdependence
by challenging dominant perceptions of the desert as barren and lifeless. “The
garden of words blossoms only when watered with respect for every living leaf
and petal because nature’s voice is soft, but its lessons are deep - listen
with humility not to harm a tree which is to silence the earth’s oldest
song." (Detha, 1972, p. 107). Here, the desert emerges as an environmental
archive by preserving indigenous ecological knowledge encoded in communal
memory and storytelling.
In summary, Detha’s Baatan Ri Fulwari advances a
sustained critique of anthropocentrism by portraying the environment as a
co-participant in narrative and ethical life. Through motifs of agency, reciprocity
and indigenous epistemologies, these folktales articulate a living archive of
ecological memory that challenges hegemonic environmental paradigms. This
framework illuminates how traditional narratives can function as eco-tales
dynamic, performative and deeply entwined with the cultural and ecological
fabric of Rajasthan advocating for a more inclusive and relational
understanding of human-nonhuman coexistence.
We have
critically examined that these tales, though traditionally viewed as a cultural
folktale through the critical lens of environmental humanities, revealit as a
profound eco-tale rich with ecological consciousness and indigenous
environmental ethics. They also convey cultural and social norms leading
towards ecological consciousness. They emerge as an active site for exploring
human-nature interdependence, embedded within the oral traditions of Rajasthan.
This process emphasizes literature’s potential to foreground ecological
concerns.
Unlike conventional interpretations that treat nature as
mere backdrop, Baatan Ri Fulwari portrays the natural world - desert
flora, fauna, wells and sacred landscapes - as dynamic participants shaping
human existence. This relational ontology challenges anthropocentric binaries
by highlighting a symbiotic co-evolution of human and non-human worlds.
Moreover, these folktale functions as a vessel for transmitting environmental
values, where oral motifs such as rituals, animal wisdom and sacred sites
embody survival strategies in arid geographies and promote nature as kin and
moral guide. By framing these stories as eco-tales, the paper broadens the
environmental humanities’ scope to include indigenous oral traditions, offering
a critical counterpoint to dominant Western ecological narratives.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we have also scrutinised that revisiting Baatan
Ri Fulwari through the lens of environmental humanities transforms our
understanding of folklore from static tradition to dynamic ecological
discourse. These stories show how the desert, which is often caricatured as
lifeless, sustains a rich interplay of environmental and social life. By
elevating nonhuman voices, sacralizing natural elements and resisting
commodification, Detha seems to construct an indigenous ecological ethics that
remains deeply relevant today. In reading these folktales as eco-tales, we not
only preserve a literary heritage but also recover a mode of thinking where
nature is not just background - but presence, teacher, healer and kin. Detha’s Baatan
Ri Fulwariis not merely folklore but a literary archive of ecological
insight that critiques anthropocentrism. They advocate for reciprocity with the
environment. Reinterpreted as eco-tales are vital tools for cultivating
environmental ethics and imagining sustainable futures in the Anthropocene.
They serve not only as cultural memories but as blueprints for an ecologically
attuned world. They affirm the enduring relevance of indigenous knowledge in
addressing contemporary environmental crises.
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