Journal of Literary Criticism

Journal of Literary Criticism

A Post-colonial Eco Critical Reading of Amitav Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 Freelance researcher
2 Associate Professor in English Literature at Guilan University
Abstract
This article discusses the importance of non-human agency in the environment which role is often ignored in a human-centric ideology. Removing or over-plantation of a flower can massively change the lives of all living beings in its environment and an iceberg can endanger the lives of many humans on a ship. This dynamic relationship between human and non-human entities needs to be in the consideration when researching post-colonization topics. Post-Colonial Ecocriticism is created based on this understanding that it is not only humans that are effected by colonization but other entities play an important role and are influenced by it. One of the most important issues that connects colonialism and non-human agency is Development, which is the process of changing the environment in course of monopolizing certain products in the colonized country. These changes also influence the lives of the natives, changing their lives for worse causing them to lose their jobs and lead to their impoverishment. This then leads to their displacement from their homes, seeking a new area where they can find new resources to survive and build their lives around. This is a chained set of events, from the promise of a development that is in truth monopolizing one or more products, to changing the environment and lives of the natives and then human and non-human natives forced to leave their homes in a struggle to survive.
Keywords

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Volume 7, Issue 13
April 2023
Pages 211-177

  • Receive Date 19 April 2022
  • Revise Date 10 May 2022
  • Accept Date 16 May 2022