| Since the shocks which accompany modernity and globalization are often felt most strongly in "third world" countries, most of which happen to be former colonies, it is no surprise that in contemporary postcolonial literature we find some of their most interesting reflections. In this dissertation, I turn to recent texts by South Asian, South African, and Native American authors, examining the ways in which these writers and their characters understand and attempt to cope with the destruction of the environment. Postcolonial literature can provide a powerful critique, both explicit and implicit, of the very modernity and globalization of which it is a part. Contemporary writers, through their creative responses to these global processes, offer individual expressions of a shared pain, identify common adversaries, and suggest forms of resistance to these forces of destruction.; I begin with a series of case studies, in order to illustrate the relevance of "postcolonial ecocriticism" to the interpretation of contemporary Anglophone literature from around the world. This project is an exercise in mediation, integrating different discourses and critical traditions. I go on to examine the theoretical issues surrounding the intersections of postcolonialism, ecocriticism, and Native American literature before exploring a variety of literary texts addressing two specific landscape formations, one an instrument of oppression (the dam) and the other a mode of resistance (the garden). Neither postcolonial theory nor ecocriticism can do justice to the multifaceted experiences of globalization on its own. So far, postcolonial critics have rarely exhibited much interest in nature, and Western ecocritics have only just begun to pay serious attention to literature from Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. But the two fields have much to say to one another---ecocriticism can open the postcolonial theorist's eyes to the relevance of nature, and postcolonial discourse can enrich ecocriticism with an analysis of the web of language, knowledge, nature, and power. In this project, I intend to show that the concerns of ecocritics and postcolonial theorists are crucially interrelated, and that in combining the unique strengths of these two fields, we can open the way to a rich new critical perspective. |
