Woman-Nature Interface: An Ecofeminist Study
on
FOREWORD
Writing a foreword
is a tricky enterprise, especially on a book like Woman-Nature Interface: An
Ecofeminist Study. Now, we have to begin somewhere and I would like to
quote a few sentences from Adrienne Rich’s book On Woman Born: Motherhood as
Experience and Institution. She outlines the, “simple idea that women
are as intrinsically human as men, that neither women nor men are merely the
enlargement of a contact sheet of genetic encoding, biologically givens.
Experience shapes us, randomness shapes us, the stars and weather, our own
accommodations and rebellions, above all, the social order around us”.
Dipak’s book does just that. The
collection of essays focuses on studies on ecology with emphasis on global
perspectives and environmental activism, apart from woman centered narratives
in select female novelists and in other narratives, like ballads of Bengal. The essays focus on diverse authors like
Katherine Mansfield, Sarojini Naidu, Kamala Das, Anita Desai, Roy and several
others. However, the nexus between nature and woman had been the focus of
ancient Indian literature as is shown in the study of Kalidasa’s Shakuntala. Whereas the character of
Shakuntala has been sketched from a natural perspective, Shakespeare’s plays
like The Tempest and The Taming of the Shrew analyse the
woman as well as nature from a male point of view. Such literature has been aptly
substantiated by articles on ecofeminism and environmental movements in India
and Pakistan in agricultural and economic sectors. There is also a return to
historical narratives as well as a fresh insight into the nature versus culture
debate within the context of rapid globalization.
Finally, the author- cum- editor
has been quite proficient in recent years with the publication of several books
on Indian writing, especially novel and drama within the ambience of
postcolonial studies. Collected editions on gender studies, diasporas,
homosexuality and transgender issues have been edited by him.
This book on Woman Nature Interface
illustrates how woman centered narratives can be contextualized within the
parameters of ecology and environment. The role of the woman becomes amplified
in the dialectics between nature and culture. The editor has aptly summarized
the rationale of the book in his introduction where he writes that ecology and
the woman are burning issues today. The message, which the book conveys can be
paralleled by an observation from Vandana Shiva, where she says that the
liberation of the earth, the woman, as well as humanity is a step towards
freedom and peace. Let us read this book.
Soumyajit Samanta
Retired Professor
North Bengal University
West Bengal
CONTENTS
Foreword
Introduction
1. An Ecofeminist Scrutiny of
Katherine Mansfield’s ‘Prelude’ -
Chinmayee Nanda
2. Woman and Nature: Exploring the Connections in the Study
of Roy’s Folded Earth and Markandya’s
Nectar in a Sieve - Sanjukta Bala
3. Woman-Nature
Parallelism: An Ecofeminist Insight into Anita Desai’s Fire on the Mountain and K. R. Usha’s Monkey Man - Bhaskar Ch. Sarkar & Nabanita Barman
4. A Multidimensional Projection of Land: A Reading of Gone with the Wind in the light of war - Mahendran U
5. In Search of an Abode in Nature: The Theme of Matriarchal
Nourishment and the Interference of Patriarchy in Mahua the Gypsy Girl - Jyoti
Biswas
6. In Custody: An Ecofeminist Study - Parimal Kumar
7. A Re-conceiving and Re-visioning of both the Feminism and
the Environmental Ethics as the Power and Promise of Ecofeminism: A Detailed
Study – Dr. Shantanu Siuli
8. Women-Nature Affinity in Anita Desai’s Fire on the Mountain: A Study in
Postcolonial Ecofeminist Perspective - Manas Barik
9. Creator’s Unbearable
Hostilities: An Ecofeminist Story – Dipika Ghosh
10. Ecofeminism and Environmental Movements in India: A
Theoretical Study - Lucky Dey
11. Shakuntala
and the Natural Sublime: Representations in Literature and Media - Subhrajit Samanta
12. Feminization of Agriculture and Its Implications on
Economic Well Being of Households - Atanu
Ghosh
13. Social
position of Pastoral and Town Working Females in Pakistan - Dr. Mohd. Azam
14. An Interfacial Reading of Woman and Nature
from Ecofeminist Perspective -Shefali Sharma and Dr. Uma Mishra
15. Historical Responsiveness
through Tribal Identity: A Study on Deori Women of North Bank of Brahmaputra
Valley in Assam -
Guptajit
Pathak
16. A Study of Woman–Nature Similitude
in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest and The Taming of the Shrew - Debasis Samaddar
17. Ecofeminism in the Poems of
Kamala Das and Sarojini Naidu with the five main steams of Ecofeminism -Raghabendra Garai
18. Impact of Globalization
on Woman and Nature - Biplob
Ghosh
19. Subversion of Gender Binary in Relation to Nature/Culture
Dichotomy: An Ecofeminist Study of Anita Desai’s Fire on the Mountain -Dipak
Giri
Notes on Contributors
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
1. Chinmayee Nanda is
an Assistant Professor of English, KIIT deemed to be University, Odisha and a
PhD Research Scholar, Sambalpur University, Odisha.
2. Sanjukta
Bala is an Assistant Professor of English,
Basirhat College, Kolkata and a PhD Research Scholar, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal.
3. Bhaskar
Ch. Sarkar is an Assistant
Professor of English, S. R. Fatepuria College, Beldanga, Murshidabad, West
Bengal.
4. Nabanita
Barman is an Assitant
Professor of Sanskrit, Dumdum Motijhil College, Kolkata, West Bengal.
5. Mahendran
U is an Assistant Professor of English, Sir
Theagaraya College, Washermenpet, Chennai, Tamilnadu.
6. Jyoti
Biswas is an M.Phil
scholar, Department of English Studies, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Tamil
Nadu.
7. Parimal
Kumar is a PhD
Research Scholar,
Department of Folklore, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, Nadia, West Bengal.
8. Dr.
Shantanu Siuli is a
PhD Research
Scholar of English from SSU, India.
9. Manas
Barik is a Guest
Lecturer, Department of English, Narajole Raj College, West Bengal.
10. Dipika Ghosh is a Guest Lecturer, Department of English,
Jamini Majumder Memorial College, Balurghat, D /Dinajpur, West Bengal
11. Lucky
Dey is an M.Phil Scholar in Political Science
from North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya.
12. Subhrajit Samanta is
a student of Fourth Semester, Bachelor in Media Science, a Content Writer, a
Journalist at Inspiria T.V. PR & Corp. Comm. Intern 2019.
13. Dr.
Atanu Ghosh is an
Assistant Professor in Economics in Bankura Christian College, Bankura, West
Bengal.
14. Dr.
Mohd. Azam is an Assistant
Professor in the Department of Arabic, BGSB University, Rajouri, Jammu &
Kashmir.
15. Shefali
Sharma is an Assistant
Teacher in St. Maria Convent School, Delhi and a Ph.D Research Scholar, Shri
Venkateshwara University, Gajraula, Uttar Pradesh.
16. Dr. Uma Mishra is an Assistant Professor, Shri Venkateshwara University, Gajraula, Uttar Pradesh.
17. Guptajit
Pathak is an Assistant Professor, Department of
History, Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Geetanagar, Guwahati, Assam, India & Ph.D.
Research Scholar, Department of History, Assam University, Silchar, Assam.
18. Debasis
Samaddar is an Assistant
Teacher in English, Chowhatta High School, Labpur, Birbhum, West Bengal.
19. Raghabendra Garai is a former Guest Lecturer of English in Bikramjeet
Goswami Memorial college, Garhjoypur, Purulia, West Bengal.
20. Biplob Ghosh is
an Assistant Teacher in Political Science, Katamari High School (H.S.), Cooch
Behar, West Bengal.
21. Dipak Giri is an Assistant Teacher in
English, Katamari High School (H.S.), Cooch Behar, West Bengal and a Ph.D Research
Scholar, Raiganj University, Uttar Dinajpur, West Bengal.