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Republic of Turkey Firat University Institute of Social Sciences Department of Western Languages and Literatures English Language and Literature REPUBLIC OF TURKEY FIRAT UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF WESTERN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE A POSTCOLONIAL ECOCRITICAL APPROACH TO ANIMAL’S PEOPLE BY INDRA SINHA MASTER’S THESIS SUPERVISOR PREPARED BY Assist. Prof. Dr. Seda ARIKAN Yeşim İPEKÇİ ELAZIĞ – 2017 II ÖZET Yüksek Lisans Tezi Indra Sinha’nın Animal’s People Adlı Romanına Postkolonyal Ekoeleştirel Bir Yaklaşım Yeşim İPEKÇİ Fırat Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Batı Dilleri ve Edebiyatları Anabilim Dalı İngiliz Dili ve Edebiyatı Bilim Dalı Elazığ – 2017; Sayfa: VI+118 Bu çalışma, Indra Sinha’ın Animal’s People (2007) adlı eserinde geçen insan ve insan dışı ikili karşıtlığının yapı bozumuna uğratılarak postkolonyal ekoeleştiri bağlamında incelenmesini amaçlamaktadır. Bu ikili karşıtlık, eskiden beri süregelen toplumsal ve ekolojik felaketlerin altında yatan temel neden olarak kabul edilmektedir. 1984’te Hindistan’da meydana gelen Bhopal felaketini kurgu yoluyla yeniden işleyen Sinha’nın bu romanı, insan/insan dışı ayrımının tarihsel nedenlerini ve ekolojik sonuçlarını irdelemek amacıyla postkolonyal ve ekoeleştirel yaklaşımların bir araya getirilmesine zemin hazırlamaktadır. Bu yakınlaşmadan doğan postkolonyal ekoeleştiri, edebiyatın söz konusu çevrelerde insanmerkezci bakış açılarından kaynaklanan ekolojik felaketleri nasıl yansıttığını çözümlemeye yarayan teorik bir çerçeve sunmaktadır. Bu bakış açılarına yönelik bir eleştiri niteliği taşıyan bu roman, ekosistem içerisinde yer alan tüm insan ve insan dışı varlıkların birbiriyle bağlantılı olduğunu ve tabiatı gereği değerli olduğunu savunan ekomerkezciliğin önemi üzerinde durmaktadır. Animal’s People adlı eserin resmettiği postkolonyal bir çevreyi, postkolonyal ekoeleştiri bağlamında inceleyen bu çalışma, bölgesel ve küresel anlamda ekolojik farkındalık uyandırılmasında edebiyatın ve edebiyat eleştirisinin büyük rol oynadığını ortaya koymaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Indra Sinha, Animal’s People, Postkolonyal Ekoeleştiri, İnsan, İnsan Dışı Varlıklar III ABSTRACT Master’s Thesis A Postcolonial Ecocritical Approach to Animal’s People by Indra Sinha Yeşim İPEKÇİ Fırat University Institute of Social Sciences Department of Western Languages and Literatures English Language and Literature Elazığ – 2017; Page: VI+118 This study seeks to present a postcolonial ecocritical analysis of Indra Sinha’s Animal’s People (2007) by examining how the novel deconstructs the binary opposition between human and nonhuman beings. This binary opposition is regarded as the main cause lying behind long-standing social and ecological calamities. As a fictional re- working of the Bhopal Disaster (1984) in India, Sinha’s novel paves the way for merging the postcolonial and ecocritical approaches to study the historical causes and ecological consequences of the human/nonhuman divide. The postcolonial ecocriticism rising from this convergence offers a theoretical framework for analysing how literature reflects the ecological problems in postcolonial environments that result from anthropocentric perspectives. Presenting a critique of these perspectives, the novel emphasizes the significance of ecocentrism claiming that all human and nonhuman beings in the ecosystem are interconnected and intrinsically valuable. Examining Animal’s People’s portrayal of a postcolonial environment through postcolonial ecocritical approach, this study reveals the great role of literature and literary criticism in raising ecological awareness at the regional and global level. Keywords: Indra Sinha, Animal’s People, Postcolonial Ecocriticism, Human, Nonhuman Beings IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ÖZET .............................................................................................................................. II ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... III TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................. IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... VI INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER ONE 1. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................................ 9 1.1. Rethinking Postcolonialism ................................................................................... 9 1.2. New Directions in Ecocriticism ........................................................................... 12 1.3. A Belated Move from Ecocriticism to Postcolonial Ecocriticism ....................... 15 1.4. Challenges to Merge the Two Fields ................................................................... 19 1.5. Bridging the Gap .................................................................................................. 21 1.6. Postcolonial Ecocriticism as a New Theoretical Framework .............................. 24 CHAPTER TWO 2. INDRA SINHA AND ANIMAL’S PEOPLE ........................................................... 32 2.1. Indra Sinha: A Writer-Activist ............................................................................. 32 2.2. Animal’s People ................................................................................................... 36 2.3. Multiplicity in Genre ............................................................................................ 40 CHAPTER THREE 3. THE HUMAN/ NONHUMAN DIVIDE ................................................................. 48 3.1. What It Means to Be A Human? .......................................................................... 48 3.2. Human/Nonhuman Otherness .............................................................................. 54 CHAPTER FOUR 4. CAN THE ECOLOGICAL OTHER SPEAK? ...................................................... 62 4.1. Ecological Alienation of the Toxic Bodies .......................................................... 62 4.2. Intergenerational Injustice: Kha-in-the-Jar .......................................................... 80 CHAPTER FIVE 5. ENVIRONMENT AS A NONHUMAN VICTIM OF THE INDUSTRIAL CATASTROPHE .......................................................................................................... 85 5.1. Eco-Crime in Postcolonial Lands ......................................................................... 85 5.2. Multi-Level Damage to All Life Forms ............................................................... 90 V 5.3. An Imaginary Return to Nature ............................................................................ 97 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 101 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................... 106 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................. 117 Appendix 1: The Originality Report ........................................................................ 117 AUTOBIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................. 118 VI ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my invaluable supervisor Asst. Prof. Dr. Seda ARIKAN for her endless patience, support and encouragement. It was an academically inspiring experience to work under her guidance and supervision. I would like to extend my gratitude to Prof. Dr. Mukadder ERKAN for her sincere support and profound contributions to the study. It is a great honour to have her guidance and participation in the jury. I would also like to thank Asst. Prof. Dr. Patrick HART, one of my most valuable teachers from Bilkent University, for mentoring me and providing with useful resources from the UK. I am deeply indebted to his meticulous feedback on my studies. I would also like to thank Prof. Dr. Mehmet AYGÜN, Prof. Dr. Abdulhalim AYDIN and Asst. Prof. Dr. F. Gül KOÇSOY for their contributions to my academic competence. I would like to extend my gratitude to my friend Çağatay Kerem DÖNMEZ for providing me with all the necessary resources from the libraries of METU and Bilkent University. I would also like to thank my friends and colleagues Nimet POYRAZ, Meliha SARGIN BAYRAM, Sema ORUÇ, Naciye SAĞLAM, Tuğçe ÇEVİK, Ayşe Ebru AYDIN, and those not listed here for their sincere encouragement. I would also take an opportunity to thank the Office of Scientific Research Projects of Fırat University for academically and financially supporting my master’s thesis and encouraging me to make an interview with Indra SINHA in France. I wish to extend my sincere gratitude to Indra SINHA and his wife for their warm welcoming and contributions to the study. Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my families and to my beloved husband Anıl İPEKÇİ for his endless support and motivating counselling. ELAZIĞ-2017 Yeşim İPEKÇİ INTRODUCTION Mankind’s domination over nature dates back to the Neolithic era when they started to engage in the domestication of plants and animals. Agriculture, domestication and land settlement have become significant factors for the progress of the world. The prehistoric shift from nomadic hunter-gatherer communities to the settled ones thus creates “the foundation for the later process of industrialization” (Weisdorf 2005: 561). However, “the imperative to manage the global village in order
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