Exploring Ecocriticism and Ecofeminism in Selected Black Female Writers’ Works
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Theorising the environment in fiction: Exploring ecocriticism and ecofeminism in selected black female writers’ works BY JULIET SYLVIA PASI Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY in the subject of ENGLISH at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH STUDIES SUPERVISOR: PROFESSOR M.T. VAMBE SEPTEMBER 2017 DECLARATION I, Juliet Sylvia Pasi, student 5157-5000 declare that “Theorising the Environment in Fiction: Exploring Ecocriticism and Ecofeminism in Selected Black Female Writers’ Works” is my own workand that all the sources I have used/quoted have been indicated by means of complete references. Signature : Date: 09/02/2018 i SUMMARY This thesis investigates the relationship between humans and the nonhuman world or natural environment in selected literary works by black female writers in colonial and post-colonial Namibia and Zimbabwe. Some Anglo-American scholars have argued that many African writers have resisted the paradigms that inform much of global ecocriticism and have responded to it weakly. They contend that African literary feminist studies have not attracted much mainstream attention yet mainly to raise some issues concerning ecologically oriented literary criticism and writing. Given this unjust criticism, the study posits that there has been a growing interest in ecocriticism and ecofeminism in literary works by African writers, male and female, and they have represented the social, political (colonial and anti-colonial) and economic discourse in their works. The works critiqued are Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions (1988) and The Book of Not (2006), Neshani Andreas’ The Purple Violet of Oshaantu (2001) and No Violet Bulawayo’s We Need New Names (2013). The thrust of this thesis is to draw interconnections between man’s domination of nature and the subjugation and dominance of black women as depicted in different creative works. The texts in this study reveal that the existing Anglo-American framework used by some scholars to define ecocriticism and ecofeminism should open up and develop debates and positions that would allow different ways of reading African literature. The study underscored the possibility of black female creative works to transform the definition of nature writing to allow an expansion and all encompassing interpretation of nature writing. Contrary to the claims by Western scholars that African literature draws its vision of nature writing from the one produced by colonial discourse, this thesis argues that African writers and scholars have always engaged nature and the environment in multiple discourses. This study breaks new ground by showing that the feminist aspects of ecrocriticism are essential to cover the ii hermeneutic gap created by their exclusion. On closer scrutiny, the study reveals that African women writers have also addressed and highlighted issues that show the link between African women’s roles and their environment. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to place on record my indebtedness to those who have assisted me in the completion of this study. I am especially indebted to my supervisor Professor M.T. Vambe for his valuable guidance and scholarly discussions without which this study would not have attained this shape. For their unwavering support and persistence, I wish to acknowledge Dr Nelson Mlambo, Dr Niklaas Fredericks and Dr Sarala Krishnamurthy. Their professional support was invaluable. I wish to acknowledge wonderful friends with whom I have walked this journey. I want to thank in a very special way my family for their encouragement and support. To my children, Temba, Zebed, Tinashe and Shingirirayi, thank you for your sacrifices and understanding throughout the study. Thinking of you gave me the strength to follow the curves and bends of this journey. I particularly dedicate this effort in memory of my husband, Charles who always supported me in all myacademic endeavours. iv KEY TERMS Biodiversity Ecocriticism Ecofeminism Human Others Earth Others Environment Environmentalism Ecology Andropocentrism Development Anthropocentricism Patriarchy Conservation Hierarchy v ACRONYMS AfDB –African Development Bank (AfDB) AIDS – Acquired Immuno Deficieny Syndrome HIV – Human Immuno Deficiency Virus ER – Emergency Room TPVO –The Purple Violet of Oshaantu ASLE – Association for the Study of Literature and Environment WNN – We Need New Names TBN – The Book of Not NC – Nervous Conditions WID – Women in Development vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENTS PAGE(S) Declaration (i) Summary (ii) Acknowledgements (iii) Key Terms (iv) Table of Contents (v) CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Introduction and Background to the Study 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem 7 1.3 Assumptions of the Study 11 1.4 Research Questions 11 1.5 Aim of the Study 12 1.6 Research Objectives 12 1.7 Justification of the Study 13 1.8 Limitation of the study 15 1.9 Theoretical Framework: Ecocroticism and ecofeminism 16 1.10 Defining Feminism 16 1.10.1 Ecofeminism 18 1.11 Research Methods and Methodology 20 1.11.1 Qualitative Analysis 20 1.11.2 Textual Analysis 22 1.12 Chapter Organisation 24 vii CHAPTER 2: EXTENDED LITERATURE REVIEW 27 2.1 Introduction 27 2.2 Understanding Western Ecocriticism and Ecofeminism thought 28 2.3 The Parameters of Ecofeminism 42 2.4 Ecocriticism in African Male Literature 48 2. 5 Nature Writing by Black Female Writers 59 2.6 Conclusion 70 3.0 Chapter 3: Revisioning Nature: an Ecofeminst Reading of Tsitsi Dangaremba’s Nervous Conditions and The Book of Not 73 3.1 Introduction 73 3.1.1 Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions 75 3.2.1 Conservation and Sustainability in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions 75 3.2.2 Women as Producers in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions 78 3.2.3 Recasting Nature as Feminist Space in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions 80 3.2.4 Making Women Visible in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions 82 3.2.5 The Female Body and Food in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions 83 3.3 Tsitsi Dangarembga − The Book of Not 88 3.3.1 The environmental voice in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s TheBook of Not 3.3.2 Reimaging Nature Amid Toxic Surroundings in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s The Book of Not 89 3.3.3 Revisioning Women, Sexuality and War in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s The Book of Not 92 viii 3.3.4 Conceptual Spaces for Rethinking African Identities: the Forest in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s The Book of Not 100 3.3.5 Animality and Women in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s The Book of Not 103 3.3.6 Interrogating the Sacred Heart Landscape in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s The Book of Not 107 3.3.7 Maiguru’s Garden in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s TheBook of Not 114 3.3.8 The Harare Gardens in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s The Book of Not 118 3.3.9 Gardens of Domesticity in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s The Book of Not 119 3.3.10 The Mountain Landscape in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s The Book of Not 123 3.11 Conclusion 125 CHAPTER 4: WOMAN-NATURE CONNECTIONS: AN ANALYSIS OF NESHANI ANDREAS’S THE PURPLE VIOLET OF OSHAANTU 127 4.1 Introduction 128 4.2 The Purple Violet of Oshaantu: Plot Summary 128 4.3 Woman-Nature Nonnections 129 4.4 Historical Connections: Women Communion with Nature 129 4.5 Epistemological Ecofeminist Connections 135 4.6 Dismantling Oppression: Women-Nature Connections 139 4.7 Symbolic Connections: Feminising Nature and Naturalising Women 145 4.8 Symbolic Connections: the Patriarchal Self-Other Dualism 147 4.9 The Logic of Domination in the Mines 149 4.11 Fostering Emancipatory Alternatives 158 4.10 The Logic of Colonisation and the Body Politic 161 ix 4.11 Conclusion 167 CHAPTER 5: RESISTANCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN NOVIOLET BULAWAYO’S WE NEED NEW NAMES (2013) 170 5.1 Introduction 170 5.2 Plot Summary: We Need New Names 174 5.3 Oppressive Conceptual Frameworks 173 5.4 Redefining the Environment 178 5.5 Ecofeminism and Operation Murambatsvina 177 5.6 Ecofeminism and the Body Politic 183 5.7 Un-naming the Nameables: An Ecofeminist Perspective 184 5.8 The Forest and Mountain Spaces 187 5.9 The Tree Symbol 194 5.10 Ecofeminism in Relation to Gender and Development 196 5.11 The Logic of Domination: the Budapest and Paradise Environments 201 5.12 The Environment and the Immigrant Experience 203 5.13 Conclusion 206 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION TO THE STUDY 208 6.1 Introduction 208 6.2 Research Questions 209 6.3 Research Questions: Findings of the Study 210 x 7.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 222 8.0 WORKS CITED 223 8.1 Primary Sources 223 8.2 Secondary Sources 223 xi Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1Introduction and Background to the Study This study explores the relationship between humans and the non-human world or natural environment in selected literary works by black female writers in colonial and post-colonial Africa. Using the ecocriticism and ecofeminism lens, the study explores the nature of the relationship between human beings and the environmentas depicted in four African female- authored novels.It is critical to note that, in literary studies, particularly in Africa, the field of ecocriticism has recently emerged as an important critical perspective that explains how human beings relate to the environment and or how non-humans are presented in fiction. On a basic and simple level, Cheryll Glotfelty (1996: xviii), a pioneer in this field, defines ecocriticism as “the study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment.” Some critics have attributed the birth of the term “ecocriticism” to the United States of America critic William Rueckert’s essay, “Literature and ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism.” According to Rueckert (1978), ecocriticism entails the “application of ecology and ecological concepts to the study of literature.” In other words, ecocriticism is a notion that examines the “interconnectedness of man and nature” (Fenton 2008:2).