Anthropocentric Views on Women and Nature through the Concepts of Gyn/Ecology and Ecofeminism in Anuradha Roy’s The Folded Earth
The Folded Earth, a novel by Anuradha Roy endeavors to represent ecocritical writing through the journey of her protagonist Maya. Maya is a widow who seeks to make a new life from her unfortunate past by shifting her life from a chaotic city to an adventurous village near the Himalayas, where humans and the natural world live in harmony. The paradigm changes with the landscape impelling the protagonist to comprehend her surroundings from a new dimension, through which the author discusses the politics of ecology, eco theory, and ecocritical writing. Additionally, Anuradha Roy, the novel’s author, provides a voice for the subjugation of women in a patriarchal culture. The significance of an ecocentric lifestyle for humans to sustain the natural world is emphasized in this study. This paper aims to throw light on various concerns of women and ecology during the course of the novel such as lifestyle, habitats, routine, education and connection with nature, through various ecocritical concepts such as anthropocentrism, ecocentrism, Gyn/Ecology and ecofeminism. This paper aims to explain the domination of women and nature by a patriarchal society through the concepts of anthropocentrism, androcentric, geopolitics, Gyn/Ecology, along with revisiting ecofeminism through the concept of Gyn/Ecology. This study uses qualitative research techniques and a descriptive approach. The novel The Folded Earth was chosen by the researcher for this study because it highlights the anthropocentric perspective on women and nature and it is reasonable in terms of ecological learning. The primary findings of this study include how the female characters in the novel find every means to live happy lives in harmony with nature in a society dominated by males, as well as how the main idea of Gyn/Ecology highlights the negative impacts of anthropocentrism in the novel The Folded Earth. The researcher’s implications include raising public awareness of women’s oppression and environmental degradation for further study in this area.
Karen, A., Christopher, G. (2024). Anthropocentric Views on Women and Nature through the Concepts of Gyn/Ecology and Ecofeminism in Anuradha Roy’s The Folded Earth, Research Result. Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, 10 (3), 168-179.
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