Ecocriticism

In a world where the climate is shifting, forests are shrinking, and oceans are rising, literature too has begun to echo the unease of a planet in crisis. Ecocriticism is the practice of reading literature through the lens of the environment—not as background scenery, but as a central force that shapes and is shaped by human action. For too long, nature in stories has been treated as a silent witness: a picturesque forest, a menacing storm, a convenient place to bury secrets. But ecocriticism asks what these portrayals say about us. How does a culture that writes the sea as something to be conquered treat real oceans? What does it mean when the wilderness is always described as “untamed” or “virgin”? 

At its heart, ecocriticism challenges the human-centered worldview that has dominated literature for centuries and urges us to see ourselves as part of, not apart from, the ecosystems we inhabit. From the romantic odes of Wordsworth to the chilling warnings in dystopian fiction like The Road or Parable of the Sower, literature has long wrestled with the power, beauty, and fragility of the natural world. Yet even silence speaks—when stories erase nature, or use it as a blank canvas, they reveal the cultural blindness that allows ecological destruction to continue unnoticed. 

Today, ecocriticism is not just an academic method but a form of environmental awareness. It asks us to pay attention to whose voices are included when we talk about the land: Indigenous, marginalized, and nonhuman perspectives all deserve space in the literary landscape. Reading ecocritically means reading with a sense of urgency, compassion, and connection. It’s about understanding that the way we describe rivers, forests, and weather in fiction shapes the way we value—or devalue—them in real life. 

As the planet’s story grows more uncertain, the stories we tell about it matter more than ever. Literature can no longer afford to treat nature as wallpaper; it is, and always has been, a living, breathing part of the plot.