Urban Ecocriticism and Kolkata's Metamorphosis: A Narrative Exploration of Environmental Crisis in Jhumpa Lahiri's The Lowland

Zaid Akhter, Md. Sahidul Islam

Abstract


The lowland unfolds against the backdrop of a rapidly transforming Kolkata, where unchecked industrialisation and urbanisation have significantly impacted the city's ecosystem. The study delves into the theory of "Urban Ecocriticism", which examines the intersection of literature, cities, and the environment. The focus is on Kolkata, known as the "City of Joy," and how it is changing due to increased population and demands for resources. The novel serves as evidence of Kolkata's environmental crisis as a symptom of broader societal issues, highlighting themes of environmental justice, sustainability, and the need for alternative development models. This paper posits that Lahiri's depiction of Kolkata's transformation is intricately linked to the environmental challenges experienced by the metropolis. This study employs the framework of urban ecocriticism to assess how pollution, the loss of green areas, and the depletion of natural resources are represented in the novel as effects of urbanisation on Kolkata's ecosystems. The discussion connects the novel's local concerns to global conversations about urban ecology and the fight for a more just and sustainable future. The paper investigates the impact of urbanisation on the city's ecological balance and analyses the author's portrayal of the consequences of rapid development on the natural environment. In addition to describing the city and its surroundings, the study also discusses how infrastructure development threatens nature. The study suggests how a work of fiction can also aid in understanding the actual environmental changes taking place in a metropolis like Kolkata.

 

Keywords: Urban ecocriticism; urbanisation; environmental degradation; Kolkata; Indian literature


Full Text:

PDF

References


Adamson, J. (2013). Environmental justice, cosmopolitics, and climate change. Cambridge University Press eBooks (pp. 169–183). https://doi.org/10.1017/cco9781139342728.016

Asl, M. P., & Abdullah, N. F. L. (2017). Practices of (Neoliberal) governmentality: Racial and gendered gaze in Jhumpa Lahiri’s fiction. 3L: Language, Linguistics, Literature® The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 23(2), 123–140. https://doi.org/10.17576/3l-2017-2302-10

Bennett, M., & Teague, D. W. (1999). The nature of cities: Ecocriticism and Urban Environments. University of Arizona Press.

Benton-Short, L., & Short, J. R. (2013). Cities and nature. Routledge.

Berry, B. J. L., & Kasarda, J. D. (1977). Contemporary Urban Ecology. New York : Macmillan.

Bhattacharjee, S., & Bharti, R. (2023). Intra-urban morphological heterogeneity and its impact on the micro-climatic variations in the Kolkata Metropolitan region of India. EGU General Assembly 2023. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-16058

Bhattacharya, D. (2022). Cultural Expectations and Gendered Roles: Identity Formations in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Lowland. IAFOR Journal of Arts & Humanities, 9(2), 48–57. https://doi.org/10.22492/ijah.9.2.05

Chakraborty, A. (2022). Evolution of a political landscape. Routledge eBooks (pp. 127–143). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003205968-9

Das, G. K. (2022). Water Quality Rating of Waterbodies in and around Kolkata Metropolis. Indian Science Cruiser, 36(6), 28. https://doi.org/10.24906/isc/2022/v36/i6/220824

Dey, F. (2021). Dynamics QF Urban Growth and Environmental Challenges: A Case QF Kolkata, India. Geography, Environment, Sustainability, 14(3), 24–31. https://doi.org/10.24057/2071-9388-2020-194

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.). Urbanisation. Definition, History, Examples, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/urbanization

Gandy, M. (2003). Concrete and clay: Reworking Nature in New York City. MIT Press.

Ghosh, S., & Das, A. (2020). Wetland conversion risk assessment of East Kolkata Wetland: A Ramsar site using random forest and support vector machine model. Journal of Cleaner Production, 275, 123475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123475

Goswami, G., Mandal, S., Basack, S., Mukherjee, R., & Karakouzian, M. (2023). Assessing the impacts of land use and land cover changes on the water quality of River Hooghly, West Bengal, India: a case study. Hydrology, 10(3), 71. https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology10030071

Gupta, D. (2023). Evolution of an Indian City: From Calcutta to Kolkata. International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research, 8(03), 467–483. https://doi.org/10.46609/ijsser.2023.v08i03.008

Gupta, D., & Bhagat, R. B. (2023). Dynamics of urbanisation and its impact on Land cover and Land use changes in Kolkata, India (1971 to 2011). Research Square (Research Square). https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2828852/v1

Humbal, A., Chaudhary, N., & Pathak, B. (2023). Urbanisation trends, climate change, and environmental sustainability. In Disaster Resilience and Green Growth (pp. 151–166). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7618-6_9

Huque, S. (2022). A regional political ecology of the changing Cityscape and the crisis of conservation of the East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW), India. Routledge eBooks (pp. 65–90). https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367486433-5

Illuminism. (2024, February 19). Five biggest environmental issues in India in 2024. Illuminem. https://illuminem.com/illuminemvoices/5-biggest-environmental-issues-in-india-in-2024

Jamal, S., Ali, M. B., Ali, M. A., & Ajmal, U. (2022). Evaluation and Distribution of Urban Green Spaces in Kolkata Municipal Corporation: An Approach to Urban Sustainability. Springer eBooks (pp. 151–172). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06443-2_9

Jena, A., & Kar, S. (2023). Human and Nature: Developing virtues for environmental responsive behaviour. Problemy Ekorozwoju, 18(1), 177–182. https://doi.org/10.35784/pe.2023.1.18

Kumar, S., Singh, P., Verma, K. S., Kumar, P., & Yadav, A. (2022). Environmental Issues and their Possible Solutions for Sustainable Development, India: A Review. Current World Environment, 17(3), 531–541. https://doi.org/10.12944/cwe.17.3.3

Kumar, Y. (2023). Exploring Diasporic Identity and Cross-Cultural Conflict in Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake and The Lowland: A Comparative Study. Research Inspiration, 8(II), 17–21. https://doi.org/10.53724/inspiration/v8n2.06

Lahiri, J. (2013). The Lowland. Random House India.

Lomskov, М. А., Pimenov, N., Ivannikova, R., Konovalov, A., & Tishchenko, A. (2023). Urbanisation as an ecological phenomenon. E3S Web of Conferences, 390, 07002. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202339007002

Lynas, M. (2020). Our final warning: six degrees of climate emergency. HarperCollins UK.

Maity, S., Das, S., Pattanayak, J. M., Bera, B., & Shit, P. K. (2022). Assessment of ecological environment quality in Kolkata urban agglomeration, India. Urban Ecosystems, 25(4), 1137–1154. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-022-01220-z

Majumder, D. (2016). Practical Ecocriticism’ and Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Lowland: An Analysis. International Journal of English Language, Literature and Humanities, 6(5). https://www.academia.edu/33376403/_Practical_Ecocriticism_and_Jhumpa_Lahiri_s_The_Lowland_An_Analysis

Mandal, J., Ghosh, N., & Mukhopadhyay, A. (2019). Urban growth dynamics and changing Land-Use Land-Cover of Megacity Kolkata and its environs. Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing, 47(10), 1707–1725. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12524-019-01020-7

Mithun, S., Sahana, M., Chattopadhyay, S., Johnson, B. A., Khedher, K. M., & Avtar, R. (2021). Monitoring Metropolitan Growth Dynamics for Achieving Sustainable Urbanisation (SDG 11.3) in Kolkata Metropolitan Area, India. Remote Sensing, 13(21), 4423. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13214423

Mohibul, S., Sarif, M. N., Parveen, N., Khanam, N., Siddiqui, M. A., Naqvi, H. R., Nasrin, T., & Siddiqui, L. (2023). Wetland health assessment using DPSI framework: a case study in Kolkata Metropolitan Area. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30(49), 107158–107178. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-25854-4

Morton, T. (2007). Ecology without Nature: Rethinking Environmental Aesthetics. Harvard University Press.

Mukherjee, J. (2015). Beyond the urban: rethinking urban ecology using Kolkata as a case study. International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development, 7(2), 131–146. https://doi.org/10.1080/19463138.2015.1011160

Mukhopadhyay, C. (2022). Climate Change Adaptation and built Environment resilience: East Kolkata Wetland Strategies. Built Environment, 48(4), 594–612. https://doi.org/10.2148/benv.48.4.594

Nauman, E., VanLandingham, M., & Anglewicz, P. (2016). Migration, urbanisation and health. In International handbooks of population (pp. 451–463). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7282-2_20

Oppermann, S. (1999). Ecocriticism: Natural World In The Literary Viewfinder. Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, 771–791. https://www.asle.org/wp-content/uploads/ASLE_Primer_Oppermann.pdf

Pal, A. K., & Sengupta, A. (2023). A Joyless City: Long-Run trend of air pollution levels of Kolkata, India. In Emerald Publishing Limited eBooks (pp. 331–341). https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80382-577-920231023

Punyamurthy, C., & Bheenaveni, R. S. (2023). Urbanisation in India: An Overview of Trends, Causes, and Challenges. International Journal of Asian Economic Light, 9–20. https://doi.org/10.36713/epra12473

Sahai, S. (2023). Analytical study of biomedical waste management scenario in Kolkata City: Sustainability Challenges. Springer geography (pp. 569–599). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-24767-5

Santra, A., Mitra, S., Routh, S., Kumar, A., & Mitra, D. (2023). Performance testing of selected hybrid Markovian models in urban growth simulation of the Kolkata Metropolitan Area, India. Research Square (Research Square). https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2883015/v1

Sumalatha. (2013). A Study on Selected Themes of Jhumpa Lahiri Novels. Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL), 1(4). http://www.rjelal.com/Vol1.Issue%204/SUMA%20PAPER%202%20RJELAL.pdf

Tarafdar, A., Majumder, P., & Bera, U. K. (2023). Prediction of Air Quality Index in Kolkata city using an Advanced Learned Interval Type-3 Fuzzy Logic System. 2023 IEEE 8th International Conference for Convergence in Technology (I2CT). https://doi.org/10.1109/i2ct57861.2023.10126430

Tyagi, S., Kumar, V., Kumar, K. S., & Kumar, D. (2023). Environmental Health Quality and The Consequences Of Urbanisation: A Review. International Journal of Advances in Agricultural Science and Technology, 10(5), 13–23. https://doi.org/10.47856/ijaast.2023.v10i05.003

Vardoulakis, S., Dear, K., & Wilkinson, P. (2016). Challenges and Opportunities for Urban Environmental Health and Sustainability: the HEALTHY-POLIS initiative. Environmental Health, 15(S1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-016-0096-1




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/3L-2024-3001-04

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


 

 

 

eISSN : 2550-2247

ISSN : 0128-5157