Global Journal of Human-Social Science, A: Arts and Humanities, Volume 22 Issue 4

© 2022 Global Journals Volume XXII Issue IV Version I 21 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 A 6 An Ecocritical Reading of Syed Manzoorul Islam’s Shakuner Dana (Oakes 1997: 509) (65).’ Place is crucial to memory and a whole host of powerful emotions. This evocative feature of the place has a solid political appeal that can effect positive changes. For instance, the personal development of Orin, the protagonist of Shakuner Dana , both as a character and an environmental activist draws immensely on the agential influence of the CMB area. To quote from the novel, ‘Rumi’s (a male colleague in the research team) cold voice has sparked a sense of persistence in Orin. She does not know whether she’s obtained it from working with the CMB project; whether Patijuri, or the Tishna River, or Chandipur has instilled it into her mind at a moonlit or dark night (Islam 24).’ However, the individual who shows the highest degree of love for land and place is Hanif Miah. Being a farmer, he nourishes himself, economically and psychologically, from his intimate engagement with soil. His land dependency also shapes his cultural identity and philosophical orientation. This dependency creates a community feeling in him for his fellows. It invokes camaraderie and an egalitarian worldview that forms his personhood. In the narrator’s words: Soil attracts him (Hanif Miah) and so do men. He does not distinguish between a day laborer, a farmer, and a Mahajan (money-lender/businessman). Those intimate with soil are all the same at a certain point—such a belief empowers him (Islam 84). Not just the land but also other natural entities have formative influence over people. Significantly, the river and other water sources upon which people depend for their existence sustain them. The interaction between humans and the river (and by extension, all of natural sites) is mutually beneficial if based on care, love and minimal interference. In the novel under discussion, we find that the Tishna River system is central to the bio- cultural reality of the whole area it courses through. The narrator says, The people of Chandipur and Mahiganj are indebted to the Tishna. Every year the Tishna opens its storage up to them. Water, fish, whatever they want, they get it from here. Whereas other rivers shrink following a low tide, the Tishna River looks full to the brim as always. This is a strange river whose heart lies in the geography of Chandipur-Mahiganj- Selimabad and the lives of the people there (Islam 26). In other words, the novel Shakuner Dana evocatively demonstrates the interconnectedness of all forms of life: human and non-human. c) Anthropocentrism Deep ecology, which is a radical form of environmentalism, detects anthropocentric bias in many human interactions with nature. Ecocriticism in general and deep ecology in particular, finds Anthropocentrism deeply disturbing. An thropocentrism is a philosophical viewpoint that argues, human beings are the central or most significant entities in the world. This is a basic belief embedded in many Western religions and philosophies. Anthropocentrism regards humans as separate from and superior to nature and holds that human life has intrinsic value while other entities (including animals, plants, mineral resources, and so on) are resources that may justifiably be exploited for the benefit of humankind (Boslaugh). The novel Shakuner Dana passionately brings to the light an anthropocentric takeover of the environmental domain of the CMB area. For instance, some people out of enormous greed and a faulty philosophical understanding of assumed supremacy over non-humans, intend to exploit the environment as their prerogative, denying the ontology, agency, and self-identity of the natural sites of the CMB region. Orin observes that the Patijuri-Tishna river system has turned ferocious recently. The narrator of the novel puts her observation thus, The officials of the CMB project are capable of taming Patijuri and the Moynar Bil, which have turned ferocious of late. The whole project has been designed to bring this assumed ferociousness under control. It reflects the mindset of hunters, who keep on watching a leopard and anticipate an attack and ferociousness from the beast. Nobody cares to realize if the leopard is not disturbed, he will not disturb men either; rather, he will live in the wilderness following his natural laws. If Patijuri and Moynar Bil are left in the hands of nature and machines are kept out of ruling their water system, there will be no problem anywhere–Orin tends to believe (Islam 28). What is more worrying is that modern science and technology is being used for the most part to anthropomorphize the whole environment. Humans have encroached upon the non-human world, perhaps more than ever, and on an unprecedented scale. In Shakuner Dana , the narrator makes a relevant comment, ‘The twenty-first century is the epoch meant for bringing the environment under human control and for putting a human face on the environment (128).’ This vulgar attempt to rule over the environment runs rampant globally, and the novel’s narrative awakens the reader to this harsh reality on more occasions than one. d) Impact of Globalization on Local Environment The famous ecocritic Lawrence Buell highlights the importance of an increasing amount of literature dealing with “compromised, endangered landscapes” and “marginalized minority peoples and communities” everywhere (97; cited in Alam 7). The novel Shakuner Dana exposes how globalization is set to spread its tentacles all over the CMB region in order to endanger its landscapes and marginalized community. Neocolonialism, a recent avatar of capitalism and a partner of globalization, intends to exploit ecological resources of mostly the formerly colonized countries in the name of development. The profit-driven ideology views things, including the environment and natural entities, mainly in terms of monetary values. Concepts like progress and development are sold, often at the