Third World Women and Environment: An Ecofeminist reading of Mahasweta Devi’s Short Story ‘The Hunt’

Abstract

Ecofeminism as a literary theory is an amalgamation of two critical Thinking – Ecocriticism and Feminism. The perspective of nature-woman parallelism got underscored by the introduction of the term ‘Ecofeminism’ by Francoise d’ Eaubonne in her 1974 book Le Feminisme ou la Mort. Ecofeminism perceives that ecological problems and atrocities against women are fallouts of patriarchal egotism. Ecofeminist writings especially from third world writers address problems which are peculiar to the most oppressed group of people. Mahasweta Devi, in ‘The Hunt’ unveils layers of oppression inflicted upon women in tribal inherited areas of India. The present paper aims at analyzing the short story – ‘The Hunt’ written by Mahasweta Devi from an ecofeminist point of view. The story traces the transition of a humble tribal girl Mary Oraon to a legendary defender who succeeds in bringing an ‘ecojustice’ to her community. Her body symbolizes the environment of the tribal community which is in constant threat of being exploited by the outer world in postcolonial era. The story also endeavours to bring forth the adverse impacts of models such as Decolonisation and Development in the lives of tribal women.