White Dove is Soaring
(not wanting to be a symbol)

Nature and its vast expanses prove quite useful for the aspiring writer searching for inspiration or the literature student scrambling to make sense of a text. 

 

Regaled as a caretaker, ‘Mother Nature’ is the backdrop of an idealised peaceful life in the pastoral mode (think of the text version of cottagecore) or a source of renewal and strength looking after mankind in Romanticism (a movement which embraces human nature). However, with increasing conflict between humankind and the environment, Mother Nature has been increasingly brutal and brutalised. A victim of coloniser’s hatred towards indigenous lands in post-colonial literature, or the cruel parent punishing humankind in Naturalism, a movement from the late 1800s depicting humanity’s helplessness against nature.

 

What about the ‘Mother Nature’ of today’s literature? Is she still comforting protagonists in desperate need like in ‘Frankenstein’? Or is she ‘Mother’ in the pop-culture sense — a ferocious diva serving face and a force of retribution, sort of like DC’s ‘Poison Ivy’?’ 

 

Since the 1980s, environmental issues have occupied an ever-growing presence in the zeitgeist (the collective consciousness). Consequently, this has led to environmental issues, like climate change, to occupy an increasingly central place in literature as society deals with its effects more with every passing day. The reflection of societal concerns in the literature a generation produces is a common phenomenon, so why does nature’s presentation nowadays matter so much? 

 

It is incredibly interesting as it has allowed us to shift the centre of empathy in ‘Environmental Texts” (Lawrence Buell, 1995). As Buell defines, an ‘Environmental Text” is one where “the nonhuman environment is present not merely as a framing device but as a presence that begins to suggest that human history is implicated in natural history.” In short, nature is no longer a canvas to paint human emotions on but more like a statue, an autonomous narrative force.

 

Hold up a minute,  those are a lot of words and some really tricky ones, what on Earth does it mean?

 

Simply put, such texts allow nature to exist as its own entity (being) rather than a projection (reflection) of how the person at hand is feeling. This allows readers to understand that nature has always co-existed alongside humankind and influenced us as much as we have influenced it – rather than being a crutch or tool for humans to make sense of what we feel. In some cases, these texts primarily seek to understand Nature and may consequently unravel a new truth about the human but that takes a backseat.

 

Well, that seems perfectly reasonable, so how is this new and what does this have to do with ‘the centre of empathy’?

 

 The rising movement of environmental texts implies a logic or viewpoint which is not centred entirely on humans or how humans feel. This allows us to work more on understanding nature as it is. It’s kind of like giving a side-character their own show to present a new story or point of view, like how Elena of Avalor came from Sofia the First or the Harley Quinn shows from the Batman franchise.

 

Environmental texts shift the metaphorical lens from humans to nature. The contemporary category of such literary works deals with the new-age reality of the anthropocene which is becoming critical as climate change progresses. 

 

The anthropocene is the period of time when human activity such as pollution, rapid deforestation and exponential population growth became the dominant influence on the Earth’s climate. Specifically, it refers to the current unprecedented territory of the extraordinary scale of human activity beginning from the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s and shot off in the 1950s.

 

Increasingly, this era has taken the centre stage in literature on nature. This shows that we care more about the fears of climate change and how humanity exists with ecosystems around the globe, instead of admiring nature from afar. But why is this the case? 

 

The modern reality of the climate crisis has been a nagging reminder in the collective consciousness for a few decades now and with environmental damage piling up every year, it gets harder for us to pretend humanity exists outside of the natural world. The pastoral concept of ‘pure nature’ becomes harder for us to indulge in because we are repeatedly reminded of the ways we have corrupted it. It's like how stealing a sweet from your sibling may make you feel guilty until you give them a sweet in return.

 

Moreover, scientific progress has allowed us to learn the technicalities and objective truths of nature, allowing our perception of it to move past a projection of our personal feelings to an ecosystem of sentient beings whose existence is not centred on humankind. Does this mean that we have learnt to empathise with nature? Contemporary environmental texts seem to do so.

 

This is where a good chunk of contemporary literature focused on nature comes in! Contemporary British poems on the environment explore it as active living systems and observations of non-human life. Take for instance the first segment of the poem 'The Restoration' by Thomas A. Clark which recounts observations, invoking wonder and curiosity towards nature in readers. 

​​​​

isolated stands

of woodland

are connected

​​​

larch and juniper

wild service tree

small leaved lime

​​​

separate moments 

of awareness 

become more plentiful

​​​

rivers run

freely through

alder and willow

​​

Here, we can see a shift from how nature took on a passive role of being just a backdrop in Jane Eyre. In “ I never liked long walks, especially on chilly afternoons: dreadful to me was the coming home in the raw twilight, with nipped fingers and toes ” Jane, a human, is the center of emotion and we’re using the environment to amplify her feeling of sadness. In the four stanzas above, and throughout the poem, nature is its own character with agency and emotions.

 

Nature, now, takes on a more central role of being the center of attention like in 'The Restoration'. Alongside, we also shift from the passive role of simply describing nature to fulfill our emotional need of unleashing our feelings to the active role of wondering about and engaging with nature. The internet-famous poem below is shaped like a dog and makes use of its unconventional form, to push readers to constantly envision dogs as they read about a dog's supposed perspective which not only increases the emotional connection but furthers the message of empathy the poem is pushing for.