2010 Student Research Conference:
23rd Annual Student Research Conference

Didn't Mother (Nature) Teach you how to Read: Ecofeminism in Purple Hibiscus and The God of Small Things
Molly R. Reich
Dr. Hena Ahmad, Faculty Mentor

Ecofeministm envelops the core values of ecology and feminism, emphasizing the similarities between women and nature and the way both are abused by patriarchal society. The two ideologies, ecology, focusing on ethical and symbolic concerns and feminism, focusing on the empowerment of women, came together to form a new social, political, and cultural movement. My reading of two novels, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Purple Hibiscus and Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things, draws on ecofeminist theory. Highlighted in these novels are high profile families who use their control over nature and their women to maintain their elite status. The elders within these families are abusing the women physically, mentally, and emotionally, and asserting their dominance over nature for profit and personal gain.

Keywords: Purple Hibiscus, The God of Small Things, Ecological Feminist Philosophies, feminism, Middle Easter Literature, Environmental

Topic(s):English
Environmental Studies
Women's and Gender Studies

Presentation Type: Oral Paper

Session: 50-2
Location: VH 1232
Time: 1:30

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