This study explores the place given to ecological crises in Ethiopian children's literature. Through examining ecological subject positions in the works, it attempts to investigate values ascribed to nature. More than fifty narratives in fifteen children's literature books published in Amharic have been considered for the investigation. An Ecocritical approach has been used as a framework to analyze the works. The analysis reveals that stories considered place a limited emphasis on ecological concerns. The unit of image analyses conducted indicates the predominance of anthropocentric concerns. Most of the stories give little emphasis to the idea of essential unity of life, and to the ethical responsibilities of children towards care of the environment. The propinquity they embed is also infested with gender ideology. Some of the stories, however, present ambivalent subject positions with regard to the model of relationships between humankind and nature they offer to the children. This is observed in the stories which give an undecided viewpoint as to which standpoint the reader should hold at last. Based on the findings, it appears that less emphasis has been placed on the greening of children's literature published in Amharic. In line with this, it is recommended that attention needs to be paid to environmental issues if there is a need to shape minds that are conscious of the problems.
This study explored environmental discourses inscribed in Oromo proverbial lore. Its specific concern was with the analysis of place accorded to nature and the role of human's relation with the physical environment. Oral literature carries values long held in the society, and divulging into folk-ideas reveals the people's definition of self in relation to nature and their accountability towards it. To this end, proverbs were collected from elders in two zones of Oromia regional state (Guji and Eastern Hararghe). Besides, proverbs published in book volumes were used as an additional data for analyzing the indigenous environmental discourses. These proverbs were analyzed through the theoretical perspective of Ecocriticism. The analysis undertaken revealed the core beliefs and values about nature preserved in the proverbs. Four strands of thoughts (folk ideas) were identified; Nature has 'lubbuu'/soul, and so, should be conferred an intrinsic value; Nature should be taken care of because it has instrumental value; Not all nature is equal, and some are blameworthy though useful, and finally the ignoble nature could be associated with women, and both could be considered as common targets of man's control through the agency of entitlement. Based on the results of the study, the researcher argues that there is no one essential line of defining the Oromo folk-ideas pertaining to the issue of nature as a multiple environmental discourses are presented in the proverbs.
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