Between You and Me There Is Kinship: Environmental (Un)consciousness and Human Subjectivity in Selected Pakistani Atmospheric Prose

Abstract

The anthropocentric treatment of Nature has exacerbated the environmental abuse and thus has provided a rationale for interdisciplinary research and deliberation of human-nature intersection in different ways. The notion of human connectivity in relation to environmental consciousness is being analyzed in metaphorical and multifaceted manifestations. Often dubbed as atmospheric prose, the environmental narratives, own a significant space in narrating the (un)conscious desires of human beings for reconnecting to nature as well as demonstrate autocratic rule over nature thereby resulting in characters’ ambivalent biophilic tendencies. Ecopsychology, a recent interdisciplinary field of inquiry centers on the belief that for the maintenance of psychological and physical health and sustainable societies, the notion of wholeness can only be achieved in an alliance with nature. Taking insights from the lens of ecopsychology, the current study provides understanding into the ways in which our psychic lives can cultivate a better understanding of biophilia, on one hand, and biophobia on the other hand. The role of Nature and environment as an unconscious healer, in Pakistani atmospheric prose, is an underexplored domain which demands literary investigations. Aamer Hussein, a famous short story writer from Pakistan delineates his artistic creation of atmosphere and characters through experimental atmospheric narratives. Taking Aamer Hussein’s The Swan’s Wife as a sample, the current study provides a window to the relationship between human subjectivity and the ways in which Nature serves as an unconscious domain of self-recognition and fulfillment. The story through the parallel treatment of humans in their complex relationships and Nature in multiple roles in the hands of humans provides some pertinent ecopsychological perspectives. The study offers insights into how self-society-nature nexus is a fruitful connoting mechanism for many psychological rifts of modern society. The study is significant as it shows that our connection with Nature and living in harmony with the natural systems is integral for our own wellbeing. Keywords: Anthropocentric; Biophilia; Biophobia; Environmental consciousness; Ecopsychology