Environment and Literary Landscape: An Ecological Criticism of Louise Erdrich’s Novel Tracks

Abstract

Connecting the environment with societies’ cultures through literature has created a new awareness of environmental issues. The current environmental crisis is a product of modern human culture. The thought of using land as a commodity and disregard for environmental ethics has worsened the ecological crisis. The paper focuses issues of environment highlighted in Native American literature. The anthropocentric behavior of Euro-Americans is contrary to Native American idea of biocentrism. For American Indians, land is considered not merely a stage on which the act is played but also as an active participant in the drama with major role to play in the lives of the characters. This article applies Ecocriticism theory on Louise Erdrich’s fiction Tracks to generate an ecological criticism of the text. This paper highlights new ways of treating the natural world, putting responsibility on humans to see how their cultures are affecting environment.