Narratives of Extraction: Environmental Degradation and Colonial Legacies in Literature

Abstract

This paper explores how literature across historical periods represents environmental extraction as a tool of colonial domination and critiques its lasting ecological and cultural consequences. In doing so, the paper engages post-colonial ecocriticism, Victorian Literature, Indigene resistance literature, and contemporary eco-fiction to study how literature challenges the intersection of
colonialism and environmental destruction. It studies Amitav Ghosh, Jamaica Kincaid, Wole Soyinka, Charles Dickens, Joseph Conrad, Leslie Marmon Silko, Linda Hogan, Jeff VanderMeer and N.K. Jemisin, and in doing so shows how literature captures the impact of imperial expansion on the ecology and documents the resistance offered. Colonial discourse and postcolonial theory give clues to the imperial legacy within the ideology of the environment. Victorian literature expresses the dread of industrial advancement, Indigenous peoples' literature urges for a balance with nature, and eco-fiction and climate fiction depict the horrifying reality of resource depletion. Analyzing these focuses contributes to intercultural studies by showing that literary works, in their consideration for the cost of extraction in both historic and contemporary society, suggest different, more respectful options for interaction with the ecosystem.