Environmental Exploitation and Colonial Ideology in ‘The
Grass Is Singing’
Dr. Karumuri Sunil
Faculty
Member, Department of English
Andhra
University
Visakhapatnam,
India.
Abstract
The
Grass is Singing (1950) is an ecocritical and
postcolonial framework to explore how the colonialism affects humanity, as well
as nature, in Southern Rhodesia. The novel is not only about the present, but
also the geography is shaped by economic exploitation, racial hierarchy and colonial
power systems. It stresses not only that the environment is not a thing on its
own, but also that it is a result of historical and ideological processes. One
of the key themes of the novel is the effect of colonial farming on the
environment. Industrial agriculture, deforestation and cash crops cause an
irreversible degradation of the environment in the long term. These practices
are colonial, and result from an ideology of the use of land for extraction,
rather than caring and balancing the care of land. This means that the natural
world becomes more unstable and damaged as a result of settler control.
The
fragility of the ecosystem is worsened by environmental problems like drought
and water scarcity. Strategic farming practices in Southern Rhodesia cannot
resist climatic hardship and are found wanting in the extreme conditions here.
The hardship of living on the land that personifies a conflict between human
aspiration and the practicalities of nature, reveals how nature defies control.
The novel also highlights the overall conceptualization of Africa as ‘a wild
space’ and ‘an untamed space’ that needs to be tamed and developed under
foreign influence. This misconception is the basis for exploiting the
environment and lands for colonization purposes, and overlooks local ecological
knowledge and balance.
The
Grass Is Singing talks of politics of colonialism,
but also of ecology of colonialism. It shows that the destruction of the
environment is tightly connected to the ideology of the Colonies; nature is a
main location of historical and ethical concern.
Keywords:
environment, degradation, industrial agriculture, deforestation, colonial
farming, ecology, ethical concern etc.
Introduction
Ecocriticism
is a literary and cultural theory which concerns the relation between
literature and the natural world. It has been a result of environmental issues
and awareness of humanity of their effect on the earth. The study of literary
representations of nature and ecological issues exposes cultural perspectives
on nature and the interconnections among literature, ecology and society
(Glotfelty & Fromm 530). One of the core tenets of ecocriticism is that
literature is not discrete from nature, but is intertwined in it. Literature is
a reflection and a contribution to human knowledge of nature, environmental
ethics and ecological responsibility. Greg Garrard (2012) states that the
purpose of ecocriticism is to look at 'how nature is culturally constructed and
how it affects environmental thinking and environmental action. Another
important aspect of writing about nature in literature that is highlighted by
eco-critics is that nature is not just a background element. Instead, it is
more of an active agent that is symbolically and ideologically meaningful. One
such person has been Lawrence Buell (1995) who has argued that environmental
texts can challenge anthropocentric perspectives by portraying nature as more
than the background to human activities, thus changing the way readers think
about the human-environment relationship.
Moreover,
ecocriticism goes beyond literary representation to world-wide ethics of the
environment. The modern ecology viewpoint is based on the linkages between
places and systems, and supports the development of new ways of thinking that
go beyond places or identity, such as ways that promote a sense of planet
(Ursula K. Heise 54). This is especially true regarding global awareness,
climate change and the ecological interdependence.
According
to Richard Kerridge (1996) ecocriticism is defined as:
Ecocriticism
is literary and cultural criticism from an environmentalist viewpoint. The
effects of texts on the environment is appraised. The significance of beliefs
and ideologies for the environment is explored. Ecocritics read the history of
ideas like ‘-nature', in the hope of comprehending the nature of the current
world ecological crisis. Obviously, the environment's senses of harm or
political struggle are of interest to ecocritics, but so are all the other
strands of culture and everyday life, the implicit attitudes that have
environmental effects. Thus, ecocriticism provides a way of addressing the
intersections of literature and the environment and of addressing the
intersections of cultural narratives and ecological consciousness. It
emphasizes the moral issues of literary representation and encourages the
reader to consider human issues in relation to the natural world. (530)
The
critical lens of ecocriticism, when applied to environmental issues and ethics
and to postcolonial studies, helps to examine how literature addresses
moralities with regard to the natural world. In fact, literature has been used
to discuss ethical issues for long, and it can be understood by environmental
ethics as a platform to discuss moral dilemma, ecological responsibility, and
human actions on nature. Eco-critics look at how environmental degradation,
resource exploitation, climate change and anthropocentrism are reflected in
texts to raise ethical questions for readers.
Nature
and Its Relationship with Cultural/Historical Perspectives
One
of the major issues in ecocriticism is that cultural/historical perspectives
influence depictions of nature. A socio-historical context affects relationship
between human beings and nature. History and change in the ecological
landscapes have been interwoven in literature, in the process of
industrialization, colonialism, and modern capitalism. Literary perception is a
crucial element in the formation of ecological awareness, as Buell states
(1995):
“Environmental
crisis involves a crisis of the imagination” (2).
Ecological
implications of colonialism are an important field of ecocritical research. It
was supported by ideas of domination, extraction and territorial control, which
profoundly impacted human society and the natural environment. Ecocriticism
also relates to postcolonial theory in its discussion of the environmental
costs and injustice of imperialism. Colonial regimes systematically exploited
the natural resources in colonized areas through deforestation, mining,
plantation farming, and restructuring indigenous ecosystems for imperial gain.
The
slow violence as described by Rob Nixon (2011), is the destruction of the
environment that takes place over a period of time and is often invisible. (2) This
concept originated from the idea that the ecological destruction of the
colonies is still present in the lives of the marginalised communities long
after the formal empire was over. Like Huggan and Tiffin do in their
introduction, postcolonial ecocriticism also addresses the relationship between
environmental destruction and historical oppression, “the links between
environmental degradation and imperial power” (p. 3).
Literature
related to colonial and postcolonial situations frequently shows how colonial
contexts affected landscapes and how they disturbed the ecological balance.
These texts show how "nature" was used, misused and/or re-imagined
within the colonial framework; how "land" was used, misused and/or
re-imagined in terms of indigenous relationships. Chinua Achebe and other
writers illustrate how colonial actions affected the perspective of people
towards the environment and what lasting impacts they had. Thus, ecocriticism
is not confined to the representation of nature, but means the ethical,
historical and political aspects of environmental change. It brings the view of
literature to bear on the systems of power that cause ecological harm and
invites us to deepen our awareness of our relationships with the natural world.
Colonial
Farming in Rhodesia
The
Grass Is Singing (1950) is an important novel and
shows a critical analysis of the impact of colonialism upon the individual and
upon the social structure. The novel is set in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), in
which the social and opposing facets of the colonial society are examined. It
tells a grim and stark story of the life of the colonial whites, and the life
of the indigenous Africans, that gives insight into the psychological, social
and environmental effects of colonialism.
It's
the story of Mary Turner, a white woman who marries poor farmer Dick Turner and
moves into an isolated rural farm. They show signs of marital issues with
emotional detachment, financial strain and increasing psychological stresses.
Mary's struggles to adapt to the challenges of farm life reveals her own
unfitness as well as the isolation that comes from life in the colonies. As the
novel progresses her mind begins to go astray as a result of the loneliness,
oppression, and racial terror she experiences in her colonial surroundings.
Lessing refers to a sense of failure and being “trapped” in a life that she
didn't choose, “a feeling of complete failure” (Lessing 89).
The
novel also shows the structural paradoxes of the colonial farm life in Dick
Turner's character. He is romanticised as a dreamer but unable to make a living
from an economy which is thus not subservient to colonialism. He was using old
farming practices and not investing in the land and the workers, highlighting
the flaws in settler colonial aspirations. The novel delicately exposes the
fragility of economic colonialism, its environmental fragility and the
intractability of the African environments which are beyond control.
In
the relationship between Mary and Dick, issues of race, gender and power
intersect. The colonial racism is evident in the growing brutality of Mary
towards the African workers and the isolation has led to the development of an
unstable emotion. Lessing claims that for her natives 'had ceased to be
people', that 'now they were part of the environment, like the trees or the
cattle' (1950, p. 142) - dehumanizing the native and making him a part of the
environment of the settler, as the trees or the cattle are part of the
environment of the settler.
The
novel is also a reminder of the space and environment of colonialism. The farm
becomes the symbol of an unsuccessful effort to control land use and the
European conception of farming and the African conception of ecology are in
opposition. The setting is grim and the characters' subjectivity is lost, so there
is a close relationship between the setting and the human subject. This
reflects ecocritical approaches to colonial literature, which show that land
serves as more than just a setting and background, but as a force that
influences human interactions and the consequences of the colonization.
The
Grass Is Singing is about the emotional, social and
ecological failures of colonialism. Lessing questions the fragility of the
colonial ideology as well as its inability to fit into the African environment
in the psychological breakdown of Mary and the breakdown of Dick's farm.
Dick's
hopes for success that is inextricably tied up with the exploitation of land
and African labour, which are typical features of colonialism and the
exploitation of natural resources. Dick Turner is a white settler farmer, who
finds himself in a colonial system of power in which economic control and
racial hierarchy are inseparable. As a white landholder in colonial Southern
Rhodesia, he is influenced in his farm management and relations with the
African labourers by the expectations he is subject to as such. But even in
this fortunate racial condition, Dick experiences constant failure, isolation
and frustration because of the harsh environment in which he lives and his lack
of effective control over the land. His character is then a criticism of the
colonial manhood, and an illustration of the psychological and material
weakness of settler power.
Colonial
efforts to control nature are also limited in Dick's failure, from an
ecocritical point of view. His ambition to become an agriculturist is rooted in
the European notions of agriculture that are inappropriate to the African
environment, and illustrates the mismatch of imported colonial farming systems
and African flora and fauna. The novel suggests a resistance that is not just
from the whites, but from the land as well, and contributes to the unveiling of
the fragility of settler economies. In this respect, Dick is a symbol of the
colonial mind, authority and victim of falling apart environments and systems.
The
novel also probes into the intricate nature of humanity's interaction with its
environment, notably in the context of colonial farming practices. Southern
Rhodesia's geography is not a set of scenery, but a character in the human saga
and its repercussions of colonialism. Settler farming practices affect the
existing ecological systems and give greater emphasis to economic issues
instead of ecological issues. This is part of a wider colonial mentality that
sees land as a commodity to be plundered instead of a living biosystem that
must be saved.
Lessing
underscores the expansion of colonial buildings and their environmental impacts
through settlement patterns:
Little
dorps sprang up along the railway lines, at distances of just a few miles, and
in the midst of these, new farming districts, a couple of hundred miles wide,
developed. They contain the station building, which is typically a store, and
frequently a hotel, and the post office. (Lessing 31)
This
is an analysis of the reorganisation of space and landscape in the process of
colonial expansion through infrastructural networks such as settlements and
railways. The “dorps” are intended to symbolize the African interior's
colonization and the encroaching of agricultural and commercial production
areas on nature.
In
addition, this novel depicts the shifting social relationships and ecological
equilibriums brought about by colonial arrangements. Settler farming invades
and transforms native use and causes environmental degradation. In this system
the African workers have no value other than as labour tools and are also
placed in a dehumanizing colonial economy that values people and land as tools
of production. The Grass Is Singing shows that colonialism is an
ecological as well as a political and racial system. Changes landscapes and
labour, and establishes artificial systems of control of environments that
cannot be controlled. The fall of Dick Turner and the changes in the Rhodesian
landscape serve as Lessing's way of emphasizing the interconnection between
human, social and ecological systems that are in trouble within the colonial
system.
Economic
Devastation
The
colonial infrastructure was constructed at the expense of the exploitation of
Africa's natural resources, and for the profit of the European settlers. The
railway network and the road network have been constructed by deforestation of
extensive forest areas that led to long-term ecological disruption. Colonial
expansion came at the expense of the removal of trees for transport routes and
settlement centres. These are examples of the measures that have been taken
that demonstrate that the colonial development projects have been done based on
an economic agenda and not on ecological sustainability, causing irreversible
harm to the natural landscape. White settlers, especially colonial farmers,
played a pivotal role in this process through unsustainable farming practices
and the lack of its attention to long-term conservation of the Rhodesia
environment. They farmed in a way that was designed to profit, which led to
loss of land and habitat, as well as soil erosion and ecological imbalance.
The
Grass Is Singing offers a wide space for the
examination of colonialism's environmental destruction on an ecocritical
approach. The Turner farm is a microcosm of the ecological destruction that
results from imperial systems. Lessing intertwines the personal lives of her
characters with the political and environmental realities of colonial Rhodesia,
but she also shows how systems of domination are not confined to human
relations; they also impact the natural world. The novel argues that
environmental exploitation is not accidental, but is a part of the ideology of
colonialism, a system of ideas, values and beliefs about land that views it as
a product.
The
novel thus turns into an agent of man's destruction of nature. The Turner farm
is already a place of extraction and destruction. As Lessing describes:
Several
years prior to his purchase of the farm, some mining company had stripped all
the trees off the land, leaving only coarse brush and trash of grass. They had
come back up but all the way around the only trees that could be seen were
short and ugly, chopped down trees. There wasn’t a good tree left on the farm.
(Lessing 86–87)
It
is evident in this passage the long-term impacts of extractive colonial
economies. The ‘mutilated trunks' and ‘stunted second growth' are a sign of
ecological trauma and the land is a witness to the exploitation of human
beings. The landscape is degraded, with the failure of colonial systems to make
amends for the harm done, and the long-termless of environmental damage is
emphasized.
The
novel also highlights the importance of the colonial process of land use, which
was driven more by short-term economic interests than sustainability. Mining
and settler farming both affect the process of productive landscapes becoming
impoverished and unproductive land. This is an attitude that puts nature as a
resource, instead of a living system with intrinsic value. The novel is eco-critically
revealing the inter-connections between systems of power, systems of labour,
and systems of race with environmental destruction. The inviolability of the
land, its hardness and fatigue are repeated by Lessing. In one of these she
documents the continuing struggle between settler desire and ecological
constraint, the land “refusing to respond” to the imposed agricultural systems”
(Lessing 88). This resistance reveals the ecological agency of the landscape
which is an opposition to the colonial attempts at domination. It is that the
colonialism is an ecological and social system. It describes the manner in
which the degradation of the environment is the result of many interrelated
systems of economic exploitation, racial domination and mismanagement in
agriculture. Environmental effects are not 'side effects' of colonialism, but
it is part of colonialism, and is an important subject for historical and moral
criticism in the novel.
Doris
Lessing's rendition of the Southern Rhodesian landscape has a strong impact on
the tone of The Grass Is Singing. The harsh environment greatly affects
the residents' lives in the Turner farm. The constant heat, dryness and
loneliness take a toll on Mary and Dick Turner psychologically. The environment
is not only the context of the behaviour, but it also shapes human behaviour
and collapse of emotions. The land itself is therefore a metaphor for life of
colonialism, the exploitation of land is like the exploitation of the people.
The settlers' farming methods are unsustainable both ecologically and in the
long-term, and are devoid of a concern for the environment, and they are driven
by economic rather than environmental factors.
The
lack of water is one of the major issues in the novel, a symbol of fragility
for the environment and the people who are arriving. Water scarcity is a
persistent problem faced by the farmers during their efforts to sustain their
farming activities, especially in the context of their aspirations to be
farmers. Lessing's portrayal of drought highlights the fragility of man's
efforts to control nature. The water battle exposes the interconnection between
ecology and man in Rhodesia and the limits and challenges these places on
colonial domination. As Lessing describes (1950):
After
that, the drought set in. But day by day the clouds were rising and day by day
the earth became hotter and hotter…One afternoon, there was a little
rain…Again, the drought set in, and the weeks went by with no rain. Then the
clouds came together and broke off. On their verandah Mary and Dick watched the
weighty veils glide down the hills. On the other people's farms, it rained
"first as fine threads, then as thick" but upon her farm it did not
fall. (Lessing 130)
The
feeling of a fear of the natural world and the unconcerned attitude of the
settlers towards the nature. The evocative visualization of the rain going up
and down makes the point that nature is not under human control, especially in
a colonial system where humans are assumed to be masters of the land. The
drought is thus not just a physical condition of the environment, but also a
metaphor for the failure and fragility of the colonial project.
Another
thing the novel has uncovered is that the natural world is being exploited, but
not the African people. The novel also leads the reader to a comprehension that
the exploitation of nature has been associated with the oppression of African
people. Colonialism is a system that both institutes racial hierarchies and
draws value from natural resources. Africa's construction as “primitive” and
“dark” is to justify the social oppression and environmental exploitation.
African continent is usually portrayed in colonial discourse as a space which
must be controlled, developed and civilized by Europeans. This ideology gives
the right to destroy the environment and violence towards the races.
Mutekwa
et al. (2013) state that,
Colonial
attitudes toward Africa's natural environment also come from colonial metaphors
and myths that envision Africa as a “dark continent” where the image of Africa
is one of a wilderness that is hostile to the technology of the West and
waiting to be opened, penetrated, and tamed. In the construction of Africa as a
"dark continent" African nature is othered in two ways, first, as
nature in general, and second, as the savage and threatening ‘Other’. Thus, it
can only be governed, and made to serve, by force. (242–243)
In
such a construction of Africans as ‘Other’ and African landscapes as ‘Other', it
is quite clear regarding what the
critics said that there is a capacity to dominate both. A cultural and racial
history of environmental exploitation is demonstrated in the representations
from an ecocritical perspective. Not only is nature physically controlled but
is also discursively constructed as inferior, dangerous and needing to be
controlled.
The
Grass Is Singing represents the environment in the
context of the ideology of “wild nature” which can be exploited, controlled and
“civilised”.
Glotfelty
(1996) defines ecocriticism thus:
“The
study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment” (p.
xix).
Here
nature is considered as a living ecosystem but as a resource to be exploited
for economic benefit. In this instance, Mary Turner is shown to be so
disconnected from the world around her, she couldn't even feel anything.
Plumwood
(1993) states that nature is often “treated as a limitless provider without
needs of its own” (p. 21).
The
farm has elements of humanity and inhumanity in it that are threatening and
oppressive to her, as she is psychologically distant from the land, and from
the colonial world she inhabits. The lack of connection in the world around her
suggests emotional and ecological marginalization due to settler colonialism.
Charles
Slatter provides a prism in which Lessing can look at colonial attitudes in the
environment. Slatter is fully enrolled, while Mary embody is the exploited
logic of settler capitalist model. He has no sense of responsibility towards
the environment and he has no moral responsibility towards the environment; he
sees the land merely as a means of productivity and profit. Lessing shows
through the character that economic motivation and not ecological, is the
reason behind colonial farming. The Slatter is a symbol of the dominant settler
ideology that legitimises environmental degradation as a cost of “development”.
Foster
and Clark (2004) describe ecological imperialism as “the pillage of the
resources of some countries by others” (p. 187).
Slatter's
farm is a metaphor for ecological devastation resulting from unchecked
exploitation by humans, in the eyes of Lessing. It was once in balance, but
today the landscape is degraded for agriculture due to the quick expansion of
tobacco production and deforestation. This is a trend in the rest of the
colonies, as land is being continuously stripped apart to meet short-term
needs. Slatter's ideology of rejecting ecological balance in colonial farming
practice is reflected in the fact that he not only overuses the land, but
actively discourages sustainable farming methods such as planting trees.
As
Lessing describes:
Mr.
Slatter's farm was pretty much devoid of trees. This was a monument to the
practice of farming and acres of good dark earth lay lifeless through misuse, the
great gullies cut through it. Well, he only got himself some money. He was
angry that he can get money with ease, that's that stupid old Dick Turner faked
the trees… He spent 3 hours talking him into planting Tobacco, rather than
millies and little crops. He was very sarcastic about those “little crops” in
which Dick had taken a liking to beans and cotton and sunhemp. (Lessing 81)
This
is an apt description of the impact of colonial agricultural capitalism. “dead”
soil and “great gullies” and “monument to farming malpractice” are all terms
for irreversible damage to the environment. The colonial attitude of Slatter
towards sustainable “little crops” is another illustration of the preference
for cash crops.
According
to an ecocritical perspective, Slatter's activities are examples of the general
colonial attitude towards land as an economic capital. His emphasis on profits
is a good example of the ecological effects and environmental degradation that
can result from the colonial farming model. The contrast between Slatter and
Dick Turner, is also indicative of a contrasting attitude to land use, in both
cases, however, still in colonial patterns of land ownership and exploitation.
In the novel, economic growth is shown to be an environmental exploitation,
which has become naturalized and accepted, because the colonial mentality has
become natural and legitimate. The novel reveals the ways in which colonial
ideology obscures the cause of environmental degradation by making the economic
growth and environmental exploitation appear natural. Characters like Slatter
are introduced to confront and expose the systemic logic of colonial
agriculture, and its moral, cultural and environmental disconnects from nature.
In
terms of the concept of environmental sustainability, the philosophies of
Charlie Slatter and Dick Turner are two poles that in certain respects are
linked. Charlie Slatter is as purely exploitative, and profit-driven, as it is
possible to be in relation to the environment. He isn't particularly worried
about the long-term consequences of his farming operations on the environment.
His wide-spread tobacco farming and large-scale deforestation demonstrates the
capitalist attitude that sees land only for the short-term profits that can be
gained from it. This short-term thinking has its repercussions in soil
depletion, biodiversity reduction and ecological degradation in the long-term.
In the lens of ecocritical thinking, the use of Slatter represents the
predominant colonial paradigm, which seems to equate development with an
environmental and resource destruction without respect of the limits of nature.
Unlike
Dick Turner, however, at first, it seems he takes a “greener” farming stance.
He has an interest in sustainability and is planting trees and working to
balance out the ecology on his farm. Dick is not as opposed as Slatter to the
cultivation of large crops of cash crops; he does not practice the cultivation
of tobacco, which he calls “an inhuman crop” (Lessing 82). It is his concern at
the agricultural practices that have been established that are based on
exploitation and profit instead of ecological and ethical issues. He likes
small, multiple crops which suggest he is trying to maximise land use. He
further adds,
Tobacco
“wasn’t farming at all” but “a sort of factory thing” (Lessing 82).
But
what Dick's green position is, is paradoxical. His attempt to create ecological
balance by planting trees and engaging in a minimal amount of farming, but he
continues to do so in a colonial manner with the commercialization of nature
and labour. His animals are treated as commodities, rather than being treated
as living beings which means that he has a utilitarian attitude towards the
non-human world. Similarly, Dick's perspective of the African workers is one of
the colonial ideologies, where he sees them as ‘savages’ to be ‘managed to be
productive and useful in his farming system. This demonstrates this
"ecological consciousness" to be part and parcel of the racial and
economic hierarchy of colonial society.
Slatter’s
attitude to land is further shown when he complains that Dick “doesn’t even
burn fireguards” (Lessing 89).
Colonial
rule continues to reign over Slatter and Dick. Dick is an ambiguous and fickle
settler farmer, inhabiting the land but attempting to dominate it, animals and
people, and Slatter is a clear-cut example of capitalist exploitation.
Conclusion
From an ecocritical perspective, it is evident
that colonial agriculture is structurally unsustainable because it is based on
extractive, dominating and ecologically unviable systems. The Grass Is
Singing is a richly complicated examination of colonial Southern Rhodesia's
environs by Doris Lessing. Lessing's incorporation of the ecological, social,
racial, and psychological elements creates a layered depiction of the
intertwining of people, society, and nature. The novel shows how the
environment is contested, constituted and contested by the relations of
coloniality, economic exploitation and ideological control. Finally, it shows
that ecological degradation is not merely a product of these underlying
constructs of colonialism but is also a key space for ethical and political
conflict.
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