DECODING ECOFEMINISM IN BARBARA KINGSOLVER’S NOVELS: GENDER, ECOLOGY AND NARRATIVE PRACTICE

Abstract

This article explores the ecofeminist imagination of Barbara Kingsolver, one of the most widely read contemporary American novelists. It argues that Kingsolver’s fiction systematically links the domination of women with the exploitation of nature and offers narrative models of ecological responsibility grounded in women’s everyday experience, scientific knowledge and community activism. Drawing on ecofeminist theory (Merchant, 1980; Mies and Shiva, 1993; Plumwood, 1993; Warren, 2000) and ecocritical approaches to American literature (Buell, 1995; Glotfelty and Fromm, 1996), the article first outlines the historical development and core principles of ecofeminism, emphasising its intersectional and postcolonial strands. It then situates Kingsolver’s work within the wider field of ecofeminist writing by women, including Rachel Carson, Margaret Atwood, Leslie Marmon Silko, Linda Hogan, Alice Walker and Helena María Viramontes. The central sections offer close readings of The Poisonwood Bible (1998), Animal Dreams (1990), Prodigal Summer (2000) and Flight Behavior (2012). These readings show how Kingsolver’s narrative techniques - polyphony, focalisation through female protagonists, use of ecological metaphor, incorporation of scientific discourse and multi-scalar plotting - encode ecofeminist critiques of colonialism, corporate agriculture, toxic pollution and climate change. At the same time, the novels imagine forms of resilience and solidarity grounded in women’s environmental labour and situated knowledges. The article concludes that Kingsolver’s fiction exemplifies an intersectional ecofeminism that challenges dualistic thinking and contributes to public debates on environmental justice and gender equality.