Examining the Ecological Consciousness of Haenyeo: An Analysis of Lisa See's The Island of Sea Women

The environment significantly influences the characteristics of human beings. They rely on the environment to satisfy their fundamental needs. Indigenous women depend on robust ecosystems to nourish their families. The environment serves as their guiding principle in life. Their culture and customs are infused with it. The evolving global order imposes strain on the environment and adversely affects indigenous populations. They are impacted by environmental deterioration and calamities such as flooding, biodiversity loss, and climate change. The indigenous rural women's community bears distinct duties to guarantee the welfare of their families. The haenyeo, female sea divers, constitute a community reliant on the sea for their living. The haenyeo's expertise in marine environments, their sustainable collection techniques, and their reverent relationship with nature exemplify this. The novel depicts the sea not merely as a source of livelihood, but also as a living testament to trauma, resilience, and female solidarity. Lisa illustrates the preservation, disruption, and transmission of ecological memory amid war, colonialism, and modernisation through the experiences of the protagonists, Mi-ja and Young-sook. This paper analyses the issue of ecological memory in Lisa See's The Island of Sea Women.