One of the most precarious issues of the 21st century, is the environmental crisis along with man animal conflict. The aftermaths of global warming are evident in every part of our Planet: drop water supplies, frequent extreme weather events, melting of the ice and glaciers, global sea level rise, and wildfires are just some of the factors which determine this moment in history. This crisis is also a cultural issue and all disciplines should be concerned with it. In fact, in order to carry out policies and to develop technologies which aim at protecting the environment, the first necessary step is a change in the way the environment is perceived and understood on the cultural level. As a result of this, also literature has been facing this matter. Literature has always been a mirror which described and reflected upon historical events and social changes. Therefore, even in the contemporary environmental situation, literary narratives and theories can play a fundamental role, helping us to comprehend the origins of this crisis as well as to suggest possible remedies for it. Narnia :The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a classic children’s fantasy novel published in 1950 by the English author C. S. Lewis at surface level is a story about a group of children who discover a magical land called Narnia which is filled with talking animals who believe the children will fulfill a prophecy freeing the inhabitants of Narnia from the evil reign of the antagonist White Witch. A more detailed look at Lewis’ novel however, reveals that the animals possess classist human qualities, shifting the narrative from a surface level read to an examination of the text using an eco-critical lens. Even in our mythology we have come across many instances where god in the form of animals have come to the rescue of the world. Here also we come across the epic character of Aslaan who is the ruler of Narnia. The primary aim of this paper is to highlight how animal and man complement each other and are essential for the existence of each other. It is high time we stop exploiting animals and start to imagine a planet with an amicable settlement among the species. I will be focusing on the aspects of the anthropocene, magical realism, man-animal conflict and various aspects of eco-criticism through my paper. The environment is the main concern of eco-criticism, a trend in literary criticism that emerged in the last decade of the 20th century, representing one of the most recent fields of study in literary theory. This paper will attempt to analyze how literature, specifically in the form of fantasy novels, offers humanity a way to reintegrate itself to the natural world, to foster a sense of communion between animal and man. Furthermore it suggests an alternative on which the relationship between man and nature should be built upon. By using an eco-critical approach, this paper aims at analyzing specifically the theme of the environment and of the nonhuman in fantasy literature. Eco-criticism, Anthropocene, Magical Realism, Fantasy.
Chandan Prasad Jena (Thu,) studied this question.