Trepidation of change: Analysing the somatic de-recognition of Mother Nature in Gopinath Mohanty's Paraja
Date
2021-04-08
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
In Search of Fearlessness Research Intitute & The Fearology Institute
Abstract
Gopinath Mohanty's novel Paraja depicts the deracination of the Paraja tribal community of Odisha and the simultaneous disintegration of their indigenous percipience of ecological maintenance. The conceptualization of ecofear is not an exclusive fear of de-recognition with the natural environment for the Paraja tribe; on the contrary, it is a distinct sense of synesthetic fear that is comprehensive and interlinked with the fear of being catapulted into a transformed nature that propagates a feeling of alienation and estrangement. This paper will articulate how the synesthetic fear conceives the loss of the quintessence of indigenous life at the heart of nature. With the advent of the new modes of perceiving land in terms of its utilitarian use, there has been a considerable reduction in the subtle experiences of sensing the land and identifying with it on a symbolic level. This evolving relationship with land with humans is of prime concern in the context of its consequences in the 21st century. This paper will attempt to explore how somatic de-recognition with place forms the locus of indigenous ecofear. Somatic de-recognition refers to the inability to experience a sense of belongingness with place of habitation that holds within it the history of ancestors. This paper will also explicate the indigenous perspective on the trajectory of environmental adjustments, which they fear would lead to the gradual degeneration of human beings.
Description
Keywords
place, ecofear, topophilia, Indigenous community, identity
Citation
Swayamsidha, S. (2021). Trepidation of change: Analysing the somatic de-recognition of Mother Nature in Gopinath Mohanty's Paraja. International Journal of Fear Studies, 3(1), 83-91