The Voice of Nature: A Gaian Study of Richard Powers’ Bewilderment and Elif Shafak’s The Island of Missing Trees

Abdelaziz, Heba Mohamed

doi:10.21608/jwadi.2025.386702.1203

The Voice of Nature: A Gaian Study of Richard Powers’ Bewilderment and Elif Shafak’s The Island of Missing Trees

نوع المستند : المقالة الأصلية

المؤلف

Heba Mohamed Abdelaziz

Assistant Professor of English and comparative Literature College of Language and Communication Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport

10.21608/jwadi.2025.386702.1203

المستخلص

Amid the current climatic crisis, it is imperative that people return to their earthly roots to bridge the gap between human existence and the forces of nature. Through employing Gaia theory (Lovelock 1979) as a theoretical framework, the study explores contemporary fiction concerned with ecological issues and climate change to investigate how this fiction addresses man-nature intricate relationship. Through journeying in two cli-fi novels, the study contributes to the field of ecological discourse by giving nature greater attention. Richard Powers’ Bewilderment (2021) and Elif Shafak’s The Island of Missing Trees (2021) refocus human attention to the environment and address the interconnection of all living and non-living things on Earth. The study depicts how both narratives treat nature as both a topic and an object of life. They address the concept of human downfall and the struggle to find refuge in nature. On the reader’s level, the connection of literature and climate change helps to improve both our respect for nature and the significance of our coexistence with the natural world. Through the analysis of both novels, the study explores how both authors differently advocate for a more conscious approach to living in harmony with nature.

الكلمات الرئيسية