Eco-psychotherapy for the Revitalization of Psyche: Eco-psychological Reading of Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. Student of English Literature, Department of English Language and Literature, North Tehran Branch. Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor of English Language and Literature, Department of English Language and Literature, Parand Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran (Corresponding Author)

3 Assistant Professor of English Language and Literature, Department of English Language and Literature, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The deep tragedy, that the environmental damages and mental problems have caused for human, led to the development of an interdisciplinary approach -ecopsychology- which is the integration of ecology and psychology to examine above all biophilia and its impact on human psyche. Applying the ecopsychological approach, the present study proposes an innovative reading of Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward, the American female novelist. Ward depicts the ecological unconscious of the main characters through delineating mental peace they receive from nature. Moreover, the novel delicately portrays transpersonal ecology resulting in man’s transpersonal identification with nature. Jesmyn Ward’s work is indicative of key concepts such as ecopsychology, ecotherapy and transpersonal ecology, which were first introduced to the field of ecopsychology ecopsychology by eminent theorists, Theodore Roszak, Linda Buzzel and Warwick Fox. The present research intends to study the positive and negative effects of biophilia and eco-phobia caused mainly by psychological trauma following man’s alienation from nature. While demarcating the positive effects of biophilia on human psyche, the researcher substantiates the way psychological trauma comes to be subjected to therapy through man’s integration with green nature. Additionally, the research elaborates the importance of transpersonal ecology and identification with nature, by understanding the harmony between man and nature.

Keywords

References

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History

  • Receive Date: 27 April 2024
  • Revise Date: 08 July 2024
  • Accept Date: 11 July 2024

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