A Postcolonial Ecocritical Reading of Hamid’s Moth Smoke

Abstract

This research conducts a Postcolonial Ecocritical analysis of Mohsin Hamid’s renowned novel Moth Smoke (2000), focusing on the themes of environmental crisis and social inequalities portrayed throughout the narrative. The novel presents Lahore as an Urban postcolonial city, struggling not only with pollution and catastrophic climate change, but also with social injustice due to class disparities prevalent in the society. This study analyzes Hamid’s distinguished novel by employing the theory of Postcolonial Ecocriticism, a concept introduced in the text  Postcolonial Ecocriticism: Literature, Animals, Environment (2009) by  Graham Huggan and Helen Tiffin. The Qualitative research approach, particularly close reading method, has been used to conduct this research, focusing on the sections of the novel that illustrate the themes of environmental decline, postcolonial elements and social inequality. The aim of this research is to scrutinize the connection between colonial histories and contemporary ecological crises that are being faced by postcolonial countries. The study reveals that the environmental degradation of the Postcolonial world cannot be separated from colonial legacies, capitalism and class disparities prevalent in postcolonial countries. By conducting an interdisciplinary postcolonial Ecocritical analysis of Moth Smoke (2000) novel, this study contributes to the contemporary debates on capitalism, Ecological degradation, corruption and postcolonial studies.

Keywords: Postcolonial Ecocriticism, Ecology, Environmental degradation, Social Inequality, Literature, Capitalism