From Econationalism to Ecopsychology in Jibanananda Das’ Beautiful Bengal

Abstract

This paper argues that in our contemporary age, when Bangladesh, a low-lying coastal country of South Asia, is threatened with global climate change, bringing an ecological consciousness to approach poems written by the Bengali poet Jibanananda Das is invigorating and rejuvenating. Das’ poetry is famous for his ardent love for the natural flora and fauna of Bangladesh, especially of Barishal, and his poems often invoke a sense of one-ness with the geographical land and nature of Bengal before and after his death. Although Das refrains from preaching explicit nationalistic ideology in his poems, such an emotional outpouring of the poems drives readers to feel great pride and protectiveness towards their national natural resources, which aligns with the school of econationalism. The themes of many of his poems and their imagery depict his multifaceted communion with nature and nature’s profound connection with the human psyche. This paper aims to examine Das’ all-pervasive ecoconsciousness along with his umbilical ties with Barishal. For this purpose, his collection of poems, the Beautiful Bengal (Ruposhi Bangla, 1957), translated into English by Fakrul Alam (2010), has been selected for the article. The textual analysis method has been adopted to explore the ecopsychological aspects and eco-aestheticism with a focus on the inherent nationalistic orientation of Jibanananda Das.