Ecocritical Reading of the Works by Ruth L. Ozeki

Magistrsko delo se ukvarja z ekokritiškim branjem romanov Ruth Ozeki z naslovoma My Year of Meats in All Over Creation. Prva polovica dela predstavlja pregled ekokritike od njenih skromnih začetkov do literarnoteoretske discipline, kot jo poznamo danes. Ekofeminizem in postkolonialna ekokritika sta pozorno obravnavani, saj opozarjata na človeške in nečloveške žrtve patriarhalnega in imperialističnega sistema. Posebni temi sta tudi znanost in tehnologija in kako biotehnologija vpliva na človeški in nečloveški svet. V drugem delu magistrskega dela sledi interpretativna analiza romanov My Year of Meats in All Over Creation. Sprašujemo se, kako se ekokritiška dognanja, ki smo jih spoznali v teoretičnem delu, manifestirajo v posameznem literarnem delu. V My Year of Meats se prepletajo teme zastrupljanja okolja, ženskih teles in živali. Glavni poudarek je na uživanju mesa in njegovi sporni pridelavi. Zlasti zanimiv je sintetični hormon DES, ki se je nekoč uporabljal pri gojenju goveda, predpisovali so ga tudi nosečim ženskam, vendar pa se je to početje kasneje izkazalo za izjemno škodljivo. V All Over Creation žrtve naravnega onesnaževanja še naprej ostajajo neživi svet in manj privilegirani. Ekokritiška vprašanja se dotikajo sporne pridelave krompirja iz gensko spremenjenih semen. Če avtorica v My Year of Meats za oporečna živila krivi pridelovalce, tj. kmete, se jim v svojem drugem romanu odkupi in še globlje razišče razloge za sporno pridelavo hrane, ki v All Over Creation vključuje tudi biotehnološka podjetja.This master thesis offers an ecocritical reading of Ruth Ozeki\u27s novels My Year of Meats and All Over Creation. The first half of the thesis provides an overview of ecocriticism, spanning from its modest beginnings to its development into the field of literary theory that we know today. Ecofeminism and postcolonial ecocriticism are carefully discussed as they warn about human and nonhuman victims of the patriarchal and imperialist system. The focus is also on science and technology and the way biotechnology affects human and nonhuman world. Following that is the second part of the thesis with the interpretative analysis of the novels My Year of Meats and All Over Creation. We enquire in what way do the ecocritical findings from the theoretical part manifest themselves in each literary text. Pollution, the poisoning of female bodies and animals are the themes that interlace in My Year of Meats. The main focus is on meat consumption and its questionable production. Synthetic hormone DES is especially interesting as it was used for breeding cattle and it was prescribed to pregnant women, however, these practices proved to be extremely harmful. The victims of pollution in All Over Creation remain the nonhuman world and the less privileged. Ecocritical issues touch upon the controversial cultivation of potatoes from GMO seeds. If the author puts the blame on the producers, i.e. farmers, for producing contaminated food in My Year of Meats, she redeems herself in her second novel by exploring deeper causes for suspicious food production practices which, in All Over Creation, also include biotech corporations