Local Literature’s Role In Raising Environmental Awareness: An Ecocritical Study Of Indonesian Texts
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Background: Indonesia faces acute environmental crises, including deforestation and marine pollution, which are often disconnected from public discourse. While policy-based solutions are widely discussed, the potential of local literature as a vehicle for shaping ecological consciousness and fostering environmental ethics remains significantly underexplored in academic research.
Purpose: This research aims to analyze the specific ecocritical strategies employed in contemporary Indonesian literary texts and to evaluate their effectiveness in raising environmental awareness and critiquing anthropocentric paradigms.
Methods: An ecocritical textual analysis was employed as the primary research method. The study analyzed a purposive selection of prominent Indonesian novels and short stories published post-2000 that explicitly engage with themes of ecological degradation, local wisdom (kearifan lokal), and human-nature relationships.
Results: The analysis reveals that these texts utilize distinct narrative techniques such as adopting non-human perspectives, invoking indigenous ecological knowledge, and portraying visceral environmental disasters to cultivate empathy. These strategies effectively translate complex ecological data into relatable affective experiences, challenging developmentalist narratives.
Conclusion: Contemporary Indonesian literature functions as a vital and potent medium for environmental advocacy. By grounding ecological crises in local cultural contexts, these texts bypass defensive skepticism and successfully foster a critical environmental awareness that policy-making and scientific data alone often fail to achieve.
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