Permaculture Havens: A Literary and Eco-medial Dopamine Boost Enchanting Towards a Promised Homeland for Ecological Minds

Abstract: If we were to believe narratives of human origin, ever since man was ousted from the Garden of Eden, he has been cherishing a dream of recreating it or harboring the idea of “return to nature”. That deeply rooted enchantment to return to the original haven where the rivers ran down the valleys, and trees bore fruits and vegetables in paradisical abundance. The plants were humanity’s first friend long before the dog. It must have been what Eric Fromm meant by having an affinity for “the passionate love of life and of all that is alive” (365). This article documents the rationale behind a long-standing trend that has recently been well-publicized. It is not going on a long journey all by oneself without having a word to anyone but celebrating each step, showcasing it before the world. Leaving behind a lucrative career or the most modern amenities, many people in their thirties and forties are after living their own lives far away from the maddening crowds, settling elsewhere inland, and setting up a piece of their own land off-grid, living off the land. This article also takes a peek into the role literature plays in bringing about such a mind change that made this phenomenon fashionable, which is not new but is very trendy even among Gen Z intellectuals. Both fictional and non-fictional works like The Secret Life of Plants, What A Plants Knows, The Over Story, The Overstory, etc., have inspired curious minds to set out on adventurous journeys, continuing the legacies of the Transcendentalists and Romantics from both sides of the Atlantic. Geocritical studies, as advocated by Bertrand Westphal(2011), shed light on the flexanimous potentialities of this literature. Social media and ecologically inspired literary work accelerate this movement among youth. Reflecting Ben Highmore’s “a materialist turn towards the immaterial, towards affect, towards thinglyness, the senses” (2011), this tendency demands academic engagements and intellectual intervention.

Keywords: Affective landscapes, permaculture, ecological intelligence, ecological Bovarism, Geocriticism