Environmental Criticism: Need and Application

The complexities that mature within society, along with the debates, reflections, and theoretical frameworks surrounding them, play a crucial role in shaping ideas. Discourses, reflections, and theories concerning the environment have emerged fromthis very context. In particular, environmental concerns within literary studies have generated significant interest, giving rise to a new literary theoretical framework called “Environmental Criticism”. This approach critically analyzes contemporary literary works through the lens of environmental awareness, examining the fundamental ecological elements embedded within them. By doing so, it contributes substantially to public understanding of environmental issues. Environmental criticism not only interprets literature but also helps in raising ecological consciousness among society. Its emergence, necessity, and applications in approaching literary works with an environmental perspective in contemporary Tamil literature are the main focus of thisstudy.