Anatomization of the landscape in <i>Softly Dies a Lake</i> through ‘ <i>tinai</i> ’ theory

This article addresses a significant gap in the ecocritical reading of South Indian literature by applying the prehistoric Tamil literary trope tinai as an interpretative ecological framework to Softly Dies a Lake (Kolleti Jaddalu) by Akkineni Kutumbarao. While contemporary environmental criticism predominantly relies on western theoretical models, this study argues that tinai offers substantial insights into the environmental consciousness of the Tamil Sangam people (300 BCE–200 CE) and provides a culturally-grounded alternative. Employing close textual analysis, the research examines the ecosphere of lake Kolleru as portrayed in the novel, particularly the consequences of diversion from and concordance with the tinai principle of co-habitation. The findings reveal that the dismantling of the expected consensus of earth’s nature results from deviation from tinai postulates, whereas harmony emerges through adherence to them. In addition, the study ultimately substantiates nature and culture as non-binaries, with tinai functioning as the basis for understanding their intrinsic concord.