Portrayal of Pate Island and the Indian Ocean as Characters: Tracing Geocritical Ecologies in The Dragonfly Sea

Pratixa Jethalal Parmar, Yeddu Vijaya Babu

Abstract


The emergence of the “Spatial Turn” in the humanities emphasises spatial literary representation that engages the questions of regional associations across spaces, places, and the environment. The present paper addresses the need to bring oceanic viewpoints to the centre to examine the distinguished relationships of the littoral community with the sea, incorporating the geo-centric and eco-centric approaches in The Dragonfly Sea (2019) by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor. Her fictional work documents the rich ecologies of Pate Island and the infinite beauty of the Indian Ocean. The islanders’ intrinsic connection to Pate Island and their ability to read the sea manifest the interconnectedness of the coastal space. The paper incorporates a regional approach to portray the personification of space in the novel. The paper argues that the specific regional and environmental locations of “Pate Island” and “The Indian Ocean” do not serve merely as a “passive setting” or “locale” for the narratives; instead, they become substantive “characters” in interrogating the lives of the islanders and seafarers who inhabit the shore. By recontextualising “geocritical ecologies,” coastal territories are pushed to the “centre of discussions,” which are often sanitised and undervalued. The paper, therefore, contributes significantly to literary inquiry by focusing on inland and coastal areas to highlight the interconnectedness between coastal people and their Swahili Sea.  

 

Keywords: Geocritical ecologies; Indian Ocean; littoral society; Pate Island; spatial turn


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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/3L-2025-3102-09

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