1. Alex, Rayson K. “Essays in Ecocriticism.” Google Books, Google, https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=z-tEW8gU-wsC&oi=fnd&pg=PA156&dq=the%2Bhungry%2Btide%2Bfolklore&ots=EopSN18pUZ&sig=aJ1ZRbrSi3RRfcth7fCYCJ-kxGM#v=onepage&q=folklore&f=false. 

This piece discusses how the narrative of the novel is told with myths and folklore. The writing also points out the symbolic connection between man and nature because of these stories. Alex mentions many of the connections with folklore, for example when the dolphin king who takes the form of a tiger devours people in their territory this represents the ecological balance that has to be maintained for both animals and people to live in peace. 

2. Anand, Divya. “Words on Water: Nature and Agency in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide.” Words on Water: Nature and Agency in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide, Mar. 2008, http://www.concentric-literature.url.tw/issues/Water/2.pdf. 

This writing talks about Fokir’s connection to folklore and its advantages. Unlike Piya and Kanai, Fokir worships Bon Bi Bi and has an upper hand because of his familiarity with the tide and creatures. Anand mentions how despite Piya’s and Kanai’s GPS and educational background they are still dependent on Folkir to guide them In the water.  

3.DasGupta, Amrita, and Tathagata Dutta. “Amitav Ghosh and the ‘Pizza-Effect’: Re-discovering Shared Littoral Literature and Heritage” HyperCultura, vol. 9, 2020, http://litere.hyperion.ro/hypercultura/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/DasGupta-Amrita-_Tathagata-Dutta.pdf.

This paper mentions the connection between the legend of Bon Bi Bi and the consciousness and fear attached to the stories. The authors also go in-depth about the “Pizza-Effect” and how the stories dig and rediscover the audience’s and Kanai’s roots. 

4. Kaur, Gurpreet. “Literary Endeavour (ISSN: 0976-299X).” “Amitav Ghosh’s Entwining of Threads from History, Facts and Myths in The Hungry Tide.”, PublisherSau. Bhagyashri Ramesh Chougule/ Editor-Dr.R.B.Chougule, July 2018, http://jtrel.in/archive/JTREL090305.pdf. 

Kaur talks about the lasting impact of Folklore on Fokir and how it was passed down to Tutul. Cultural narratives are transmitted from one generation to the next. This piece also emphasizes the strong connection Fokir has with Bon Bi Bi when he became the messenger and saved Piya twice. The significance of the folklore to the people of Sundarbans allows them to be one with nature. Kaur also discusses how Piya believes Fokir embodies the dominant spirit of Lusibari. 

5.Mohamed, Niveen Samir. “A Spatial Study in Arundhati Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide.” A Spatial Study in Arundhati Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide, Apr. 2022, https://ssl.journals.ekb.eg/article_235101_e837730347d1569f8779272d2c727584.pdf. 

Mohamed discusses the myths told and spread around reflecting the influences of Sundarbans. Mohamed also points out how Nirmal is dismissive of the folklore in the beginning and felt like an outsider. Just like Piya and Kanai, Nirmal needs aid and guidance from Fokir to get around the tide. He no longer felt superior when he had to rely on another person. Understanding folklore and how it connects people to nature differs the locals from the visitors. Later on, Nirmal makes the connection with how important the history of the Bon Bibi myth is.

Jim Miller, Post-Apocalyptic Hoping: Octavia Butler’s Dystopian/Utopian Vision science Fiction Studies Vol. 25, No. 2 (Jul., 1998), pp. 336-360 https://www.jstor.org/stable/4240705#metadata_info_tab_contents

This article focuses on the subject of the dystopian world along with the factors of patriarchal myths, but also capitalist myths, racist myths, and feminist- utopian myths. This is highly significant to the idea of how in Parable Of the Sower the author was able to provide a way to highlight important issues like climate change and how that ties to social inequalities which primarly result in societies that are full of poverty, but also in a way gives room for social growth; it gives the sense of envisioning a “utopian aspiration” as the article mentioned where it’s possible to try and create a community with less class domination amongst each other and as well as limiting racism and discrimination.

Maryam Kouhestani, Environmental and Social Crises: New Perspective on Social and Environmental Injustice in Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, Vol. 5, No. 10, October 2015

https://asset-pdf.scinapse.io/prod/2048487019/2048487019.pdf

In this article the author goes on to describe how in Parable Of the Sower there are depictions of environmental and social crises. What I personally liked that mentioned in this article is how in Parable Of the Sower, Butler was able to illustrate or create a world where social issues and environmental diasters are moving at a much more advanced pace in such short amount of time. This article really highlights the issues of social inequality, social injustices, systems of oppression, and much more as you keep reading on. This ties very well with Butler’s novel because it critizes these idealogies, it shows how deeply all these issues seem to work in a structured system with multiple connections among people and environments.

Clara Escoda Agusti,The relationship between community and subjectivity in Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower (Vol. 46, Issue 3) Fall 2005 https://go-gale-com.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/ps/retrieve.do?

This article was particularly interesting because even though it also focused on the concept of social issues and global issues it also considered the issues within the economy. Without giving too much away, the beginning of the article talks a lot about the sexual exploitation of particularly, black women. This was highly important within the novel because of how it spoke about the concept that in their own utopian world and community they tried to make things equal, a different approach towards gender and racial differences.

Jerry Phillips, The Intuition of the Future: Utopia and Catastrophe in Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” A Forum on Fiction Vol. 35, No. 2/3, Contemporary African American Fiction and the Politics of Postmodernism (Spring – Summer, 2002), pp. 299-311 https://www.jstor.org/stable/1346188

The author talks about Butler’s take on futurism similarly intensifies the contradictions of modern society. He goes on to mention the idealogy of achieivng a utopian world has been rendered to be impossible, but goes on to mention how social revolution is needed in order to transform the issues of humans within a community in figuring out betters ways of acting and critical thinking skills to survive such threats such as climate change issues to continue to preserve their utopian society among this world.

Mathias Nilges, “We Need the Stars”: Change, Community, and the Absent Father in Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” and “Parable of the Talents” Vol. 32, No. 4, Middle Eastern & North African Writers (Winter, 2009), pp. 1332-1352 https://www.jstor.org/stable/27743152

It was hard to choose between articles during my research and when I found this article I personally thought it fit well with the others not only because it happened to mention Jerry Phillips the other author from one of the previous articles but because of how it had a repetitive focus on the concept of change. It talks about how the concept of change is a purely potential factor towards the future. Change is a structured ideology that progresses as time goes on and it connects to the logical ways of connections between people and their environement just as how in the novel in displayed the importances of having communities, survival even in the outside world but being surrounded among others as well.

Apocalyptic Empathy: A “Parable” of Postmodern Sentimentality  Wanzo, Rebecca. “Apocalyptic Empathy: A ‘Parable’ of Postmodern Sentimentality.” Obsidian III, vol. 6/7, 2005, pp. 72–86. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44511663. Accessed 22 Nov. 2022

The author Rebecca Wendy in this article talks about the similarities and the relationship between feelings and reality. She uses varieties of novel examples including Parables Of The Sower to show how politics and feeling can sometimes cause problems but be used to build a better empire. The author focuses on why the use of Science fiction “ gestures to the idea of waning or inaccessible affect and speculate that emotions will look different in future and be harder to access.” (page 75)

Guest Editors’ Introduction: Palimpsests in the Life and Work of Octavia E. Butler Bailey, Moya ; Jamieson, Ayana A H   Bailey, M., & Jamieson, A. A. H. (2017). Guest editors’ introduction: Palimpsests in the life and work of Octavia E. butler. Palimpsest, 6(2), 225,V-XIII. Retrieved from http://proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/guest-editors-introduction-palimpsests-life-work/docview/2610114467/se-2

This article focuses on how the author is able to balance her life, her parents , and friends as well and trying to go on in life as if nothing is wrong. This goes directly with my paper because it shows how having hyper empathy is not something that will always be seen as positive and can take a toll on your body. The author also speaks on how the violence that was demonstrated in the book is still happening today which is why it’s even more important now to try and control the emotional part of life. 

“A More Realistic View”: Reimagining Sympoietic Practice in Octavia Butler’s   Parables. Stark, Doug. “‘A More Realistic View’: Reimagining Sympoietic Practice in Octavia Butler’s Parables.” Extrapolation, vol. 61, no. 1, spring 2020, pp. 151+. Gale Academic OneFile,link.gale.com/apps/doc/A624327073/AONE?u=cuny_hunter&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=289fa979. Accessed 21 Nov. 2022.

This author talks about how the use of hyper empathy is used to create a path while uncovering all the hidden problems that have been faced. It breaks down how everyday experiences shape your world and how you see it. The author talks about the belief that everyone can come together to ease the great disaster that has evolved. 

Parable of the Sower :Campbell, Loretta H. “Parable of the Sower.” Belles Lettres: A Review of Books by Women, vol. 10, no. 1, fall 1994, p. 86. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A16462297/AONE?u=cuny_hunter&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=cb1f395e. Accessed 21 Nov. 2022.

 This article talks about how there are two groups that exist: wandering gangs that steal and kill to survive, and a respectable, hardworking population that lives off the land and in fortified camps. Lauren leaves for northern California after being the sole survivor of a gang attack on the neighborhood or complex where she and her family resided. In this book, Lauren serves as the moral compass as well as the narrator.Butler spends the entirety of Parable describing the atrocities of rape, torture, and murder as seen through Lauren’s extreme empathy. Even though Lauren wants to find a utopia, she first needs to address some of the issues that plagued the destroyed civilization. 

On Compassion and the Sublime Black Body: Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower  Johnson, Ikea M. “On Compassion and the Sublime Black Body: Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower.” Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics, vol. 43, no. 2, summer 2020, pp. 92+. Gale Academic OneFilelink.gale.com/apps/doc/A643530335/AONE?u=cuny_hunter&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=9cd4cd1b. Accessed 21 Nov. 2022.

This article talks about the hyper empathy used to show basic problems that are occurring such as black-Sublimation. It also talks about how there needs to be a balance between everything in order for anything to work. He also talks about how  the Earthseed is “a theology of embodiment and interconnectivity.” He shows the impact of the bioenvironmental decay and social dealings among humans and what can happen in the next few years. I’m not completely sure how I’m going to use this for my personal essay but the author has made a few good points I can use.

Effe, Alexandra. “Ben Lerner’s 10:04 and the “Utopian Glimmer of [Auto]fiction”.” MFS Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 67 no. 4, 2021, p. 738-757. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/mfs.2021.0039.

• This journal discusses the genre of autofiction and its relation to 10:04. It discusses the Anthropocene and how the novel may bring readers some will to take action within their real everyday world. I think this would be beneficial to my paper as it addresses other articles and people whom they both agree and disagree with. 

Gilroy, Marty. “Reading the Global City: Crisis, Cognitive Mapping and the ‘Urban Sensorium’ in Tom McCarthy’s Satin Island and Ben Lerner’s 10:04.” CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, vol. 24, no. 1, Mar. 2022, p. NA. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A723635908/AONE?u=cuny_hunter&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=27c19223. Accessed 21 Nov. 2022.

• It discusses the way 10:04 was written as well as the importance of the details mentioned within the novel.  Gilroy compares two opposing novels, 10:04 and Satin Island. I think this would be beneficial to create more depth as well as disagreement into my paper. 

Leonid Bilmes (2020) ‘an actual present alive with multiple futures’: narrative, memory and time in Ben Lerner’s 10:04, Textual Practice, 34:7, 1081-1102, DOI: 10.1080/0950236X.2018.1515789

• Leonid discusses the concept of time, memory, and experience within this essay. Discusses the narrator of 10:04 and the issue of climate change discussing how the future could be saved by visiting the past. I think this is interesting and through further reading could allow for some deeper discussion that isn’t a disagreeing or agreeing voice. 

Segnit, Nat. “Same-same, but different: Ben Lerner’s triumphant flickering between fictional and non-fictional modes.” TLS. Times Literary Supplement, no. 5814, 5 Sept. 2014, p. 19. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A683229041/AONE?u=cuny_hunter&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=6ab1ff6b. Accessed 21 Nov. 2022.

• Segnit mainly discusses the unusualness and creativity behind Lerner’s 10:04. It’s an analysis of the evolving plot in relation to the changing modes. I believe I can use this as not necessarily a supporting voice but as a basis in which I can reference and later add on as I discuss my thesis. 

Vermeulen, Pieter. “How Should a Person Be (Transpersonal)? Ben Lerner, Roberto Esposito, and the Biopolitics of the Future.” Political Theory, vol. 45, no. 5, 2017, pp. 659–81. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44509445. Accessed 21 Nov. 2022.

• Overall Vermeulen discusses the importance of the narrator’s future in the grand scheme. He tackles background info of the title and other important factors. I would use this excerpt as an opposing voice and address contradicting voices. 

Kalaiarasan, M., and R. Sowmiyalatha. “Trans-Cultural Communication in Amitav Ghosh’s the Hungry Tide.” Language in India, vol. 19, no. 7, 2019, pp. 323. Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA), https://search.proquest.com/docview/2273190473.

The article talks of how the western ideologies and values have superimposed onto the Indian region, and how Ghosh’s novel speaks to this. The article dissects how Ghosh’s novel identifies civilization and culture, their division, and creates a conversation between the two to erase the divide. Due to the effects of modernization, which was introduced by colonization, the diversity of cultures and human values developed by them are continuously abandoned.

Dutta, Nandana. “Subaltern Geoaesthetics in Amitav Ghosh’sThe Hungry Tide.” Commonwealth (Rodez, France), vol. 39, no. 1, 2016, pp. 35, http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2003&xri:pqil:res_ver=0.2&res_id=xri:ilcs-us&rft_id=xri:ilcs:rec:abell:R05649122.

This article interprets Ghosh’s novel as exposing the futility of contests and need to understand the coexistence by respecting others’ spaces. However to achieve this, the article drifts from Ghosh’s novel speaking on the world outside of the novel that have similar occurring issues, those being the annexation of lands, specifically from rural inhabitants. Additionally, it brings in Ghosh’s other pieces of work to further its claims that Ghosh’s work is a critique on modernization and exposing the controversy of contradictive acts, however those topics are primarily outside of the novel of focus. Where it does focus on Ghosh’s article, is not as deep as the other sources, instead quoting other theorists and applying their ideas to the events of the novel.

Jaising, Shakti. “Fixity Amid Flux: Aesthetics and Environmentalism in Amitav Ghosh’s the Hungry Tide.” Ariel, vol. 46, no. 4, 2015, pp. 63-88. CrossRef, https://muse.jhu.edu/article/602108, doi:10.1353/ari.2015.0028.

This article perfectly summarizes the changes that have occurred in India that have caused concern for the rural farmers and essentially the subaltern, for which Ghosh’s novel talks about. It gives context to how, in the name of modernization, rural groups are pushed out of their lands which is cause for a loss of culture and villages in general. Additionally, besides providing context, the articles delves into the novel’s character’s dissection, primarily Nirmal, and how as the Marxist that he is, even as already identifying as part of the subaltern, he is more subaltern because he sides with the settlers of Marichjapi, a people even more lacking representation than the natives of the Sundarbans. Furthermore, the articles leads into how the people of the Sundarbans by nature being fixed to their culture and refusal to modernize targets them as the group to suffer the most without resistance, in other words, the subaltern.

Mondal Sukanya, and Gaur Rashmi. “In Whose Voice should a Subaltern Speak?: Reading the Problem of Agency in Amitav Ghosh’s the Hungry Tide.”, vol. 9, no. 1, 2016, pp. 1-15, http://fhrc.flinders.edu.au/transnational/home.html.

This article as well does a good job in providing crucial context of the politics surrounding the Sundarbans before citing Ghosh’s own critique of it. It successfully explains, very carefully and clearly Ghosh’s intents to specific portions of the book, and how that affects the greater idea of the people of the Sundarbans, the subaltern, that lack representation. One thing that I will make sure I touch on in my essay is the article’s explanation of how Nirmal’s journal is itself the voice of the subaltern. Before, when reading another article I had believed that the through Nirmal, the subaltern finds a voice to express itself, but it is much deeper than that, it is because Nirmal records the words, actions, and thoughts of the subaltern that through him there is representation. He is not a part of the subaltern but a medium that has a foot in both having representation and not being representation. The article goes on to explain this point more thoroughly and finds success, as well as citing other critics that have as well written about The Hungry Tide, and references them to further the idea being discussed. Essentially greater distinctions are made between the subaltern and the elite and how the latter has come to ignore the former, and in what ways Ghosh speaks to this in his novel.

Some, Ajan. “A Search for Ontological Identity through the Characters of Nirmal and
Nilima in Amitav Ghosh’s the Hungry Tide.”, vol. 8, no. 1, 2017, pp. 1-9, https://www.the-criterion.com/V8/n1/002.pdf.

This article takes a closer look to the characters of Nirmal and Nilima specifically. How, as a revolutionist, what it meant in Ghosh’s novel, for this character, absorbed by the literature of Rilke to take part and witness the dream of Morichjapi. However, what it has to say on, the voice of someone, not only indoctrinated by foreign ideology, but concomitantly someone that may represent the subaltern, comes into play.
Through Nirmal, we can come to understand the struggle of the subaltern with identity, when admiration for the western ideology is so great that it has woven itself into the lives of the native people, it as well undermines their preconceived notions of their existence. Thus reason why Nilima  succeeds and Nirmal does not is because she seeks for the betterment of those around her within the current system, fully. She creates a women’s union, and the Badabon Trust, to serve her people, whereas Nirmal, influenced by revolution and the desire for change loses everything in the end. To a greater idea, the article highlights how, when stripped of everything, and ostracized from the mainland society, Nilima who is more in touch with tradition and its values on its own society allows her to flourish, meanwhile Nirmal reflects on foreign ideology and in the end accomplishes nothing.