الفهرس 
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Abstract
This study conducts an in-depth investigation to reestablish the African American environmental history through revealing the different relationships between African American women and nature as exemplified in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes were Watching God (1937), Toni Morrison’s Beloved (1987) and Gloria Naylor’s Mama Day (1989). The three chosen novels provide a realistic picture of the Southern nature during and aftermath of slavery. In this regard, the study brings into focus the environmental concerns in line with the African American women’s issues in order to prove their close attachment.
This tentative study is to be divided into an introduction, four chapters and a conclusion. The introduction sets out what the research aims to do and the theoretical framework that can be applied to the whole study. Melanie L. Harris’ definition of ecowomanism and her theoretical writings will be clarified. The introduction, then, summarizes the points of argument presented in the dissertation and paves the way to the specifics of its chapters. Chapter one, “Ecowomanism: Definition and History,” is intended to be the theoretical base of the study. Drawing upon Harris’ ecowomanism and her theoretical writings, the selected novels are profoundly examined. The definition, origin, critical views and other theoretical arguments on ecowomanism are found at length in this chapter. It elaborates how the ecowomanist concerns will be applied to the chosen novels throughout the study. The issues of ecomemory, ecospirituality and environmental justice are explored for a thorough ecowomanist analysis.
Chapter two, “Towards social and environmental justice in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937),” features the African American ecological perspective. from the viewpoint of a Harlem Renaissance writer, the African American women’s alignment with nature lies at the forefront of the chapter. It identifies the connection between African American women and nature during the early 20th century. Through the lens of ecowomanism, chapter two is steeped in addressing the patriarchal oppression in parallel with the natural disasters. For this reason, it reveals how Africans Americans’ attachment or detachment from nature goes in parallel with the issue of environmental justice. Hurston’s portrayal of women characters reveals their attitude towards the natural world and how they view it. For this purpose, the chapter mainly puts the light on the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane. The role of ecosystem and its power in enabling them to face the hierarchal structure is distinctively captured in the present chapter. In this sense, it asserts that all forms of injustice committed against nature and humans cause damage and destruction to the whole planet. However, the chapter focuses on the characters’ progression and how to raise their environmental awareness. It exposes the fact that how the cultural norms in a male-dominated society marginalize women’s voice and ignore their existence. This ignorance is refused from the new generations that believe firmly in their selfhood in line with nature, as illustrated in the present chapter.
Chapter three, “Ecomemory in Toni Morison’s Beloved (1987),” provides a profoundly ecowomanist analysis of the African-American women and their historical attachment to the Southern land during slavery. It is distinguished with its focus on the race issue in parallel with the environmental concerns. The degradation of land goes in line with the racialized oppression endured by African Americans in the Southern plantations. In this sense, the present chapter heavily puts the light on how the characters’ troubled mind is stuffed with the violent atrocities experienced in the American South. Visiting the Southern plantations and overcoming the painful brutalities that have taken place in this hostile ecology lie at the core of the chapter. In doing so, it emphasizes the necessity of reconstructing the communal African American environmental history in order to inherit the notion that African American people have roots and heritage that cannot be deniable. Chapter three is also devoted to examining the ecowomanist features that include ecomemory, ecoterror, agricultural knowledge, women oppression and land aggression. All of which reflect how Morrison delineates the relationship between African American women and nature.
Chapter four, “Ecospirituality in Gloria Naylor Mama Day (1989),” explores the concept of ecospirituality in-depth. It depends on the spiritual ecology through evoking the African cosmological traditions. The chapter is rooted in the fact that African-American women are constantly engaged with nature ecospiritually and physically. The religious ethics urge them to respect and value the sacredness of the land that belongs to their ancestors. The feeling of belonging provides them the ecospiritual healing and inner relief. The ethical praxis lies at the core of ecowomanism. The ecowomanist stance is based on the ecospiritual meaning that is vital for the individuals’ well-being. In this sense, the central premise of this chapter is to celebrate the nature’s connection to ancestors that results in an ecospiritual healing that is grounded in the notion that they are in association with their ancestors through nature. This is called African cosmology that illuminates the fact that African Americans still stick to their ecospiritual beliefs and traditions in spite of living in an urban society based on the racial discrimination and bias. In doing so, it unveils their rich ancestral heritage in an attempt to proof their roots. In doing so, the ecospiritual connection to African roots is incarnated. In this sense, the chapter reveals how African Americans are drenched in the African traditions, and how they never allow the white society to define their existence.
The conclusion sums up the arguments of the dissertation and, briefly, cites how the set objectives are met. It presents the crucial findings of the study and suggestions for further studies.