NATURE UNDER SIEGE: THE ENVIRONMENTAL TOLL OF INDUSTRIALISATION IN GASKELL’S NORTH AND SOUTH AND ZOLA’S GERMINAL

Yıl 2025, Cilt: 13 Sayı: 25, 107 - 119, 20.03.2025

Eren Bolat

https://doi.org/10.20304/humanitas.1579725

Öz

The epochal conflict between nature and humanity is the struggle for survival and coexistence despite all the clashes that shape human life. As humans have pushed the limits of boundaries of progress, nature has responded in its own unique and unpredictable ways, reminding us of its power and the costs of this skirmish. As we seek to harness natural resources for growth and development, nature has often manifested itself in disasters, climate change, and ecological collapse. Current paper explores the complex dynamics of this confrontation, focusing on the relation between industrialisation and its impact on humans and nature in Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South (1855) and Émile Zola’s Germinal (1885). Both novels provide strong criticisms of how industrial progress harms rural communities and nature. Gaskell and Zola reflect the deep disruption of traditional lifestyles for people separated from nature, experiencing both environmental destruction and exploitation in industrial labour conditions. By analysing these 19th-century works, this study draws parallels between the industrialisation and the ecological challenges, arguing that the environmental and social degradation depicted by Gaskell and Zola continues in contemporary debates on sustainability and environmental justice.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Gaskell, Zola, industrialisation, nature, ecology

DOĞA KUŞATMA ALTINDA: GASKELL’İN KUZEY VE GÜNEY VE ZOLA’NIN GERMINAL ROMANLARINDA SANAYİLEŞMENİN ÇEVRESEL BEDELİ

Öz

Doğa ve insan arasındaki çağlar boyu süren çatışma, insan yaşamını şekillendiren tüm ihtilaflara rağmen hayatta kalma ve bir arada var olma mücadelesidir. İnsanlar ilerlemenin sınırlarını zorladıkça, doğa da kendine özgü ve öngörülemez yollarla karşılık vererek bize gücünü ve bu çatışmanın bedellerini hatırlatmıştır. Büyüme ve kalkınma için doğal kaynaklardan faydalanmaya çalıştıkça, doğa kendini sık sık felaketler, iklim değişikliği ve ekolojik çöküş olarak dışa vurmuştur. Bu makale, Elizabeth Gaskell’in Kuzey ve Güney (1855) ve Émile Zola’nın Germinal (1885) romanlarında sanayileşme ve bunun insan ve doğa üzerindeki etkisi arasındaki ilişkiye odaklanarak bu çatışmanın karmaşık dinamiklerini incelemektedir. Her iki romanda da endüstriyel ilerlemenin kırsal topluluklara ve doğaya nasıl zarar verdiğine dair güçlü eleştiriler yer almaktadır. Gaskell ve Zola, doğadan koparılmış, hem çevresel yıkımı hem de endüstriyel çalışma koşullarında sömürüyü deneyimleyen insanların geleneksel yaşam tarzlarındaki derin bozulmayı yansıtmaktadır. Bu çalışma, 19. yüzyıla ait seçilen eserleri analiz ederek, Gaskell ve Zola tarafından tasvir edilen çevresel ve sosyal bozulmanın, sürdürülebilirlik ve çevresel adalet konusundaki çağdaş tartışmalarda da devam ettiğini tartışarak, sanayileşme ve ekolojik sorunlar arasında paralellikler kurmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Gaskell, Zola, sanayileşme, doğa, ekoloji

Kaynakça

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