Ecofeminist themes in American women's novels

Despite the fact that the examples of nature-literature combination were seen centuries ago, the visible environmental crisis of today has been recently reflected in the works of writers who are aware of this crisis. Especially the movements that were organized against the environmental destruction and deterioration have caused the appearance of many works that contain environmental concerns. As a result of these movements, it did not take long for ecological thinking and criticism to find a place in literary world and academia.Ecofeminism, which is a reflection of nature and literature in feminism, has been an important theory along with ecocriticism. The main idea it supports is that there is a great link between domination of nature and domination of women. Ecofeminism, that criticizes patriarchy through women and nature, has been the subject of many women writers? works. In this thesis, ecofeminism will be analyzed through three women writers. Margaret Atwood?s Surfacing, Marge Piercy?s Woman on the Edge of Time and Ursula K. Le Guin?s Always Coming Home and are important examples that belong to ecofeminism in terms of their containing feminist and ecological issues. Consequently, these three examples are useful sources to understand and place the ecofeminist theory.Key Words: Ecological Thinking, Ecocriticism, Literature and Ecology, Feminism and Nature, Ecofeminism.