Symbiotic Metaphors: Mutualism And Co-Existence In Johanne Spyri’s Heidi
ISSUE: Vol.1 No.2 December 2019 Article 4 pp.43 -56
AUTHORS: Patricia G. Asamoah, Confidence G. Sanka, Pensan Adwoa Asafu-Adjaye
DOI : 10.32051/12301904
ABSTRACT
Reflections on the state of the environment and how some wish it to be are mirrored in the literary productions of some writers. The focus of this work is to analyze such a text as Heidi by Johanne Spyri which offers alternatives of survival which are mutualism and co-existence. Studies on Heidi have focused on other theories like psychoanalysis, however, none has looked at the text from an ecocritical perspective with mutualism and co-existence in mind. This work looks at the concept of mutualism and co-existence as metaphors from ecology. These metaphors are further sub-divided into other tropes which offer a better alternative way of life which are neither parasitic nor predatory, but positive symbioses. Using Heidi as the primary text, this purely qualitative study uses ecocritical tropes as an approach in tackling the relationship between humans and non-human aspects of the environment. The tropes used in this case are dwelling-, a geographical place and sense of belonging: animals, mutualism and co-existence with other humans; wilderness: the role of nature as a healer; and positive growth towards the good and the morally sound. The work recognizes that mutualism and co-existence in reality are underplayed in our world today and recommends a complete change-over of attitude towards the best possible way of living for both humans and non-humans within our environment.
Key words: Ecocriticism, Mutualism, Symbiotic Metaphor, Co-existence, Heidi
© 2020 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Publishers. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).