God, Human and Nonhuman Nature: An Eco-spiritual Imagination in an Ethiopian Novel, Zigora

Abstract

This study aimed at analyzing how Zigora presents the relationship between human and nonhuman nature from ecological and spiritual perspective. Examining how the novel depicted these relationships, the study wishes to highlight environmental issues from religious perspective in Ethiopia context. To this end, the study employs textual analysis method and Lincoln’s (2000) principles of eco-spiritual consciousness. The finding revealed that there is a harmonious relationship between human and nonhuman nature in Ethiopian context where the nonhuman nature is considered as a sacred entity and as an abode of spirits. Thus, it should be respected and cared for. The study also showed that a spiritual viewing of the nonhuman nature is an alternative philosophy to the anthropocentricism. In the end, the study concluded that an eco-spiritual imagination of nonhuman nature in literature can be an alternative solution to the present ecological crisis.