Volume V Special Issue VI December 2025

Name of Author : Ms. Melby Jacob

Title of the paper : Bio Cultural Heritage and Child Vision: An Ecocritical Analysis of Sonia Rafeeqs Herbarium

Abstract: Environmental degradation is one of the most urgent global crises of recent times, and contemporary literature increasingly reflects this concern through ecological perspectives. Sonia Rafeeqs Herbarium 2016 explores the decline and reclamation of bio cultural heritage through the sensitive viewpoint of a child protagonist, Tipu, who moves from the artificial world of Dubai to the organic rural landscape of Kerala. This paper examines how the novel employs a childs gaze as a cultural and political tool to understand nature, recover lost ecological connections, and critique anthropocentric development. Through its portrayal of Kavu culture, the creation of the Herbarush game, and the parallel rehabilitation of humans and nature, Herbarium foregrounds the inseparable relationship between biodiversity and cultural memory. The study demonstrates how childrens eco centric perspectives offer alternative models for environmental ethics and cultural restoration.

Keywords : Bio cultural heritage, ecocriticism, Herbarium, rehabilitation, Kavu culture, biodiversity.

DOI :

Page Number : 231-233