Volume VI Special Issue V June 2026

Name of Author : Prof. Dr. Gazala Gaiys

Title of the paper : Colonialism, Ecology, and Resistance: An Ecofeminist and Posthumanist Analysis of The Word for World Is Forest

Abstract: This study examines The Word for World Is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin through the intersecting theoretical frameworks of ecofeminism and posthumanism. It explores how the text represents ecological destruction, colonial violence, and alternative modes of being that challenge dominant anthropocentric and patriarchal worldviews. Set on the forest planet Athshean , the narrative depicts the violent exploitation of land and indigenous life by Terran colonizers, revealing how environmental degradation is deeply entangled with systems of power, including colonialism, capitalism, and gendered hierarchies. From an ecofeminist perspective, the study argues that the novella links the domination of nature with the domination of marginalized others, showing how patriarchal ideologies justify both ecological and cultural destruction. The forest emerges not as passive background but as an active ecological system that resists human exploitation, symbolizing relational and interdependent forms of existence. Through a posthumanist lens, the text further destabilizes the humannonhuman divide by presenting agency, intelligence, and relationality as distributed across species and environments rather than confined to the human subject. By reading these frameworks together, this paper argues that Le Guin constructs a vision of resistance rooted not in domination but in ecological reciprocity and relational being. Ultimately, the novella is positioned as a significant contribution to environmental humanities, offering a critical rethinking of subjectivity, ethics, and coexistence beyond anthropocentric paradigms.

Keywords : Posthumanism, Anthropocentrism, Civilization, Colonialism, Ecofeminism, etc.

DOI :

Page Number : 105-113