Abstract:
This dissertation examines the ecospiritual renewal and emotional healing in Zakes Mda‘s novel The Whale Caller (2005). Natural environment has long been viewed as a source of peace, renewal, and healing in a world which is full of stress, anxiety, fear, and trauma. While many scholars‘ focus on the novel is mostly based on a postcolonial concern, which means less attention has been paid to the role of the environment as an active agent of healing and recovery in The Whale Caller. Drawing on Ecocriticism and Ecospiritual approaches, the research seeks to examine the relationship of texts and the environment, and how the protagonist known the whale caller seeks healing and renewal through his connection with non-human world. It argues that the environment is not just a passive backdrop but an agential force fostering spiritual renewal. Furthermore, the study examines the inner states of the characters who live trauma through marginalisation and their realization of the decaying environment. This dissertation thus attempts to prove that healing through ritual practices, attention, belonging, and love matters even when it fails, thus emphasizing the importance of human need to the environment‘s connection
