Reclaiming Self through Nature: Ecofeminist Consciousness in Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing

Peer-Reviewed
The Criterion

The Criterion: An International Journal in English ISSN: 0976-8165

Open Access

World Literature

Reclaiming Self through Nature: Ecofeminist Consciousness in Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing

Dr. Lubna Tabassum
Volume / Issue
Vol. 17, Issue 1 · February 2026

Pages
964-973

Article ID
2026V17N1046

Abstract

On exploring Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing (1972), this article reads the work through the ecocritical lens of ecofeminism: mind, body, and spirit for the unnamed first-person narrator lead from alienation and disconnection toward redemption in self/nature. The critique of forms of patriarchal ideology that exploit and oppress both women and the earth is potent in this novel. By analyzing issues of alienation, disconnection, feminism, and ecological awareness, the paper shows how Atwood represents nature as a healing and renewing power. The protagonist’s flight to the wild not only offers her an occasion to confront a buried trauma and rediscover her lost self but also helps fashion an ecofeminist consciousness that refuses dominant patriarchy, territorial violence, and cultural alienation. Through thematic and interpretative reading, this paper contends that Surfacing prepares a return to nature, not as an evasion of reality but as a solution for mental health, moral acceptance and self-replenishment.

Keywords

Ecofeminismself-reclamationalienationpatriarchynatureecological consciousness

Article History

Received
17-01-2026
Accepted
11 February 2026
Published Online
3 February 2026

How to Cite

Dr. Lubna Tabassum. “Reclaiming Self through Nature: Ecofeminist Consciousness in Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing.” The Criterion: An International Journal in English, vol. 17, no. 1, Feb. 2026, pp. 964-973. ISSN: 0976-8165. DOI: https://doi.org/10.66376/criterion.v17.n1.63

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