A Critical Reappraisal of Ecocriticism, Eco-precarity, and Eco-spirituality in Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible

Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible (1998) has been extensively examined as a postcolonial and feminist critique of missionary arrogance, patriarchal authority, and American imperialism. However, its ecological and spiritual dimensions have received comparatively limited attention, particularly through an integrated environmental humanities framework. This paper addresses this gap by analysing the novel through the combined lenses of ecocriticism, eco-precarity, and eco-spiritual theory. Employing close textual analysis, the study argues that Kingsolver presents ecology as inseparable from moral responsibility and spiritual consciousness. The Congolese landscape emerges not as a passive backdrop but as an active agent that resists anthropocentric and colonial domination. Through the concept of eco-precarity, the novel foregrounds uneven environmental vulnerability shaped by colonial exploitation, ideological rigidity, and socio-political instability, disproportionately affecting women and indigenous communities. Further, the paper demonstrates how Kingsolver critiques religious absolutism and advances an eco-spiritual ethic grounded in humility, interdependence, and coexistence. By integrating environmental agency, gendered vulnerability, and indigenous ecological knowledge, this study positions The Poisonwood Bible as a significant contribution to ecocritical and environmental humanities discourse.