The Convergence of Gender, Ecological, and Colonial Oppressions: A Postcolonial Ecofeminist Examination of J.M. Coetzee's Waiting for the Barbarians

Abstract

Background: Postcolonial literature increasingly highlights the entanglement of gender, ecological, and racial oppressions, yet much scholarship still treats these dimensions separately, limiting systemic engagement with interconnected subjugations. Objective: J.M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians presents a narrative terrain where female bodies, land, and animals are simultaneously subjected to colonial and patriarchal power. This study aims to examine how the text constructs the “Triple Other”, women, land, and animals, as mutually reinforcing sites of oppression and explore the intersections of colonial, gendered, and ecological domination. Methods: Guided by a postcolonial ecofeminist framework, this research conducts a qualitative close reading of the barbarian girl’s bodily injuries, shifting borderland landscapes, and depictions of animal suffering. The analysis focuses on narrative strategies of corporeality, spatiality, and nonhuman suffering to uncover structural intersections of domination. Results: Through these scenes, the study identifies symbolic patterns and ethical interventions that expose the systemic workings of power. The analysis demonstrates that the female body, the border environment, and nonhuman life operate as linked grounds through which empire enforces its hierarchy of livability. Conclusion: By integrating human and nonhuman oppression, the study advances postcolonial ecofeminist readings beyond single-axis approaches. It contributes a model for examining interdependent violence and fosters cross-disciplinary discussions of relational life.