Burning landscapes, broken bodies: ecofeminism and colonial violence in John Maxwell Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians

Although J.M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians has been widely examined for its political and ethical critique of imperialism, its ecological and gendered dimensions remain comparatively underexplored. This study addresses that gap by analysing the novel through an ecofeminist lens, emphasising the interconnected subjugation of women and the environment within imperialist systems of domination. Drawing on Val Plumwood’s theories of rationalism and dualism, it investigates how the empire’s hierarchical worldview positions both human and non-human entities as exploitable resources. The analysis is based on a qualitative literary method of close reading, with Coetzee’s novel selected through purposive sampling as a representative text that illuminates the convergence of ecological and feminist concerns in postcolonial contexts. Through the magistrate’s relationship with the barbarian girl and his shifting perception of the natural world, the article explores how the narrative critiques the binaries of civilised/barbarian and human/nature that sustain imperial violence. Ultimately, the study argues that Waiting for the Barbarians not only exposes the moral and environmental consequences of empire but also gestures toward a more integrated, ethical mode of coexistence.