In this paper, we have strived to decode the sense of place in Mary
Oliver’s select works through the optics of primitive mythology.
Primitive mythology unveils the primordial human culture and
human relationship with the non-human world. It silently
advocates posthumanism, immersive installation, intercorporeality,
and resists the dyadic approaches of human culture as well as the
model of two worlds – the human and the non-human. In the
context of Oliver, we find that she has given primitive myths an
apt place in her poetry and non-fictional works and has talked of
how these myths connect human culture to that of nature by
striking out ego-centric attitudes of Renaissance Humanism. The
poet has rejected such beliefs that promulgate the schools of
anthropocentrism, ego-centrism, pseudo-spiritualism/centralism
and the notion of Self/Other binary. She has rather favored the
concepts of posthumanism and eco-centrism, which deny any
privileges given to human beings. We have used the mythological
concepts of Joseph Campbell, Steven B. Harris and David
Leeming in this paper.