Between the Lines: Climate and the Literary Imagination- How South Asian Writers Are Rewriting the Earth

Published every Friday, Between the Lines is a weekly column by Namrata. This week, she talks about climate and literary imagination in South Asian Writing.

In the humid air of South Asia, where monsoons arrive like clockwork and rivers swell with seasonal fury, climate is not just weather. It is a storyteller. It is the backdrop of myth, the architect of history, and the silent witness to human folly and resilience. From the ancient epics to the modern novel, the environment has always been more than a setting. It has been a character, a force, a presence. Yet, until recently, climate change was a whisper in the margins of South Asian literature. Today, it is the central narrative.

The Emergence of Climate Fiction in South Asia

Historically, South Asian literature has engaged with the environment through myth and allegory. The rivers of the Ramayana and Mahabharata are not mere bodies of water; they are divine entities, imbued with life and purpose. However, the modern discourse on climate change, including topics like rising temperatures, erratic weather patterns, and ecological degradation, has only recently found its voice in fiction.

Amitav Ghosh’s The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable (2016) was one of the first to address this gap, critiquing the absence of climate change in contemporary fiction and urging writers to confront the ecological crises head-on. Ghosh’s subsequent novel, Gun Island (2019), weaves climate change into its narrative, exploring themes of migration and environmental displacement. While not strictly a climate fiction novel, it marks a significant shift in how South Asian writers are integrating environmental concerns into their storytelling.