डॉ. बी. आर. अम्बेडकर विश्‍वविद्यालय दिल्ली
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University Delhi
Established by The Government of NCT of Delhi

Course coordinator and team: SCCE Faculty

1. How does the course link with the vision of AUD?

This course aligns closely with the vision of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD), which foregrounds critical inquiry, interdisciplinarity, and engagement with diverse knowledge systems. By exploring the vibrant domain of environmental humanities and ecocriticism, the course positions literary production as a critical site for engaging with contemporary planetary and ecological crises. It fosters an inclusive, politically engaged, decolonial environmental consciousness that moves beyond romanticized 'nature writing' to embrace issues of environmental justice, toxicity, slow violence, and the agency of the non-human world. Through its integration of critical theory with creative workshops, it nurtures reflective, socially aware, and innovative cultural practitioners.

2. How does the course link with the specific program (s) where it is being offered?

As a practice-based course in the Postgraduate Creative Writing program, this course builds on and complements foundational workshops in narrative and poetic craft. By offering students structured exposure to diverse ecological literary models, the course expands their formal and technical toolkits. It cultivates original writerly voices through experimental workshops spanning eco-poetry, speculative environmental fiction ('cli-fi'), multispecies ethnographies, and creative non-fiction, preparing them for contemporary publishing, public discourse, and creative environmental advocacy.

3. Does the course connect to, build on, or overlap with any other courses offered in AUD?

Yes, this course connects to and complements the core creative writing workshops and other literature electives in the program. However, its distinct and specialized focus on environmental humanities, decolonial ecocriticism, and practice-based ecological writing ensures that it offers a unique pedagogical space rather than a direct overlap.

4. Specific requirements on the part of students who can be admitted to this course:
(Pre-requisites; prior knowledge level; any others – please specify): None.

None. According to the structure of the postgraduate program, this course is designed for students enrolled in the Creative Writing programme as a compulsory Value Added Course (VAC).

5. No. of students to be admitted
(with justification if lower than the usual cohort size is proposed):

Usual cohort size.

6. Course scheduling
(semester; semester-long/half-semester course; workshop mode; seminar mode; any other – please specify):

Semester-long course

7. Course Details:

a. Summary:The course Literature and Ecology is an advanced practice-based and critical compulsory Value Added Course designed for postgraduate students. This course introduces students to the vibrant domain of environmental humanities and ecocriticism, positioning literary production as a critical site for engaging with modern ecological crises. Students will examine how literature represents, questions, and reframes human-nature interactions, moving beyond romanticized conceptions of 'nature writing' toward a politically engaged, decolonial environmental consciousness. Through close readings of diverse regional texts, graphic narratives, and critical theory, the course interrogates issues of environmental colonialism, toxicity, slow violence, indigenous spiritual geographies, and the agency of the non-human world. The course operates as a hybrid seminar and creative workshop. Students are encouraged to draw inspiration from diverse ecological literary models to develop their own creative writerly voices. Weekly workshops will guide students through experimental writing practices, spanning eco-poetry, speculative environmental fiction ('cli-fi'), multispecies ethnographies, and creative non-fiction.

Objectives:

• Introduce students to the foundational theories, histories, and emerging trends of ecocriticism and environmental humanities.
• Cultivate critical analytical skills to evaluate how literary forms, genres, and narrative strategies shape ecological representation.
• Examine the socio-political dimensions of ecology, focusing on environmental justice, indigenous cosmologies, and slow violence in the Global South.
• Encourage experimental creative writing practices across multiple genres (poetry, fiction, non-fiction) centered on ecological themes.
• Foster collaborative workshop models where peer critique and iterative revision serve as tools for sharpening environmental advocacy through creative expression.
• Develop a professional-grade creative portfolio that demonstrates technical proficiency, critical reflexivity, and deep ecological awareness.

Expected Learning Outcomes

On completion of the course, it is expected that the student will have:

• CO1: Demonstrate a critical understanding of the core concepts, historical shifts, and theoretical debates in ecocriticism, environmental justice, and decolonial ecological theory.
• CO2: Analyse and evaluate literary, visual, and speculative texts to assess how specific narrative techniques and aesthetic choices construct environmental meanings.
• CO3: Synthesize theoretical concepts like 'slow violence,' 'toxic discourse,' and 'multispecies kin' within comparative analyses of regional and global environmental literatures.
• CO4: Apply advanced narrative and poetic techniques to produce original creative works (such as eco-poetry, speculative eco-fiction, and reflective essays) that address environmental themes.
• CO5: Participate constructively in peer-review workshops and editorial collaborations, offering rigorous feedback while systematically revising original creative work in response to critique.
• CO6: Compile, format, and present a professional-grade creative manuscript accompanied by a critical reflective commentary that links creative practice with ecological scholarship.

 

Module I:

Foundations of Ecocriticism: Nature, Culture, and the Environmental Crisis (16 Hours)

Description

This module introduces students to the core concepts of ecocriticism and environmental humanities. It examines how the relationship between human culture and the non-human world has been conceptualized, represented, and contested in literary texts. Students will engage with the origins of green studies, the distinction between nature writing and ecocriticism, and the critical challenges posed by the Anthropocene and planetary environmental shifts.

Key Topics Covered:

• Origins of green studies and literary ecology
• Nature writing vs. critical ecocriticism
• The wilderness ideal and its cultural critiques
• The Anthropocene, climate crisis, and representation

Readings :-

Core Readings (Primary Texts):

Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay. Aranyak (Of the Forest). Translated by Rimli Bhattacharya. Calcutta: Seagull Books, 2002. Chapters 1-6. (A canonical Bengali novel exploring the pristine forests of Bihar, the lives of forest-dwellers, and the slow encroachment of modern agriculture and deforestation).

Henry David Thoreau. Walden; or, Life in the Woods. Selections: 'Where I Lived, and What I Lived For' and 'The Ponds'. (A foundational text of American environmental literature meditating on self-reliance, simplicity, and direct engagement with the natural world).

Suggested Contemporary Critical Essays:

Cheryll Glotfelty. 'Introduction: Literary Studies in an Age of Environmental Crisis.' In The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology. Edited by Cheryll Glotfelty and Harold Fromm. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1996, pp. xv-xxxvii.

Lawrence Buell. 'Representing the Nonhuman World.' In The Environmental Imagination: Thoreau, Nature Writing, and the Formation of American Culture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995, pp. 83-114.

Module II:

Indigenous Ecologies, Animism, and Sacred Geographies (12 Hours)

Description

This module explores indigenous worldviews and tribal relationships with local environments, plants, and animals. It focuses on how Adivasi and indigenous literatures challenge the Cartesian divide between mind and matter, human and non-human. Through narratives of sacred groves, river spirits, and ecological taboos, students investigate the oral and written structures of animistic imagination and the modern threats of mining and resource extraction.

Key Topics Covered:

• Indigenous cosmologies and animism
• Sacred groves, ecological taboos, and traditional knowledge
• Adivasi life vs. modern resource development
• Cartesian dualism and its subversions in tribal texts

Readings :-

Core Readings (Primary Texts):

Easterine Kire. When the River Sleeps. New Delhi: Zubaan Books, 2014. Chapters 1-8. (A Naga novel charting a lone hunter's quest through spiritual forests and sacred geographies, exploring the connection between human preservation and ancestral landscapes).

Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar. 'The Adivasi Will Not Dance.' In The Adivasi Will Not Dance: Stories. New Delhi: Speaking Tiger, 2015. (A powerful title story examining the Santhal tribe's displacement from their ancestral lands due to coal mining and the exploitation of natural resources).

Suggested Contemporary Critical Essays:

Val Plumwood. 'Nature in the Active Voice.' Australian Humanities Review, vol. 46, 2009, pp. 113-129. (An essential essay on overcoming anthropocentrism by recognizing the agency of the non-human world).

Ramachandra Guha. 'Radical American Environmentalism and Wilderness Preservation: A Third World Critique.' Environmental Ethics, vol. 11, no. 1, 1989, pp. 71-83. (A landmark critique of Western wilderness-centered environmentalism in contrast with the livelihood-centered struggles of the global South).

Module III:

Decolonial Ecologies, Toxicity, and Slow Violence (16 Hours)

Description

This module addresses the intersections of decoloniality, environmental justice, and corporate industrial expansion. It examines how environmental hazards, toxicity, and large-scale displacement disproportionately impact marginalized communities in the Global South. Through narratives of industrial disasters and riverine interventions, students analyze 'slow violence'—a violence that occurs gradually and out of sight—and how literary texts render this invisibility visible.

Key Topics Covered:

• Environmental justice and decolonial environmentalism
• The concept of 'slow violence' in the Global South
• Toxicity, corporate impunity, and industrial disasters
• Resource imperialism and environmental colonialism

Readings :-

Core Readings (Primary Texts):

Indra Sinha. Animal's People. London: Simon & Schuster, 2007. Chapters 1-12. (A visceral, darkly comic novel narrated by a young boy left disabled by a catastrophic chemical gas leak in a fictionalized Bhopal, exposing the toxic legacy of corporate greed.

Orijit Sen. River of Stories. New Delhi: Kalpavriksh, 1994. Selections: Parts I-III. (India's pioneering graphic novel chronicling the environmental activism, cultural displacement, and tribal advocacy surrounding the Narmada Dam project).

Suggested Contemporary Critical Essays:

Rob Nixon. 'Slow Violence, Gender, and the Environmentalism of the Poor.' In Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011, pp. 1-44.

Graham Huggan and Helen Tiffin. 'Development.' In Decolonial Ecocriticism: Literature, Animals, Environment. London: Routledge, 2010, pp. 27-56.

Module IV:

Multispecies Entanglements and the Non-Human Turn (16 Hours)

Description

This module moves beyond human-centric storytelling to explore animal studies, critical plant studies, and multispecies ethnographies. It investigates how writers represent non-human subjectivity, animal consciousness, and ecological networks. Students will analyze how literary language can stretch to evoke the lives of other species and how the 'non-human turn' reshapes our understanding of agency, empathy, and creative practice.

Key Topics Covered:

• The 'non-human turn' in literature and philosophy
• Animal representation and anti-anthropocentric narrative voice
• Critical plant studies and vegetative intelligence
• Multispecies kinship and ecological co-existence

Readings :

Core Readings (Primary Texts):

Sarah Joseph. Gift in Green (Aathi). Translated by Valson Thampu. New Delhi: HarperCollins India, 2011. Chapters 1-10. (A Malayalam novel centering the ecosystem of an aquatic village, Aathi, and its collective stewardship against the commercial reclamation of its wetlands).

Paul Zacharia. 'The Garden of the Ant-Eaters' and 'The Jungle Journal.' In Selected Short Stories. Translated from Malayalam. (A selection of stories exploring human-animal boundaries, ecological coexistence, and the whimsical, dark nature of natural encounters).

Suggested Contemporary Critical Essays:

Donna Haraway. 'Tentacular Thinking: Anthropocene, Capitalocene, Chthulucene.' In Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2016, pp. 30-57.

Cary Wolfe. 'What is Posthumanism?' In What is Posthumanism? Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010, pp. xi-xxxiv.

Module V:

Speculative Cli-Fi, Environmental Resilience, and Future Imaginaries (16 Hours)

Description

This concluding module examines the contemporary genre of climate fiction ('cli-fi') and speculative ecological writing. It investigates how literature addresses global climate change, sea-level rise, and ecological collapse, and how it envisions alternative futures of survival, resilience, and healing. Through speculative short stories and poetry, students practice writing environmental futures that bridge scientific reality with creative imagination.

Key Topics Covered:

• Climate Fiction (cli-fi) as a genre
• Speculative futures and eco-dystopias
• Indigenous futurisms and eco-cosmopolitanism
• Reflective creative writing on future environmental configurations

Readings :-

Core Readings (Primary Texts):

Vandana Singh. 'Requiem' and 'Ambiguity Machines'. In Ambiguity Machines and Other Stories. New Delhi: Zubaan Books, 2018. (Speculative fiction by an Indian physicist-writer that weaves together climate science, indigenous knowledge, and future environmental configurations).

Mamang Dai. The Legends of Pensam. New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 2006. Selections: Parts I-II. (Selected chapters focusing on the changing landscape of the Adi hills, the spiritual presence of rivers, and the ecological impact of modern infrastructure in Arunachal Pradesh).

Suggested Contemporary Critical Essays:

Dipesh Chakrabarty. 'The Climate of History: Four Theses.' Critical Inquiry, vol. 35, no. 2, 2009, pp. 197-222. (A seminal essay arguing that the human history of capital must be integrated with the geological history of the planet).

Timothy Morton. 'Introducing Hyperobjects.' In Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2013, pp. 1-24.

Pedagogy:

First Mid Sem

Analytical Essay	30%
Second Mid Sem	Presentation/ Field Work	20%
End Sem 50%	Creative Project	50%

Instructional strategies:

• Theoretical grounding in environmental humanities and ecocriticism
• Historical progression across modules from classical to speculative
• Critical analysis-based discussions of primary and secondary texts
• Practice-led workshops with focus on eco-poetry, cli-fi, and multispecies writing