Reimagining Human–Nature Relations: Biocentrism and Environmental Ethics in Amitav Ghosh’s Gun Island
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64229/dqgqrr53Keywords:
Climate Fiction, Biocentric Ethics, Environmental HumanitiesAbstract
Amid rising climate change and ecological upheaval, literature has become a crucial space for reimagining the relationship between humans and nature. This article analyzes Amitav Ghosh’s Gun Island (2019) through the lenses of biocentrism and environmental ethics, drawing on the philosophies of Arne Naess, Paul Taylor, Val Plumwood, and Aldo Leopold within an ecocritical framework. Ghosh’s story combines myth, interspecies connections, and climate-driven migration to critique human exceptionalism and highlight the role of nonhuman agency. The novel places ecological crises within the larger context of human history and myth, promoting an ethic of interdependence and shared vulnerability. By shifting away from anthropocentrism and focusing on relational ethics, Gun Island provides a literary example of ecological storytelling that encourages moral reflection and multispecies solidarity. This research adds to postcolonial ecocriticism and the environmental humanities by showing how climate fiction can alter ecological awareness and foster inclusive visions of planetary coexistence.
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