Representation of Ecology, Nature and the Non-Human in the select poems of K Satchidanandan — An Ecocritical Perspective
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Current ecocritical discussions have steadily focused on literature as a space where human connections with the natural environment are formed, challenged, and reinterpreted. Poetry, through its concise language, vivid immediacy, and ability for extensive defamiliarization, holds a distinctly influential role in this discussion. This paper explores how nature and the non-human are portrayed in specific poems of K. Satchidanandan, an eminent Indian writer and poet from the lands of Kerala. The work contends that some poetic works effectively undermine human-centered hierarchies by entrusting ecological agency, voice, and subjectivity upon the more-than-human realm. Utilizing Lawrence Buell's concept of environmental imagination—especially his criteria for texts focused on the environment—combined with the tenets of deep ecology and biocentrism, this analysis closely examines selected poems to explore how poetic form and language engage with ecological thought. The examination focuses on how imagery, perspective, syntax, and tone either support or challenge the enduring cultural inclination to depict nature as a backdrop, resource, or passive representation of human experience. The article studies that the analyzed poems go beyond merely illustrating nature; they enact an ecological ethic that acknowledges the inherent worth of non-human life independent of its usefulness to humans. By altering speaker positions, blurring the lines between subject and object, and emphasizing non-human timings and rhythms, these works embody what could be termed biocentric poetics. This paper adds to the expanding area of ecocritical literary studies and highlights the importance of Indian poetry in influencing ecological awareness during a period of increasing environmental crises.
Author: Santhosh Kumar P
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7213934214