Vol. 7, Issue 2, Part K (2025)

Postcolonial ecology as an interdisciplinary field explores how ecological degradation, environmental justice, and cultural memory intersect with histories of colonialism and postcolonial development. In the context of Indian English literature, this study investigates the ways writers reinterpret landscapes, forests, rivers, and rural ecologies as sites of both imperial exploitation and post-independence developmental conflicts. British colonial rule transformed India’s ecosystems through resource extraction, plantation economies, and the reordering of land relations, creating deep ecological ruptures that continue into the era of global capitalism. Indian English novels, poems, and essays particularly those by writers such as Amitav Ghosh, Arundhati Roy, Mahasweta Devi, and Kiran Desai critically expose how contemporary development policies often replicate colonial-era patterns of displacement, marginalization, and ecological violence. Through these texts, environment emerges not merely as a backdrop but as an active participant, embodying resistance, memory, and the ethical imperative to rethink human-nature relationships. The study further examines how literary narratives foreground indigenous and subaltern perspectives, challenging dominant development discourses and advocating alternative ecological ethics grounded in sustainability, community knowledge, and biocultural diversity. In combining postcolonial critique with ecological thought, this research highlights literature’s role in envisioning just and sustainable futures. Ultimately, the work argues that Indian English literature contributes significantly to environmental humanities by revealing how ecological well-being is inseparable from historical justice, cultural identity, and ethical global citizenship.