What do you think of when you think of climate change? Melting glaciers? Rising sea levels? Perhaps increasing pollution levels? Have you noticed how (y)our idea of climate change is fundamentally linked to a global, Western imagery, one which doesn’t pause to consider a tribe in the Lakshadweep islands or a child in the hinterlands of Bihar who has only polluted water to drink?
The Planetary Subaltern: On Indian History, Theory, and Texts in the Anthropocene, edited by Somasree Sarkar and Agnibha Maity, tries to bridge this gap. Through essays across several domains – from literary criticism to commentary on the Green Revolution and its enduring violence, the book centres the subaltern in climate discourse, trading the global for the planetary.
I enjoyed reading the insightful text, and I enjoyed conversing with the authors even more. In a conversation with Scroll, the editors talked about their process for curating the book, their hopes and doubts, and how the current climate discourse leaves much to be desired. Excerpts from the interview:
The Planetary Subaltern combines Environmental Humanities with Subaltern Studies. Tell me how the book came together.
Somasree Sarkar (SS): In March 2023, I submitted my PhD dissertation on Euro-American Climate Fiction and analysed selected works of fiction through the theoretical...
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