Narrative Ecology, Anthropocene Consciousness, and the Critique of Modern Rationality in Amitav Ghosh's The Circle of Reason

Abstract

This paper examines Amitav Ghosh’s The Circle of Reason (1986) as an early literary engagement with ecological concerns that anticipate many of the central themes of climate fiction and Anthropocene studies. Although the novel predates contemporary debates on climate change, it critically interrogates the ideological foundations that have since been recognized as contributing to ecological crises, particularly faith in scientific rationalism, technological mastery, and economic progress. Drawing on perspectives from ecocriticism and the environmental humanities, this study explores how Ghosh constructs a narrative world characterized by instability, excess, and constant transformation. Through a fragmented narrative structure, allegorical episodes, and recurring material forces such as carbolic acid, fire, money, and craft practices, the novel reveals the limitations of human attempts to dominate and control nature. Its tripartite movement from Satva (Reason) through Rajas (Passion) to Tamas (Death) reflects cyclical processes of growth, decline, and renewal that resonate strongly with Anthropocene thought. By departing from conventional realist narrative forms and emphasizing distributed agency among human and nonhuman forces, The Circle of Reason creates a distinctive literary space for representing ecological disruption. The article argues that Ghosh’s early fiction already confronts the narrative limitations that climate humanities scholars would later identify as central to the cultural invisibility of environmental catastrophe.