‭AMITAV GOSH‬

‭The Great Derangement:‬

‭Climate Change and the‬
‭Unthinkable‬
‭The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable is a 2016‬
‭non-fiction book by Indian writer Amitav Ghosh discussing climate change. In it,‬
‭Ghosh discusses the cultural depictions, history and politics of climate change,‬
‭and its relationship to colonialism.‬
‭One of his main theses is that “serious” fiction has been thus far unwilling to‬
‭engage with the climate catastrophe, and there is no other way for future‬
‭generations to view this current generation as anything other than “deranged.”‬

‭Background‬
‭Indian writer Amitav Ghosh delivered a series of lectures on what he‬
‭perceived was the lack of coverage of climate change in contemporary fiction at‬
‭the University of Chicago in 2015. He would later adapt the content of the lectures‬
‭into The Great Derangement.‬

‭Synopsis‬
‭The book is composed of three parts: Part I, titled Stories, Part II, History, and‬
‭Part III, Politics. The first part, Stories, explores why the modern novel struggles as‬
‭an art form to describe and grapple with the concept of climate change. To‬
‭understand this shortcoming, Ghosh highlights the role of the‬‭uncanny‬‭. In the‬
‭second section, History, Ghosh highlights the role of colonialism in the climate‬
‭crisis. With examples ranging from Miami to Mumbai to New York, Ghosh‬
‭explores why urban planning deviated and deviated from the indigenous‬
‭multigenerational knowledge that compelled cultures to build away from the‬
‭ocean. In the final section, Politics, Ghosh notes that activists who single out‬
‭capitalism as the systemic driver of climate change miss an important element:‬
‭imperialism. Ghosh describes how writers and artists increased their engagement‬
‭with political movements at the same time as industrial activities intensified.‬
‭Ghosh ties these three sections together with a comparison between the Paris‬
‭Agreement and Pope Francis's 2015 encyclical on climate change.‬

‭Amitav Ghosh: Great Derangement: Part 1: Stories‬

‭Part 1 of the book is titled Stories, and it explores why the modern novel‬
‭struggles as an art form to describe and grapple with the concept of climate‬
‭change. Ghosh argues that the literary conventions of realism, which dominate‬
‭contemporary fiction, are inadequate to capture the scale and unpredictability of‬
‭the climate crisis. He suggests that we need to rethink our notions of the plausible,‬
‭the probable, and the uncanny in order to imagine and narrate the impacts of‬
‭climate change on human lives and societies.‬
‭He connects this to the development of the modern novel, which happened‬
‭coterminously with science’s embrace of “gradualism” as opposed to‬
‭“catastrophism.” The modern novel was not supposed to embrace too much time,‬
‭like the ancient epics, or go far beyond individual character development. Thus,‬
‭climate change only plays a role in some science fiction works, but the mere fact‬
‭that the subject is taken up by a genre deemed inferior or niche indicates that‬
‭literature is, as a whole, unwilling to take it seriously.‬
‭Summary‬
‭Ghosh recalls his ancestors, who were ecological refugees from Bangladesh.‬
‭They had to escape when the river changed course, and today, they are untethered‬
‭from their homelands by an elemental force. Recognition is a passage from‬
‭ignorance to knowledge, revealing a lost other, similar to how people today feel‬
‭when the energy surrounding them manifests.‬
‭Ghosh became aware of the immediate proximity of alien presences in the‬
‭Bengal Delta's Sundarbans mangrove forest. The ever-changing scenery made him‬
‭feel indelibly alive, affected by childhood recollections, family stories, and other‬
‭life occurrences.‬
‭Yet when it comes to translating these feelings, these instances of‬
‭recognition, into fiction, it is easier said than done. Ghosh claims that climate‬
‭change poses challenges for the contemporary writer. The grid of literary forms‬
‭and norms that formed the narrative imagination during the period when‬
‭atmospheric carbon buildup rewrote Earth's fate presents a challenge to current‬
‭writers. Climate change is a common theme in nonfiction, but Ghosh doubts its‬
‭irrationality while acknowledging that there is ample information available. He‬
‭confesses that climate change is only mentioned in passing in his own writing.‬
‭As people have become geological actors, affecting Earth's core processes,‬
‭the Anthropocene has caused a Great Derangement in contemporary society. This‬
‭problem stems from the technical vocabulary used to describe climate change as‬
‭well as humanistic preconceptions. Other ecological catastrophes have prompted‬
‭cultural responses, but climate change has not. This raises concerns about why it‬
‭is banned from serious literature and its cultural influence. Ghosh believes that in‬
‭the future, people would look back and discover little writing that confronts‬
‭climate change, leading them to conclude that art and literature were disguising‬
‭the facts of their suffering.‬
 ‭Ghosh was studying for his M.A. at Delhi University in 1978 when a cyclone‬
‭hit, forcing him to seek shelter and briefly be in the eye of the storm. The cause of‬
‭the death and devastation was first unknown, but it was eventually identified as a‬
‭cyclone. Ghosh pondered the experience and its importance for years, but nothing‬
‭conventional could explain it. He aimed for the spectacular and the mysterious,‬
‭but his works did not do it justice. He wonders why this is the case, considering he‬
‭thinks about it frequently and still possesses press clippings. He decides that if he‬
‭saw anything in a fiction written by someone else, it would appear implausible.‬
‭Improbable is not the inverse of probable, but rather a gradient on a‬
‭probability continuum. It is worth noting that probability and the contemporary‬
‭novel both arose at the same period and among the same individuals.‬
‭Ghosh contends that humans have evolved from perceiving events as‬
‭catastrophists to believing in uniformitarianism, making dealing with uncommon‬
‭events challenging. While poetry may deal with such situations, fiction stays‬
‭prosaic and avoids them. While magical realism and surrealism have imbued‬
‭novels with unlikely situations, he concludes that the modern reality is‬
‭simultaneously improbable and absolutely real. Treating occurrences as magical‬
‭or surreal would imply that they do not exist in the present.‬