Interspecies Negotiations

Interspecies Negotiations: Literature and Human-Wildlife Conflict in Indian Literature brings together literary analyses that explore how contemporary Indian literature reflects and reimagines human-wildlife entanglements. The escalation of human-wildlife conflict in India cannot be explained solely by species behaviour or environmental disruption. It is also deeply social and political, rooted in contestations over land use, governance, and resource distribution. Yet social science accounts often overlook wildlife's agency and responsiveness to anthropogenic change, where animals are portrayed as passive victims of development agendas. What might an alternative approach look like if we are to move beyond framing these encounters as conflict, recognize the agency of both human and nonhuman animals, and account for the ecological, political and ethical complexities of coexistence? The essays in this volume cover a nuanced reading at the intersection of literature, ecology, and postcolonial critique by engaging with two key questions: What does it mean to live with wildlife in postcolonial India? And how do literary narratives illuminate the affective and ethical dimensions of interspecies encounters? The collection thus positions literary analysis as a critical site for reimagining coexistence in postcolonial India.