An Exciting Time: A Review of Introduction to the Environmental Humanities : Dr Tanmoy Bhattacharjee

An Exciting Time: A Review of Introduction to the Environmental Humanities

Dr Tanmoy Bhattacharjee

Book: Introduction to the Environmental Humanities

Authors: J. Andrew Hubbell and John C. Ryan

Publisher: Routledge, 2022, London and New York

Pages: 289

Price: INR 4369

The emergence of Introduction to the Environmental Humanities is far from accidental. Much like Daniel Chiu Suarez’s recent Biologists Unite (2025), which incisively unmasks the euphemism embedded in the phrase “biodiversity loss,” J. Andrew Hubbell and John C. Ryan confront the suffocating egotism of human centrism. They write: “Without attentiveness to the other, we suffocate within the confines of our own egotism. We can think of no more powerful way to counter the current culture of toxic individualism, which is the very root of our environmental crises, than cultivating attentiveness. Perhaps climate change, species extinction, and attention deficit disorder (ADD) are all related symptoms of the Anthropocene culture” (50).

Although the authors emphasize in their prefatory note that the book is primarily designed for undergraduate readers, its scope extends well beyond introductory pedagogy. Through carefully curated, chapter-by-chapter case studies, Hubbell and Ryan dissect the “related symptoms of the Anthropocene culture” with precision, provoking readers to grapple with the questions and methods that define environmental humanism (x). The result is a critical work that not only illuminates the entanglements of ecological crisis and cultural practice but also challenges the reader to cultivate attentiveness as an ethical and intellectual stance against toxic individualism.

The tour de force that captivates contemporary academia and unites fourteen rigorously analysed chapters into a coherent manifesto lies in its unmistakable commitment to multidisciplinarity. The authors presuppose that both general readers and aspiring Environmental Humanities (EH) scholars must first grasp the broad intellectual context from which this discipline emerged. They trace the pivotal environmental turn in the post–World War II era, inviting readers into the layered palimpsest of history to underscore the inevitability of the field’s growth. Their broader aim—sustained with the creative intensity of a Joycean interplay between text and subtext—is nothing less than steering human civilization away from its existential brink. As they assert: “Environmental Humanities is both a product of and an agent in the radical reorganization of knowledge… necessary if we are to reorient human civilization away from its existential brink, a crisis caused in no small part by the knowledge-power division fomented since the Enlightenment” (ix).

Unlike many works of similar scope and temperament, Environmental Humanities—beginning with “Reflection 1.1”—engages directly with readers’ everyday experiences and their seemingly ordinary yet significant encounters with the environment. Its appeal is immediate, especially for the novice student confronted with the opening summons: “Select an environmental issue frequently reported in the media. How might a discipline-crossing, boundary-defying, and policy-focused strategy lead to solutions to the issue?” (6). This invitation acknowledges the reader’s autonomy and intellectual potential. As any effective introductory text should, it reassures readers that the critical formulations offered at each “Waypoint” are open to debate, discussion, and reinterpretation.

Hubbell and Ryan sustain a spirit of openness throughout, refusing to foreclose interpretation. “Put simply, EH opens our eyes, minds, and hearts to the interconnections between all life in a radically changing world” (5). Such an appeal to openness is inseparable from the pursuit of a “good life” for all beings, approached through science, religion, politics, the arts, and the humanities alike. The breadth of this vision recalls the shanti mantra from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: “Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah” (Om, may all beings be happy).

The authors are careful to avoid oversimplification. In the chapter “Ecological Literary Studies,” while exploring the idea of “being at home in the world” (181), they invoke Gary Snyder’s A Place in Space and emphasise the fundamental act of “learning to dwell.” Like attentive teachers guiding learners through the modus vivendi of place in both life and literature, they stress that “the ability to identify with a place is the necessary first step toward developing identity, belonging, and purpose” (181). Lawrence Buell, in Writing for an Endangered World, echoes this concern: “That one of literary imagination’s traditional specialties has been to evoke and create a sense of place is all the more reason why place should have place in a book such as this” (56).

Wendell Berry is most evocatively recalled in connection with the exfoliation of dwelling—a concept at once traditional and contemporary. For Berry, dwelling is the “process of developing reciprocal relations with the biotic community,” and “being at home in the world” is when we become most fully human (182). This idea resonates unmistakably with Rabindranath Tagore’s song: “Viswa sathe joge jethay biharo/ seikhane jog tomar sathe amaro” (Where souls unite in joyous wandering, there let my spirit join with yours).

Environmental Humanities unfolds like a broad boulevard lined with shade-giving trees, offering respite to travellers navigating the ebb and flow of this evolving field. Readers encounter “Case Studies,” “Reflections,” “Weblinks,” “References,” annotated bibliographies, and concise chapter summaries—each functioning as a ready reckoner for deeper engagement. Those who prefer a contemplative pace may pause beneath these intellectual canopies, while more active readers can turn to the exercises at each chapter’s close. One such exercise invites readers to analyse a favourite literary work through the tropes outlined in Case Study 10.2—sublime, beautiful, or picturesque (185).

The experience is further enriched by visual engagements with works such as Among the Sierra Nevada (1868), Little Red Riding Hood (1911), and Poppy Field (1890), opening nuanced avenues for understanding aesthetic categories. In this way, Environmental Humanities serves as a whistleblower for new expeditions in a still-flourishing discipline. Its merit strongly calls for translation into many more languages across the world.

(Dr Tanmoy Bhattacharjee, Assistant Professor of English at Women’s Christian College, Kolkata, and Postdoctoral Fellow at Lincoln University College, Malaysia, is the author of Sarojini Naidu: Sufi and Bhakti Influence. He is the editor of Understanding Environment, Eco-Tales of India, and As Leaves Rustle (Spadina Literary Review, Canada). He is currently translating SabarKatha under the Rupkatha Project in collaboration with ULB, Belgium. He can be mailed tanmoy.cu06@gmail.com