Invasion of Culture, Space, and Place: Climatic Crisis in the Poetry of Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih

Abstract

This paper will look into the connection between cultural invasion, spatial transformation, and climatic crisis in the poetry of Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih, a well-known Khasi poet from Meghalaya, Northeast India. Embedded in the theoretical paradigms of ecocriticism, postcolonial ecocriticism, and environmental humanities, this paper will explore the possible effects of landscape transformation on Indigenous identity, culture, and the traditional ecological relationships. This paper will examine the notions of space and place as the important aspects of ecological experience, in which land is not only the physical resource but also the site of ancestral knowledge, community, and culture. Furthermore, this paper will explore how modernization, urbanization, and the changes in the environment might disrupt the traditional ecological relationships and increase the worries about cultural survival. Using qualitative textual analysis, this paper will situate the poetry of Nongkynrih into the larger conversation about Indigenous ecological knowledge and environmental justice