Posthumanism and Artificial Intelligence in the Selected Fiction of Amitav Ghosh

Abstract

This paper examines the discourse of posthumanism and artificial intelligence in the selected fiction of Amitav Ghosh, situating his work within contemporary theoretical shifts in English literary studies. Posthumanism questions classical humanism by challenging human exceptionalism and emphasizing the entanglement of humans, machines, ecology and technological systems. In the present age of rapid technological change, artificial intelligence has emerged as a powerful force reshaping knowledge, identity and cultural imagination. Amitav Ghosh’s fiction engages with these transformations by foregrounding alternative epistemologies, nonhuman agencies and networked forms of intelligence. Novels such as The Calcutta Chromosome and Gun Island blur boundaries between science, myth and technology to question the limits of rational human control. Artificial intelligence in his narratives does not merely appear as machinery but as a distributed, collective and often unpredictable mode of cognition. Drawing upon posthumanist theory, particularly the ideas of Rosi Braidotti and Donna Haraway, the paper analyzes shifting notions of subjectivity and agency. Ghosh presents intelligence as relational and ecological rather than exclusively human or individual. His fiction also connects artificial intelligence with global power structures, scientific authority and environmental crises. By decentering the human, Ghosh anticipates contemporary debates on technology, ethics and the future of humanity. The study argues that Ghosh’s engagement with posthumanism offers a critical lens to understand artificial intelligence beyond utopian or dystopian extremes. It highlights literature as an essential space for examining the ethical and cultural consequences of technological transformation. Ultimately, the paper positions Amitav Ghosh as a significant Indian English writer bridging humanist traditions and posthuman futures. This analysis contributes to contemporary literary studies by demonstrating how fiction responds critically to emerging technologies and redefines human existence within complex techno ecological networks. Such readings underline the relevance of Indian English literature in global posthuman and AI debates. Today and in future.