​This analysis begins by establishing the physical setting of the novel as the foundation for the postcolonial uncanny, arguing that the constant fluidity and inherent dangers from predators in the "now-land, now-water" Sundarbans prevent any human settlement from ever being a true "home." Home is defined here as requiring stability, security, and freedom from fear, conditions that the unstable, dangerous environment actively denies its inhabitants. This impossibility of dwelling, the tension between the desire for home and the reality of homelessness, is what generates the postcolonial uncanny, rendering the region itself inherently "unhomely."

The argument then develops by introducing a psychoanalytic framework, drawing on Homi Bhabha to analyze the treatment of Fokir's "indigenous canny" within the nation-state's dominant cultural discourse. Nayar suggests that Fokir's intimate, local knowledge is the psychic reality of "repression," meaning it is hidden or submerged beneath official narratives. Conversely, "surmounting" is the term used for the process where the postcolonial nation acts through its "cultural unconscious" to erase and reject this indigenous canny. This erasure is seen as a form of "postcolonial colonization" driven by forces like development and technologization that cause displacement.

This section establishes the physical setting of the novel as the foundation for Nayar's argument about the postcolonial uncanny. The core idea here is that the Sundarbans, with its constant fluidity, being "now-land, now-water", and its inherent dangers from predators, fundamentally prevents any settlement from becoming a true "home." ​The key takeaway is a definition of home as requiring stability, security, and freedom from fear, conditions which the Sundarbans actively denies its inhabitants. It is precisely this impossibility of dwelling, the tension between the desire for home and the reality of homelessness in a physically unstable environment, that gives rise to the postcolonial uncanny. The region itself is inherently "unhomely," making any presence within it uncanny.

This passage significantly advances the essay's core argument by incorporating the concepts of deep time and the Anthropocene into the analysis of Amitav Ghosh's The Hungry Tide. It argues that the geological timescale evoked by the Anthropocene, which the novel weaves into its historical narrative of the Sundarbans, adds a vital new dimension to the novel's central conflict.

Specifically, the author claims that framing the transcultural conflict between Western environmentalism and subaltern refugee agency in the Sundarbans within deep time suggests that these tensions are not merely historical (colonialism vs. decolonization), but are part of a broader, planetary crisis of agency unfolding across immense temporal scales, both past and future.

This perspective implies that concerns over biodiversity loss and social injustice are fundamentally linked at the level of planetary change. Consequently, addressing these complex tensions such as the historical trauma of the Morichjhapi massacre requires a "longer temporal perspective." This expanded view is necessary to fully grasp the history that conditioned past events and, critically, to anticipate the increasing agential challenges that geology and climate change will pose to cases of forced migration in South Asia in the future.

the thesis of an academic essay analyzing Amitav Ghosh’s novel, The Hungry Tide. The author frames their argument within recent scholarship on postcolonial ecocriticism, specifically addressing climate change and the Anthropocene, concerns previously underexplored in novel scholarship.

The central claim is that the novel demonstrates the political value of a utopian approach to refugee agency in South Asia, particularly for populations facing climate-induced migration. This focus shifts critical attention to how the text models imaginative, hopeful solutions for empowerment and survival, moving beyond discussions solely focused on ecological degradation and conflict.

this part shows the methodology of postcolonial ecocriticism. It argues that analyzing complex conflicts between human and nonhuman interests requires a three-part lens: ecocriticism, environmental and postcolonialism. This confluence defines the field's mission: to critically assess representations of how mainstream environmentalism interacts with subaltern agency (marginalized groups). The field exists to analyze tensions and potential reconciliations, ensuring environmental action does not perpetuate historical injustices against the world’s most vulnerable populations. It is a necessary, synthesizing approach.