The Earth as Narrative: An Ecolinguistic Study of Sustainable Narratives in the Creative Writing of Higher Secondary Students

In classical literary theory, nature often appears as a passive background scenery, an assumption that is presently on the brink of an existential and sustainable clash with the present degradation of the ecological system. This article investigates the phenomenon of the blossoming of sustainable narratives in the creative writing of higher secondary students through the lens of ecolinguistics, creative pedagogy, and environmental education. In transforming the instructional paradigm from anthropocentric grammar to “Green Pedagogy,” this study analyses the stories written by secondary school students about the biosphere. In this study, the Transitivity System by Michael Halliday along with Conceptual Metaphor Theory is employed to analyse student poetry and thus establish a clear shift from being a mere spectator to a non-anthropocentric empathising agent. In addition, the study highlights how certain language strategies—mostly expansion of non-human agency and personification—have broken through consumerist discourses. As a result, this paper claims that inclusion of ecolinguistics in literature education results in a profound development of ecological identity. Creative writing becomes not only a form of art but also a means of intervention which can overcome the gulf between scientific data and sustainability.