Exploring Dark Comedy in Ecological Literature

This textbook reimagines ‘dark comedy’ as an ecological tool—a mix of irony, the grotesque, and sharp insight that reveals the carbon-laden framework of late-capitalist life. Rather than mocking disaster, its chapters dissect how humor—through unexpected punchlines, carnival-like inversions, and emotional twists—bypasses social defenses and awakens a numbed public. The book frames its inquiry within the Capitalocene, highlighting capitalism as the chief force of ecological destruction. Spanning works from Aristophanes to Atwood, street theatre to streaming satire, it demonstrates how laughter challenges conventional thinking and transforms eco-grief into civic energy. Dark comedy, more adaptable than tragedy, dissolves cultural barriers, welcomes paradox, and prompts readers to question how ecosystems became jokes. Multidisciplinary in method, the book interweaves literature, environmental philosophy, humor theory, eco-Marxism, and cultural studies. By blending these approaches, it moves beyond standard ecocriticism, treating humor as a vital site where ethics and politics intersect. Aimed at advanced undergraduates and researchers, the volume rejects false optimism yet gestures toward practical hope, betting that understanding dark laughter’s subversive power can inspire readers to rethink and repair the world. Mohammad Rahmatullah is Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Northern University Bangladesh. Tanu Gupta is Professor and Head in the Department of English and Foreign Languages at Central University of Haryana, Mahendergarh. Nagendra Kumar is Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee