AI-Enhanced Visual Storytelling: Exploring Environmental Narratives in Literary Studies

Adarsh Singh Chauhan^1* & Maithili Paikane^{2  
1}PhD Scholar & ²Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT), Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. *Corresponding author.

^{Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 18, Issue 2, 2026. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v18n2.10
Full-Text PDF Issue Access}

Abstract

The growing environmental crisis has encouraged new intersections between ecocriticism, digital humanities, and artificial intelligence (AI), prompting fresh approaches to ecological storytelling. This paper examines how generative AI, including image generation, illustration, and interactive multimedia, reconfigures the representation and reception of environmental narratives. Focusing on Amitav Ghosh’s The Living Mountain and Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar’s The Adivasi Will Not Dance, it explores how AI-mediated visualizations transform literary texts into multisensory experiences that deepen readers’ engagement with landscapes, multispecies relations, extractive violence, and ecological degradation. Combining close reading with ecocritical and digital humanities perspectives, the study evaluates both the creative possibilities and ethical challenges of AI-assisted storytelling, including aesthetic commodification, cultural appropriation, and algorithmic bias. It argues that AI should function not merely as a visualization tool but as a critical medium for environmental interpretation, provided its use is guided by principles of environmental justice, cultural sensitivity, and narrative integrity. The paper proposes a framework for environmentally responsible AI storytelling that expands literary engagement while preserving the ecological and cultural complexity of the original texts.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Eco-Criticism, Indian Eco-Fiction, Visual Storytelling, Environmental Humanities, Digital Narrative.