While few scholars are so bold as to state in print that a “literary genre” could “save the planet,” the ecopolitical value of environmental literature has been a key subtext for the growing interest in climate fiction in (liberal) popular discourse and the academic fields of ecocriticism and environmental humanities. 2 Part of the explanation for this artistic and scholarly attention lies in the increasingly obvious manifestations of climate change, but an additional stimulus is the hope that these plays, novels, short stories, poems, and children’s stories might lead to a wider and deeper climate consciousness and thereby contribute to more progressive environmental policies and politics. 1 A decade later, the catalogue of works centered on anthropogenic climate change was too long to count, and literary criticism had more than kept pace. In the mid-2000s environmentalists and cultural critics could rightly ask why authors (and artists in general) were not more engaged with the subject. Literature focused on climate change has become a major trend in English-language publishing and reading over the last decade. Based on one of the first studies to empirically examine the reception of environmental literature, this article demonstrates a novel interdisciplinary approach to environmental literature (empirical ecocriticism) and points the way to future research in this vein.Ĭlimate fiction, climate change, literature, ecocriticism, environmental futures, empirical ecocriticism Introduction
Moreover, the affective responses of many readers suggest that most works of climate fiction are leading readers to associate climate change with intensely negative emotions, which could prove counterproductive to efforts at environmental engagement or persuasion. However, the actions that resulted from readers’ heightened consciousness reveal that awareness is only as valuable as the cultural messages about efficacious action that are in circulation. Drawing on concepts from ecocriticism, environmental psychology, and environmental communication, this article suggests that “cli-fi” reminds concerned readers of the severity of climate change while impelling them to imagine environmental futures and consider the impact of climate change on human and nonhuman life. Does it succeed? And whom does it reach? A qualitative survey of 161 American readers of 19 works of climate fiction finds that these readers are younger, more liberal, and more concerned about climate change than nonreaders of climate fiction. Climate fiction-literature explicitly focused on climate change-has exploded over the last decade, and is often assumed to have a positive ecopolitical influence by enabling readers to imagine potential climate futures and persuading them of the gravity and urgency of climate change.
0 kommentar(er)
