Climate Inspired Fictions and Present Obligations to Future Generations
Abstract
In the 21st century, industrial expansion across the planet, individual and global mobility, and capitalistic-driven consumption have generated increased air and water toxicity, rising ocean levels, and mountains of non-biodegradable plastic. Climate fiction, or “cli-fi,” raises awareness about and promotes further research into addressing some of these climate issues. The narratives of this genre also present situations that aid in promoting an ethical transition to a more sustainable environment for present and future generations. The cli-fi novels that are the focus of this thesis - American War by Omar El Akkad and The Wall by John Lanchester - invite readers into an intergenerational conversation about our responsibilities to the planet for future generations. These fictional narratives raise questions about how to best practice a care ethic for the Earth and the future. Asserting that the climate crisis is of anthropogenic origin, the novels allude to humanity’s obligation to balance their actions’ benefits and costs across time and space. In this thesis, I will analyze the ethical questions generated in these futuristic novels and draw on the similarities and differences the characters experience in a climate crisis. Through a young protagonist’s view, each novel explores intergenerational conflict around global warming and provides an opportunity to debate implementing an ecological ethic of care for the future.
Subject
cli-ficlimate fiction
American War
Omar El Akkad
The Wall
John Lanchester
Future Generations
Obligations to Future Generations
climate change
climate change awareness
climate change literature
Glasscock Summer Scholar
Citation
Doucet, Gabrielle Nicole (2021). Climate Inspired Fictions and Present Obligations to Future Generations. Undergraduate Research Scholars Program. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /194383.
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Schmitter, Petra;Lefore, Nicole;Barron, Jennie;Giordano, Meredith (Texas &M University. Libraries, 2018)Farm water management through irrigation information for climate-smart agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa.
-
Keiser, Nathanael Lincoln (2015-08-05)Safety climate researchers include both general and contextualized items in their safety climate measures. However, the relative value of including contextualized items in the prediction of safety outcomes is an empirical ...
-
Evans, Andrew M (2022-10-17)Eastern North American boreal forests shifted poleward and upslope during the Holocene period, and anthropogenic disturbance and changing climate have accelerated that shift. To better understand the causes of northward ...