Green Planets
Page 40
ELZETTE STEENKAMP recently completed a PhD in English at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. Her research focuses on the treatment of ecological crisis in South African speculative fiction. She is currently working as the production manager of LitNet Akademies, an online academic journal based in Stellenbosch, South Africa.
IMRE SZEMAN is Canada Research Chair in Cultural Studies and Professor of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta. He is the author, coauthor, or coeditor of ten books to date, including most recently Cultural Theory: An Anthology (2010, coeditor) and Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory: The Johns Hopkins Guide (2012, coeditor). He is currently working on a book on the cultural politics of oil.
INDEX
Alaimo, Stacey, 41
Aldiss, Brian, 7, 47, 77, 81
alien encounters: advanced extraterrestrials in H. G. Wells, 25–28; alien other in South African SF, 145, 149; alien susceptibility to bacteria in War of the Worlds, 27; in Avatar, 220–24; British “cosy catastrophe” narratives, 79–80; colonized earth in The Genocides, 81; cyborgs, 145, 149, 155, 221; empathy emergence in War of the Worlds, 29–30; “first contact” narratives, 77; human/animal couplings in District 9, 151, 154–55; human simulacra/phantoms in Solaris, 228–30; indigenous Other in Avatar, 13, 19; Martians in City, 46; 1950s alien menace narratives, 78–79; sympathetic prawns in District 9, 151–52, 154–55, 157n20. See also human beings; robots
Amazing Stories, 2, 42
Anderson, Perry, 158
animals: animal objectification in Bacigalupi, 185–86, 188; animal rights movement, 89–90; dog paradise in City, 47; human-animal analogy in H. G. Wells, 27–28, 36–37, 250; human-animal couplings in District 9, 151, 154–55; nonhuman values and, 250; primitivist conceptions of, xi. See also human beings; mass extinction; multispecies relations; nature
Anker, Peder, 30–31
Anthropocene: defiant rationality in Avatar and, 221–23; Enlightenment philosophy and, 210; overview, 206–8; scientific provenance of, x, 4–5; SF as interpretation of, 16. See also climate change; mass extinction
anthropocentrism. See human beings
apocalypse: ancient ruins as projected future, 11–12; apocalyptic capitalism, 12–14; apocalyptic religious discourse, 254–55; class difference in apocalyptic worlds, 201–2, 204n27; early development of, 48–49; in Kim Stanley Robinson, 245–46; Last Man theme, 48, 166; natural catastrophe themes, 50–51; nuclear catastrophe themes, 4, 116; ordinariness and anomaly in, 158–161, 170–74; parodies of, 161–66, 169–170; pastoral new-beginning mode, 49; post-apocalyptic theme types, 3; radical potential of doom, 12–13; retained agency in, 4; staged apocalypse in Girlfriend in a Coma, 161–66; survival of lasting catastrophe, 10–11; transformation of humanity, 13–14, 169–73. See also climate change; dystopian fiction; eco-catastrophe narratives; nuclear weapons/nuclear war; scarcity
Arata, Stephen, 77
Asimov, Isaac: ecological limits in, 7, 20n17. Works: Foundation and Earth, 20n17; Foundation’s Edge, 20n17; Before the Golden Age, 40; Robots and Empire, 7
Astounding Science Fiction Stories, 42, 78. See also City series
Atwood, Margaret: climate change themes in, 128, 131; cultural alienation as theme in, 166–69, 174; eco-religion in, 257; environmentalist ethics in, 140n7; Quiet Earth theme in, 11; reversal of historical expansion in, 15. Works: The Handmaid’s Tale, 117; MaddAddam series, 257; Oryx and Crake, 11, 18, 128, 166–69, 171, 173–74; “Time Capsule Found on the Dead Planet,” 11, 15; The Year of the Flood, 128, 131, 257
Auden, W. H., 1
austerity economics, 18
Australia: economic crisis as SF theme, 121–24; Melbourne as Sea and Summer setting, 117–18; as paradigmatic ecological site, 18, 115. Works: An Appendix to the Former Work, 115; On the Beach, 115, 116–17; Beloved Son, 117; Colymbia, 116; Down There in Darkness, 117; “The Fittest,” 117; La découverte australe par une homme-volant, 115; L’histoire des Sévarambes, 115; Melbourne and Mars, 116; Mundus alter et idem, 115; And Now Time Doth Waste Me, 117; The Sea and Summer (Drowning Towers, U.S. title), 116–25
Avatar: Anthropocene thinking and, 206; defiant rationality in, 221–24; ecological interconnectedness in, 219–21; human-world gap, 214–15, 217–18; Kantian transcendence in, 209–15; metaphysical gaps in, 214–15; ontological gaps in, 209–11; planet-sense in, 207–8; as political allegory, 13, 19
Bacigalupi, Paolo: dystopian themes in, 180–83, 188–89; ecotopian transformation in, 183–84, 188–89; post-apocalyptic beauty in, 11; utopian political themes in, 18, 179–180. Works: “The Calorie Man,” 181–82; The Drowned Cities, 41; “The People of Sand and Slag,” 179–80, 183, 185–86, 188; “Pop Squad,” 179–80, 183, 185–88; “Pump Six,” 180, 183, 185, 187–89; “The Tamarisk Hunter,” 181; The Windup Girl, 127, 181; “Yellow Card Man,” 181–82
Ballard, J. G.: apocalyptic themes in, 50, 255; eco-catastrophe novels by, 80–82; influence on Kim Stanley Robinson, 253–54. Works: The Crystal World, 80, 253–55; The Drought, 80, 84; The Drowned World, 80, 255; The Wind from Nowhere, 80
Barad, Karen, 142n27
Barry, John, 130
Barthes, Roland, 60
Beagle (fictional spaceship), 102–5, 108, 110–11
Bellamy, Edward, 43
Bentham, Jeremy, 109
Bergson, Henri, 211
Berlant, Lauren, 199–200, 203
Berman, Marshall, 2
Bernes, Jasper, 205n29
Berry, Wendell, 9–10
Beukes, Lauren, 143
biotic transfer, 82–83, 86–88, 91
Bleiler, Everett, 2, 42, 43
Blomkamp, Neill, 151, 153. See also District 9
Blue Planet, 226
Boney, A. D., 30–31
Booker, M. Keith, 180–81
Borgstrom, Georg, 109
Bould, Mark, ix
Boulding, Kenneth E., 6–7, 105
Boyle, T. C., 127
Brave New World (Aldous Huxley), 2–3
Brecht, Bertolt, 237, 241n30
Bretonne, Nicolas Edme Restif de la, 115
Brin, David, 51
Brunner, John: critique of ecological imperialism, 87; depiction of science in, 259–60; ecological horror in, 11; influence on Kim Stanley Robinson, 253. Works: The Sheep Look Up, 11, 40, 87, 259–260; Stand on Zanzibar, 87, 253
Bruno, Giordano, 251
Buckell, Tobias, 41
Buckland, Andrew, 157n20
Budrys, Algis, 81, 84
Buell, Lawrence, 41–42, 53, 145
Burnet, Macfarlane, 123
Butler, Octavia E., 12–13, 257
Byrne, Deirdre, 143
Callenbach, Ernest: ecological utopia style, 183, 189; sustainability theme in, 43. Works: Ecotopia, 3, 43, 183, 185
Cameron, James, 13, 220. See also Avatar
Campbell, John W., 42, 45, 78, 80
Cantor, Georg, 215–16
capitalism. See economy; Marx/Marxism
Carr, Terry, 40
Carson, Rachel: ecology of extinction in, 34, 38n32; referenced in The Genocides, 85; scientific discourse and, 260. Works: Silent Spring, x, 3–4, 251
Chakrabarty, Dipesh, 10, 203
Checklist of Fantastic Literature, 2
Christoff, Peter, 116–17
Christopher, John, 79–80
cities: city-country dialectic in SF, 2; as closed-world spaceships, 107; Junk City post-apocalyptic theme, 3, 10–11; as sites of environmental catastrophe, 45–46; techno-futurism, 48; utopian cities, 1–2. See also City series; technology
City series (Clifford Simak): evolution theme in, 42–43, 45, 48, 52; optimism-pessimism dialectic in, 17; pastoral mode in, 45–48; publication of, 42
Clareson, Thomas, 47–48
Clark, Brett, 184–85
Clarke, Arthur C., 164
classic science fiction, 7, 17, 42, 52–53, 248
climate change: abrupt climate change, 244; anthropogenic climate change in The Ice People, 136; earthc
are principle and, 128–130, 137–39; as ecological SF theme, 243–45; future people viewpoint, 18; global warming in Souvenir, 146, 150–51; Hansen predictions for, 192–93; as Le Guin world reduction, 65; overview of SF works, 127–28; planetary awareness and, 207–8; religious denial of, 254–55; in The Road, 140n15; scientific proof and, 213; in Sea and Summer, 117–20, 122; temporality of climate change, 4–5
clones, 146–48
Club of Rome, 40
cognitive estrangement: deflationary vs. inflationary modes in, 16; science faction and, 196–97; Suvin formulation of, xi, 62; in WALL-E, 15; world reduction compared with, 62–65
Cold War: catastrophic future during, 159; communist menace narratives, 78–79; Greener Than You Think apocalyptic themes and, 49; 1960s policy critique, 82; nuclear catastrophe narratives, 4, 116; post-apocalyptic themes and, 3; Spaceship Earth image and, 104
Collard, Andrée, 140n17
computers, 9, 254
Connelly, Matthew, 100–101
Coupland, Douglas, 18, 161–66, 171, 173–74
Crehan, Stewart, 147
Cronon, William, 83, 86
Crosby, Alfred, 83
Crowley, John, 254
Crutzen, Paul, x
Csicsery-Ronay, Istvan, Jr., 159
Cuomo, Chris J., 130–31
cyberpunk, 9
cyborgs, 145, 149, 155, 221–22
Daoism: ecological leftism and, 17, 56–57, 59–73; egoistic self and, 57–58, 64–68; yin utopianism, 62–68, 72
Day after Tomorrow, The, 245
Daybreakers, 13–14
deep ecology, 56, 256
Delany, Samuel R., 1–3
Deleuze, Gilles, 211, 217
Derrida, Jacques, 219
DeVore, Irven, x
disaster narratives. See eco-catastrophe narratives
Disch, Thomas, 40, 68, 84. See also Genocides, The
District 9 (Neill Blomkamp): apocalyptic futurity in, 18; depiction of Nigerians in, 153–54; documentary style in, 151; plot overview, 151–53; as South African SF, 143; sympathetic prawns in, 151–52, 154–55, 157n20
Doctorow, E. L., 198–99
Doyle, Arthur Conan, 83
Dudgeon, Robert Ellis, 116
Dupuy, Jean-Pierre, 182–83
dystopian fiction: Australia as dystopian site, 115–16; climate change dystopian fiction, 127–29, 131, 135, 139; cognitive estrangement in, 181; as contemporary realism, 254–55; dystopian fundamentalism in The Telling, 71; natural dystopia in Bacigalupi, 180; techno-scientific dystopia in Atwood, 166–67; utopia as implicit in, xi, 116, 180–82, 188–89. See also apocalypse; climate change; eco-catastrophe narratives; nuclear weapons/nuclear war; scarcity; utopia; waste spaces
Earth Abides (George R. Stewart): apocalyptic theme in, 49; literary influences of, 50–51; optimism-pessimism dialectic in, 17; plot overview, 51–52; publication of, 42
earthcare, 128–30, 137–39
Earth Day, 56, 90
eco-catastrophe narratives: climate change narratives, 127–28; disaster realism in Gee, 134; eco-catastrophe causes in Sea and Summer, 122–25; ecological SF theme, 243; futuristic utopia as counterbalancing theme, 16; 1960s anti-technological New Wave, 80, 82; 1960s eco-catastrophe narratives, 80; nuclear catastrophe narratives, 4, 116; overpopulation themes in, 107–8; science faction and, 200–202; self-extinction in The Genocides, 85–86; SF-reality dialectic and, 17–18; in South African SF, 145. See also apocalypse; climate change; dystopian fiction; nuclear weapons/nuclear war; scarcity; waste spaces
ecocide, 101
ecocritique: affinities with SF criticism, 41–42; deflationary vs. inflationary modes in, 16; of ecological imperialism, 82–83, 86–91; as science fiction, 17
ecofeminism. See feminism
ecological imperialism, 82–83, 86–91
ecological literary criticism, 53
ecological science fiction: contemporary works, 41; crisis as key theme in, 243; Disch “On Saving the World” statement on, 84; early works in, x, 42; earthcare principle in, 128–30; as ecological discourse, 251–53; ecological writing and, 192–93; environmentalist movement and, 56–57, 89–90; 1950s alien menace narratives, 78–79; 1960s anti-technological New Wave, 80, 82; 1960s eco-catastrophe narratives, 80; 1970s environmental crises and, 40, 65, 68; SF-reality dialectic, ix–x, 16–17, 53, 83, 101, 116; speaking for future generations in, 250–51
ecology: concept of place in, 148; critique of economy in, 57, 75n40; deep ecology, 56, 256; early development of discipline, 25, 30–32; ecological pessimism, 200–202; elimination of species in Men Like Gods, 32–37; in extra-planetary themes, 41; futuristic thinking in, 192–93; germs as weapons in H. G. Wells, 26, 34; Heideggerian philosophy in, 206–7; human survival as goal, 248–49; insect social behavior study, 28; invasive species and biotic transfer study, 82–83, 86–88, 91; natural catastrophe in Earth Abides, 50–52; 1970s environmental crises and, 65, 68; originary “oceanic feeling” of, 233, 238–39, 240n20; political ecology, 56–60, 67, 72, 199–202, 257–59; SF as ecological discourse, 251–53; world correlators and, 217–18. See also population ecology
ecomaternalism, 131–33, 137–39, 140n17
economy: anticapitalism in Avatar, 13, 206; apocalyptic capitalism, 3, 12–14, 85–86; austerity economics, 18; capitalist excess in The Ice People, 135; capitalist “invisible hand” self-regulation, 108–9; closed Spaceman economy, 6–9, 105; ecological view of, 57, 61–73, 75n40; environmental sustainability and, 184–85; financial crisis in Sea and Summer, 121–24; global slums in ecological thinking, 201–2, 204n27, 205n29; limitless expansion as capitalist theme, 5–7, 248–49; non-capitalist habitats, 56; post-apocalyptic stratification in Oryx and Crake, 166–69; post-consumerism in Daybreakers, 13–14; social welfare programs, 18, 109–10. See also Marx/Marxism
eco-religion, 256–57
eco-thriller genre, 195
ecotopia: as Bacigalupi theme, 179–80; Callenback formulation of, 3; ecodystopian strategies for, 182–83; ecological utopia style, 183–84; in nonhuman Earths, 12; nostalgic visualization in WALL-E, 15; sustainability in The Man Who Awoke, 43. See also utopia
Egan, Greg, 115, 232–33
Ehrlich, Paul, 40, 100, 102, 109
Elton, Charles S., 31–32, 82–83
Elwood, Roger, 40, 87
energy crisis: in 1970s SF, 40; blood as energy in Dabreakers’ 2019, 13–14; calorie wars in Bacigalupi, 181–82; climate change tandem apocalypse, 5; Enlightenment philosophy and, 203; in Lawrence Manning, 40; as Le Guin world reduction, 65; tar sands oil extraction, 192
environmental science fiction. See ecological science fiction
ethnicity (indigeneous Other in Avatar), 13, 19
ethology, 30
Evernden, Beil, 148
evolution: aesthetic species in Avatar and, 223; disease resistance in Men Like Gods, 34; disease resistance in The Ice People, 135; elimination of species in Men Like Gods, 32–35; ethics as component of, 43; lifeboat ethics and, 109–10; natural balance in City, 45, 48; natural catastrophe in Earth Abides, 50–52; as paradigmatic mode of SF, 42; planetary awareness and, 207–8; population ecology and, 101–3, 108; as War of the Worlds theme, 26, 30
feminism: Disch on feminist SF, 68; ecofeminist consciousness in Word for World is Forest, 88; ecofeminist movement, xi, 141n18; ecomaternalism and, 131–33, 137–39, 140n17; Gee as feminist writer, 134; in The Ice People, 18; in Le Guin, 68; 1960s anti-technological New Wave and, 80; women’s activism in The Ice People, 137–39
fictionalization of science, x
Fitting, Peter, 77, 183
Fleischer, Richard, 107. See also Soylent Green
fossil fuel crisis. See energy crisis
Foster, John Bellamy, 184–85
Fraenkel, Abraham, 217
Frankfurt School, 199
Freedman, Carl, 16
Freud, Sigmund, 233
Fukuyama, Francis, 4, 202–3
Fuller, Richard Buckminster, 105
fut
uristic themes: advanced development in Men Like Gods, 32; ecology as necessity in, 41; limitless capitalist expansion and, 5–7; Turner frontier thesis and, 6–7. See also dystopian fiction; time and temporality; utopia
Gabriel, Peter, 15
Gadamer, Hans-Georg, 201
Gee, Maggie, 18, 134–39
gender: beauty culture in Souvenir, 149; earthcare principle and, 128–29, 137–39; ecomaternalism, 131–33, 137–39, 140n17; fragmentary feminine experience in Souvenir, 146; gendered nonhuman agency, 142n27; gendered utopia in Le Guin, 63; gender segregation in The Ice People, 135–39; sexual reproduction in Bacigalupi’s “Pop Squad,” 186–89; Spaceship Earth and, 99, 105; surface/depth ocean study and, 227. See also feminism
genetic science: clones, 146–48; genetic modification in Greener Than You Think, 49–50; genetic testing, ix–x
Genocides, The (Thomas Disch): Ballard eco-catastrophe theme in, 81; critique of ecological imperialism, 82, 85–87, 91; exterminative/genocidal fantasy in, 17, 49; New Wave ecological issues in, 84; plot overview, 84–87; reviews/critiques of, 81–82
Gernsback, Hugo, 2. See also Amazing Stories; Wonder Stories
Gibson, William, x
Girlfriend in a Coma (Douglas Coupland), 18, 161–66, 171, 173–74
Glicksohn, Susan, 87
Gloss, Molly, 254
Glotfelty, Cheryll, 41
Gore, Al, 8
Gorz, André, 75n40
government: allegory of Apartheid in District 9, 153, 157n20; apocalyptic government in The Sea and Summer, 124; population control in Spaceship Beagle, 99, 105–6, 108–9; satirical government in The Telling, 67; social welfare programs, 18, 109–10; totalitarianism in 1984, 3; Wicca government in The Ice People, 137–38
Grainville, Cousin de, 48
Greener Than You Think (Ward Moore): optimism-pessimism dialectic in, 17; plot overview, 49–50; publication of, 42; satiric-ironic apocalypse in, 49
Guattari, Félix, 217
Hall, Joseph, 115
Hansen, James, 192
Haraway, Donna, 149, 219
Harbach, Chad, 9
Hardin, Garrett: on capitalist economics, 103–4, 109; on the commons resource system, 106, 109; on lifeboat ethics, 18, 103, 109–11; Spaceship Beagle account, 102–5, 108, 110–11. Works: Exploring New Ethics for Survival: The Voyage of the Spaceship Beagle, 102–11; “The Tragedy of the Commons,” 106