Futuristic Narratives (Part II): Climate Fiction

Part II: Climate Fiction

The seminar focuses on contemporary fiction to explore how the sense of an impending climate catastrophe shapes fictional futures. It interrogates critical concepts in the field of climate fiction and the Anthropocene as well as literary strategies, conceptions of authorship and the social role of literature. As a cultural medium, literature may always reflects on the present but climate fiction tends to be self-consciously socially engaged and committed to change. In exploring future scenarios, it draws on various modes and genres: on dystopian and apocalyptic narratives as well as on science fiction and speculative fiction.

The syllabus includes works by Margaret Atwood, John Lanchester and Charlotte McConnaughy.