What to Write at the End of the World

— Full Research Journal Available Online at: https://www.notion.so/Climate-Fiction-Research-117a35c2f78346469fe6586338f92ace

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I remember when I was young that the biggest challenge I faced was how not to be bored. I’d use whatever I could get my hands on and play with it until it was almost destroyed: a ballon — sure I’ll throw it around the room until it pops, a lego set — awesome! heaps of possibilities; once I’m bored with that, the box will do until I’d rip the thing apart.

I’d like to hope that all children were like this: devious, monstrous, willing do make do with whatever was at hand to make fun and fight boredom. Children are always willing to use and combine different things for purposes that they were never originally meant for, and most humans carry this innate ability of creativity and destruction with them until they die.

This process on an individual level (of using disparate elements to create novel solutions) is known in psychology as ‘creative cognition’ and from a cultural perspective (when societies create novel solutions) known as ‘bricolage’ (Levi-Strauss, 1962). One of the core factors in humanities enduring success has been its ability to retrieve and recombine knowledge to solve problems, both as individuals and groups, and the very fact that we are sitting here is evidence that humanity has been doing forever. The important question is: will this be enough to save us from Climate Change? but, we’ll have to come back to this later.

Climate change is hurdling the world towards a dramatic, and possibly catastrophic, collapse, and yet somehow, there’s still insignificant action and considerable residence (Depont and Pearman, 19-22 from watermarks). The scientific community has been shouting about the dangers of carbon emissions with increasing fatalism for at least the last 30 years (source). And so, the first question arrises: why is not enough being done to tackle climate change? One possible theory is that it’s due to the cognitive dissonance that tackling this issue engenders (Nahrung, 2020). In the west, our lives are intertwined irrevocably with environmental damaging actions. Everything from the electricity used in the hospital we were born in, to the petrol we use in our cars, to the food we eat, to the water we drink, to the minerals that make up our phones and laptops, to the tunes of individualism and capitalism we live our lives to. Climate Change is as much a cultural problem as it is a scientific one, and therefore artists might just have a vital role to play in helping mitigate the damage caused by the Climate Crisis. I’ll be focusing on literature, as it’s the art form I know best and hope to contribute to the world. Climate Fiction (or Cli-Fi) is a speculative sub-genre of Science Fiction which uses Climate Science to ‘make visible and conceivable future modes of existence within worlds not only deemed likely by science, but which are scientifically anticipated,’ (Anderson, 2020, p.i). Climate Fiction tackles the overarching problem of ‘why is not enough being done?’ by:

1. making visible the ethical, social and environmental effects of climate change through storytelling

2. by serving as a cultural object to provoke dialogue about climate change

3. by walking readers through the cognitive dissonance that issues of climate change cause and ‘walking them through an inner space that is hard to traverse

(Anderson, 2020; Mayerson, date; Mehnert, date; Milkoreit, date; Morton, date, p184; Nahraung, 2020).

I personally hope create a piece of fiction that achieves all three of these goals myself; however, considering the task of this piece of fiction is to literally change culture itself, I keep finding myself running into a wall of creativity. What could I possibly write that might even come close to achieving any of these goals? But nevertheless, here I am with the great cthulucence looming in front of me motivating me forwards regardless. And, I do honestly think think that fiction will play an important role in moving the world through the ‘inner space that is hard to traverse’ — so the least I can do is contribute to the dialogue.

First off, I’m defining culture as ‘historically created systems of meanings in terms of which we give form, order, point, and direction to out lives,’ (Geertz, 1973, p52), which means that, as Anderson suggests when he argued that there have been certain cultural schemes that have shaped the ‘Western Imagination’ of the natural world, because then there must also be the possibility of new cultural schemes to be created or existing schemes to be altered (self note: find theorists talking about schemes, I remember them from my Educational Degree), (Anderson, 2020).

If this is true, then the set of next questions arrises naturally from it:

• What important texts already exist within the Wests cultural imagination?

• What elements of these texts are readers responding positively to?

• Which of these texts have had the most impact in achieving the goals which I laid out above?

• What benefits from these texts can I transpose into my Cli-Fi Novel?

What important texts already exist within the Wests cultural imagination?

1. Climate Fiction which shows social collapse as a result of Climate Change.

Most common genre: Dystopian/Post-Apocalypse

1. Implied social collapse

• Ian McEwan’s Solar (2010) (READ)

• Mattew Glass Ultimatum (2009) (Unread)

2. Social Collapse with a Post-Apocalypse

• Steven Amsterdam’s Things We Didn’t See Coming (2009) (Unread, but holy shit what a great title and premise)

• Marcel Therous’ Far North (2009) (unread)

• Helen Simpson’s Diary of an Interesting Year (2010) (READ)

These narratives ask the simple question: ‘how does climate change influence the relationships between humans? And answer with an existential way of life: kill of be killed. Because of this, many of the characters carry with them deep trauma or mental illness. This creates feelings of the ‘uncanny’, as within these worlds there is no specific enemy to fear, the enemy is themselves and each other (source for the uncanny). This does a good job embodying the hyper-object of climate change, by reflecting through narrative that the cause of climate change is ‘us’ (source for climate change as hyper-object). To me however, these texts become theoretically problematic. All of them have an implied cynicism that is needed to be shared by the reader for them to buy into these narratives; a cynicism that expects that, if modern society is removed as a barrier for violence, tribalism and horror, these will be the states that humans naturally fall back into. If humanity is incapable of controlling its urges, then the next logical step to take if one wants to save the environment is for international governments to create strict laws to stop humanity from literally greedily devouring itself into extinction. This becomes the literal statement at the end of McEwan’s Solar, which depicts a gluttonous horrible scientist who is incapable of controlling his urges, and also supposed to represent all of humanity. This way of thinking is both extremely cynical, not in anyway reflecting my experience with people, and likely doesn’t lead to any effective action because ‘people can’t help themselves,’ and could lead towards the popularisation of eco-fascism. The other problem that these texts share in my eyes is the perpetuation of the human centric thinking that the Western World adopted and led us down this path. Very little effort is exercised in these books to consider the more than human world, which I think is necessary for the future protection of the environment and a core element of what needs to change throughout Wester Culture.

2. Climate Fiction which shows the non-human world as passing judgement of humanity.

Most common genre: thriller/monster

• Frank Schatzing’s The Swarm (2004) (Unread)

• Liz Jensen’s The Rapture (2009) (Unread)

I have not read either of these texts nor looked into them too closely. I can’t see how they’d reveal the ethical, social and environmental effects of climate change, due to the supernatural elements involved, nor do I see them walking readers through the cognitive dissonance associated with climate change, and while I could see it provoking dialogue, neither of these books or any others I could find sold well enough to achieve this value.

3. Climate change as caused by political and organisational failures.

Most common genre: thriller

• Michael Crichton’s State of Fear (2004) (Unread)

4. Climate Change and the Loss of the Natural World

Most common genre: thriller

• Jean McNeil The Ice Lover (2009) (Unread)

• Johnathan Bate The Song of the Earth (2000) (Unread)

• 
  

5. Emerging Forms

The Mosaic Novel:

• James Bradley’s Clade (2017) (READ)

• Jason Paul Narung’s Watermarks (2020) (Unread, not published)

Climate Change causing Resource Wars:

• Paolo Bacigalupi The Water Knife (2015) (Unread)

Climate Change causing the End of Capitalism:

• Kim Stanley Robinson’s Science in the Capital Trilogy (Unread)

• Nathaniel Rich’s Odd’s Against Tomorrow (2013) (Unread)

What elements of these texts are readers responding positively to?

Understanding what readers respond positively to is a difficult topic to understand. For one, sales numbers are difficult to find, and the sales of a book may not reflect its quality or impact. Concerning this I will take the simple route, and find what of the novels outlined above are the most read and best rated on Goodreads. For trying to understand what readers respond to powerfully, I will turn to Scheider-Mayerson’s Empirical Survey of cli-fi readers.

Goodreads Ratings of Climate Fiction Novels

The not-already-a-household-name authors with highly rated and well read novels are:

Frank Schatzing’s (2004) The Swarm (Unread)

• 17,213 - 4.06 / 5 stars

Marcel Therous’ (2009) Far North (unread)

• 4,056 ratings - 3.69 / 5 stars
  

Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Water Knife (2015) (Unread)

• 22,240 ratings - 3.85 / 5 stars
  

Barbara Kingsolver's Flight Behaviour (Literary Fiction/Realist fiction) (Unread)

• 85,960 ratings, 3.78 / 5 stars

The already-a-household-name authors with highly rated and well read cli-fi novels are:

Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake (Science Fiction) (Unread and not even sure if it’s cli-fi)

• 229,880 ratings, 4.01 / 5 stars

Michael Crichton’s (2004) State of Fear (Unread)

• 89,907 ratings - 3.71 / 5 stars

Full catalogue of novels and Goodreads score in Blog Post Appendix.

What is perhaps an important note on these ratings is the groups of readers who are reading cli-fi in the first place. Scheider-Mayerson’s Empirical Survey of cli-fi readers found that most were between the ages of 18-35, that 50% identified as ‘very progressive’, and that 73% of the readers were already concerned with climate change (Scheider-Mayerson, date). While it’s a little depressing that such a large number of cli-fi readers already concentred about climate change, one positive that the study noted was cli-fi’s ability to move these readers from ‘concern’ to ‘alarm’ and ‘action’. This will be one of the main goals of my climate fiction, to move the educated, concerned population towards effective actions for the environment.

The survey found that most of these readers associated climate fiction with the ability to potential futures as a result of climate change; however, almost all surveyed associated climate fiction (and climate change) with intense negative emotions, which as Scheider-Mayerson points out, ‘could prove counterproductive to efforts of environmental engagement’. Climate fiction did though, help make the ‘hyper-object’ of climate change concrete in readers mind, Scheider-Mayerson found that vivid images lead to more narrative engagement, recall, and positive environmental actions after the readers had finished with the book. The survey also suggested that positive character arcs could help mitigate the climate nihilism that arrises when reading cli-fi. I believe that both of these will be vital for my future creative work within this genre: the narrative has to lead to powerful images, and has to have positive character arcs. This makes sense, if the world is depressing, the characters should instil hope in the readers, whereas, if both are depressing it could lead to climate inaction due to fatalism. This also reflects my belief that humanity is good and capable of change, this echoes back my criticism of climate fiction that explores social collapse within its narrative. The other element to note is that

Well, What to Write?

It's said that there are four ways to tell a story:

• a simple story told simply,

• a simple story told complexly,

• a complex story told simply,

• and a complex story told complexly.

Each have their benefits and each can have amazing results. In the case of my cli-fi, I think it has to take the form of a complex story (the ethical, social and environmental problems associated with climate change) told simply. I think this is where novels such as Bradley’s Clade fail, while an incredible feat of climate fiction and the most successful in all of cli-fi to break down the hyper-object of climate change, it’s difficult to follow, jumps around too often, and doesn’t ever offer satisfying arcs for its characters. The impossible question is: what is the simple story that best encapsulates climate change?

Examples I can think of where a complex story is told simply:

George Orwell’s Animal Farm

Ernest Hemmingway’s For Whom the Bells Toll, The Sun Also Rises,

And Maybe the works of Coetzee and Ishiguro, but they are told with more complexity

This isn’t a strict regiment I plan to stick to, just a philosophy to guide me because if the narrative is to achieve goals 1, 2, or 3 it has to be unpretentious and easy enough for the non literary fiction world to appreciate.

Other things that will help limit the scope of what my cli-fi should be are who the readers of Australian fiction are, which is almost entirely middle-class women aged between 25-50 (I know this is true but need to get source to quote), and the most popular Australian fiction are novels that reflect the realities of their life and history back to this target market (also needs sources and examples, I can think of Boy Swallows Universe as an example).

Therefore, from this research I can see that my climate fiction will have:

• A positive character arc where the character overcomes enormous odds and hardships

• Utopian visions of humanity as a whole

• Dystopian visions of the climate future

• Lead the reader towards strong imagery

• Have the protagonist be a middle-class woman between the age of 25-50

• Will be realist, literary fiction narrated in a simple, concrete way

• Will not be told as a mosaic narrative, but instead linearly through one POV character

So, there’s some ideas that I’m going to use this week to build upon. What I plan on doing is ‘filling the sandpit’ as Rohan Wilson once told me, or in other words just writing with these simple guides in any way my mind takes me. While writing, I will also be continuing my research to build upon my theoretical framework, that I also plan to feed back into the creative work. The theoretical work will feed into the creative work and the creative work will feed back into the theoretical work. This, as far as I understand it, is known as Practice Based Research, and will be another elements I aim to delve into in the following weeks.

What I’m Drafting Now

Short Story called Generation Anthropocene which follows a woman who grew up the generation after the devastating collapse of the climate due to climate change. The narrative is her, in a diary like manner, talking through her life and exploring how the trauma her parents generation carried influenced her generation. I’ve taken inspiration from stories about Jewish peoples who migrated around the world post World War Two. This week I drafted out 1,499 words for it, but struggled to find an ending.

• - I find this angle interesting, however the narrative has no direction

The start of a novel: I’ve drafted out a middle aged working class woman who is living through the climate collapse. She’s working as a parole officer and has to visit a prison that is surrounded by floodwaters; the story starts with her rowing across open water to the prison and thinking back on the events that led to this moment.

• - this angle works well with the target market

• - I also find this character interesting

An Ishiguro style exploration of an elderly couple who are finding it difficult to connect after having to live through the climate collapse. It is from his perspective, as he wonders at why they have been distant lately and considering what she’s lost in her life up to that point in the story.

• - Interesting characters

• - Far too bleak and likely to instil climate fatalism

• - is about people’s relationships

A military thriller where a small group of gorilla fighters are trying to break out people who are stuck in a concentration camp filled with climate refugees.

• - Fun narrative which has a lot of momentum

• - Is a very cynical angle to take, isn’t about the relationship between humanity and the environment, but instead the relationship between people

A story where a climate refugee is fleeing across the country and finds refuge in a coffee shop in Brisbane City, where he and the other people there’s lives get entangled as the authorities try to track him down.

• - I like this narrative and see echoes to Indigenous People’s experiences

• - The people this character runs into could become a community which works as a symbol for the positive aspects of humanity, and the authorities and corporations of this world could represent more negative experiences

References

yet to be completed

Appendix

Full catalogue of Cli-Fi Novels and Goodreads score:

Ian McEwan’s (2010) (READ) Solar

- 24,515 ratings - 3.26 / 5 stars

Mattew Glass (2009) (Unread) Ultimatum

- 378 ratings - 3.4 / 5 stars

Steven Amsterdam’s (2009) (Unread, but holy shit what a great title and premise) Things We Didn’t See Coming

- **1,337 ratings - 3.36 / 5 stars**

Marcel Therous’ (2009) (unread) Far North

- **4,056 ratings - 3.69 / 5 stars**

Frank Schatzing’s (2004) (Unread)The Swarm

- 17,213 - 4.06 / 5 stars

Liz Jensen’s (2009) (Unread) The Rapture

- 2,299 ratings - 3.31 / 5 stars

Michael Crichton’s (2004) (Unread) State of Fear

- **89,907 ratings - 3.71 / 5 stars**

Jean McNeil (2009) (Unread) The Ice Lover

- 20 ratings - 2.85 / 5 stars

Johnathan Bate (2000) (Unread) The Song of the Earth

- 92 ratings - 3.97 / 5 stars

James Bradley’s Clade (2017) (READ)

- 1,825 - 3.65 / 5 stars

Jason Paul Narung’s Watermarks (2020) (Unread, not published)

- Isn't published

Paolo Bacigalupi The Water Knife (2015) (Unread)

- **22,240 ratings - 3.85 / 5 stars**

Kim Stanley Robinson’s Science in the Capital Trilogy (Unread)

- 10,636 ratings - 3.56 / 5 stars

Nathaniel Rich’s Odd’s Against Tomorrow (2013) (Unread)

- 2,258 ratings - 3.38 / 5 stars

Popular Novels Marked as Cli-Fi I wasn't aware of:

Margaret Atwood's *Oryx and Crake (Science Fiction)*

- 229,880 ratings, 4.01 / 5 stars

Barbara Kingsolver's *Flight Behaviour* (Literary Fiction/Realist fiction)

- 85,960 ratings, 3.78 / 5 stars

David Mitchell's Bone Clocks (Science Fiction)

- 88,362 ratings - 3.83 / 5 stars

Jenny Offill's *Weather* (literary/realist fiction)

- 21,416 ratings - 3.63 / 5 stars

Omar El Akkad's *American War* (Dystopian, climate change only as a backdrop)

- 30,311 ratings - 3.79 / 5 stars

Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman's *Dry* (Young Adult)

- 24,789 ratings - 4.04 stars

Sue Isle's *Nightsiders* (Mosiac Fiction)

- 68 ratings, 3.88 / 5 stars

Tim Winton's *Eyrie* (Literary Fiction/Realist Fiction) (not sure how this is cli-fi other then the protagonist being an environmentalist)

- 6,034 ratings, 3.59 / 5 stars

Alan Weisman's *The World Without Us* (science fiction/speculative fiction)

- 38,693 ratings, 3.8 / 5 stars

Alexis Wright's *The Swan Book*

- 721 ratings, 3.32 / 5 stars