Fantasy and Myth in the Anthropocene: Imagining Futures and Dreaming Hope in Literature and Media

292 Pages·2022·10.788 MB·English

by  Marek Oziewicz (editor), Brian Attebery (editor), Tereza Dedinová (editor)

FANTASY AND MYTH
IN THE ANTHROPOCENE
ii
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FANTASY AND MYTH
IN THE ANTHROPOCENE
IMAGINING FUTURES AND DREAMING HOPE
IN LITERATURE AND MEDIA
Edited by Marek Oziewicz, Brian Attebery and Tereza Dědinová
9781350204164_txt_print.indd 3 17/09/2021 17:21:14
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First published in Great Britain 2022
Copyright © Marek Oziewicz, Brian Attebery, Tereza Deˇdinová and contributors, 2022
Marek Oziewicz, Brian Attebery, Tereza Deˇdinová and contributors have
asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identified as Authors of this work.
For legal purposes the Acknowledgments and Permissions on
pages xi and xii constitute an extension of this copyright page.
Cover design and illustration by Rebecca Heselton
Moon texture © Daniel Fung / Shutterstock
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Oziewicz, Marek, editor. | Attebery, Brian, 1951- editor. |Deˇdinová, Tereza, 1982- editor.
Title: Fantasy and myth in the Anthropocene : imagining futures and
dreaming hope in literature and media / edited by Marek Oziewicz,
Brian Attebery and Tereza Dedinová.
Description: London ; New York : Bloomsbury Academic, 2022. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021037301 (print) | LCCN 2021037302 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781350203341 (hardback) | ISBN 9781350204164 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781350203358 (ebook) | ISBN 9781350203365 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Fantasy fiction–History and criticism. | Future, The, in literature. |
Ecocriticism. | Myth in literature. | Human ecology in literature. |
Speculative fiction–History and criticism. | Young adult
literature–History and criticism.
Classification: LCC PN3435 .F4 2022 (print) | LCC PN3435 (ebook) | DDC 809.3/8766–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021037301
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021037302
ISBN: HB: 978-1-3502-0334-1
PB: 978-1-3502-0416-4
ePDF: 978-1-3502-0335-8
eBook: 978-1-3502-0336-5
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To our beautiful planet and human capacity for loving care—the power
that can make all the difference.
vi
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CONTENTS
List of Plates ix
List of Figures x
Acknowledgments xi
Permissions xii
List of Academic Contributors xiii
List of Artists xvi
Introduction: The Choice We Have in the Stories We Tell … Marek Oziewicz 1
Part I Trouble in the Air 13
1 Anthropos and the Air Brian Attebery 15
2 From the Third Age to the Fifth Season: Confronting the Anthropocene
through Fantasy Brian Attebery 16
3 Who Knows Where the Time Goes? Nisi Shawl 26
4 Playing with the Trouble: Children and the Anthropocene in Nnedi
Okorafor’s Akata Witch Series Lindsay Burton 28
5 Rewrite Katherine Applegate 39
6 Staying with the Singularity: Nonhuman Narrators and more-than-Human
Mythologies Alexander Popov 41
7 The Eye of the Story Joseph Bruchac / Nokidahozid 55
8 Fantasy for the Anthropocene: On the Ecocidal Unconscious, Planetarianism,
and Imagination of Biocentric Futures Marek Oziewicz 58
9 AstroNuts, the Origin Story Jon Scieszka 70
Part II Dreaming the Earth 71
10 Anthropos and the Earth Brian Attebery 73
11 Embodying the Permaculture Story: Terry Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching
Series Tereza Dědinová 74
12 Where Is the Place for Seagrass and Weevils in Children’s Literature?
Eliot Schrefer 88
13 Arboreal Magic and Kinship in the Chthulucene: Margaret Mahy’s Trees
Melanie Duckworth 89
14 Just Imagine Barbara Henderson 101
Contents
15 From Portable Landscapes to Themed Thrill Rides: Rowling’s Heterotopic
Hopescapes Stephanie J. Weaver 103
16 Does Fantasy Literature Have a Place in the Climate Change Crisis?
Craig Russell 114
17 “The Earth is my home too, can’t I help protect it?”: Planetary Thinking,
Queer Identities, and Environmentalism in The Legend of Korra, She-Ra, and
Steven Universe Aneesh Barai 116
18 Celebrations of Resilience Elin Kelsey 130
Part III Visions in the Water 133
19 Anthropos and the Ocean Brian Attebery 135
20 Kim Stanley Robinson’s Case for Hope in New York 2140 John Rieder 136
21 Myth Makes Us See Adam Gidwitz 148
22 Sleeping with the Fishmen: Reimagining the Anthropocene through
Oceanic-Chthonic Kinships Prema Arasu and Drew Thornton 150
23 Fish Girl’s Dilemma Donna Jo Napoli 161
24 From Culture Hero to Emissions Zero: Critiquing Maui’s Extractivist Mindset
in Disney’s Moana Christopher D. Foley 163
25 Finding Balance and Hope in the Indigenous Past David Bowles 174
26 Reimagining Youth Relations with Moananuiākea (The Large, Expansive
Ocean): Contemporary Niuhi Mo’olelo (Man-Eating Shark Stories) and
Environmental Activism Caryn Lesuma 176
27 The Future That Has Yet to Be Imagined Shaun Tan 188
Part IV Playing with Fire 191
28 Anthropos and the Fire Brian Attebery 193
29 Convert or Kill: Disanthropocentric Systems and Religious Myth
in Jemisin’s Broken Earth Derek J. Thiess 195
30 Reimaging the Upright Ape Jane Yolen 207
31 Myths of (Un)creation: Narrative Strategies for Confronting the
Anthropocene Jacob Burg 208
32 The Stepping Stone, the Boulder, and the Star: A Fable for the Anthropocene
Grace L. Dillon 219
33 On Monsters and Other Matters of Housekeeping: Reading Jeff VanderMeer
with Donna Haraway and Ursula K. Le Guin Kim Hendrickx 221
34 The Seriousness of Writing Funny Molly B. Burnham 233
35 Literalizing Hyperobjects: On (mis)Representing Global Warming in A Song
of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones Markus Laukkanen 235
Index 246
viii
PLATES
9.1 AstroNuts, Museum feature Jon Scieszka
9.2 AstroNuts, Earth Jon Scieszka and Steven Weinberg
9.3 Collaging change Steven Weinberg
9.4 Together we sail Hatem Aly
27.1 Orca in the sky Shaun Tan
27.2 Eating local David Wiesner
27.3 Hope and curiosity Kate Samworth
27.4 Hope sails far Pavel Čech