Text

theses

Ecocrticism has often prioritized the reversal or resistance of ecological collapse, often articulating a desire to return to a pre-Anthropocene moment. However, ecocriticsm does not often articulate a way of being present with ecological catastrophe. This is crucial given that climate change has already begun to reshape our world and way of life. I argue that the theoretical framework of “unworlding” provides a model of being-with catastrophe. I argue that ecocriticsm should be attuned, not to worldbuilding narratives, but the ways in which these narratives unworld our world. Speculative fiction and genre fiction contribute to the opening up of ecological possibility by acknowledging the mesh of ecology and calling attention to the objects that occupy the space of ecology. “Something is terribly wrong.” This is the opening of the digital serial 17776, a multimedia, experimental work of fiction released on sbnation.com. The initial page, a feigned sports journalism article erupts into a sprawling narrative in which humans no longer die, they are immortal. To pass the time, humans play “open-world” style football games. The use of games in the text contributes to unworlding. Specificially, the use of gaming in the narrative allegorizes the experience of reading speculative fiction, the creation of worlds that expose the mesh of ecology. The use of gaming at the level of form unworlds the world for the reader through upending traditional readerly expectations. Gaming is a mechanic of unworlding. Speculative fiction and gaming share a relationship in that they are worldbuilding activities and both call attention to the mesh of ecology. Both are acts of unworlding. Ecocrticism would benefit from a broader consideration of speculative fiction for its ability to contribute to a process of unworlding, a necessary theoretical framework for living in and through the Anthropocene and ecological catastrophe.

ETD_9021

M.A.

Includes bibliographical references

by Nicholas R. Silcox

doi:10.7282/T37H1NXS

ETD graduate

The author owns the copyright to this work.