In order to demonstrate that speculative fiction provides a valuable contribution to the discussion about the challenges of the Anthropocene, Images of the Anthropocene in Speculative Fiction investigates a range of novels whose subject matter pertains to various aspects of the Anthropocene. These include the destruction and protection of the natural environment, the relationship between human and non-human inhabitants of the planet, the role of myth in the shaping of and combat against the Anthropocene, the political dimensions of the Anthropocene, the ensuing threat of the Apocalypse, and the role of post-apocalyptic narratives. To explore these topics our authors examine the works of Patricia Briggs, M.R. Carey, Dmitry Glukhovsky, Ursula K. Le Guin, N.K. Jemisin, Stephenie Meyer, China Mieville, James Patterson, Maggie Stiefvater, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Scott Westfield. Their essays demonstrate that speculative fiction, given its ability to pursue scenarios of alternative history and present familiar things in an unfamiliar way, can alter the readers' perception of their duties and responsibilities towards their communities and the world, so that the threat of human-wrought destruction might ultimately be averted.
Sylwia Borowska-Szerszun is assistant professor in philology at the University of Bialystok. Tereza Dedinova is assistant professor of arts at Masaryk University. Weronika Laszkiewicz is assistant professor in philology at the University of Bialystok.
The Anthropocene And Speculative Fiction: Introduction, Tereza Dedinova, Weronika Laszkiewicz, Sylwia Borowska-SzerszunPart I: Nature and Culture in the AnthropoceneChapter 1: "The Being That Can Be Told": The Telling by Ursula K. Le Guin as a Remedy for the Anthropocene, Tereza DedinovaChapter 2: Young Adult Fantasy to Save the World? Retelling the Quest in Maggie Stiefvater's Raven Cycle, Carrie SpencerChapter 3: The Forest as a Voice for Nature: Ecocriticism in Fantasy Literature, Britta Maria ColligsChapter 4: The Fantasy of Wilderness: Reconfiguring Heroism in the Anthropocene, Facing the Age of Ecocentrism, Lykke Guanio-UluruPart II: (Post)Apocalyptic World and the AnthropoceneChapter 5: Anthropocene vs Plague: Disastrous Diseases and their Impact on Society as Seen in Literature, from Thucydides to Modern Speculative Fiction, Jiri JelinekChapter 6: Fantasy, Myth, and the End of Humanity in M.R. Carey's The Girl With All The Gifts, Maria QuigleyChapter 7: Beyond the Anthropocene: Human Enhancement, Mythology, and Utopia in James Patterson's Maximum Ride Cycle, Anna BugajskaChapter 8: At the Crossroads of Ideas: The Russian View on the Anthropocene in Metro Series by Dmitry Glukhovsky, Joanna Krystyna RadoszPart III: Society and Politics in the AnthropoceneChapter 9: Apocalyptic Visions: N.K. Jemisin's The Stone Sky and the Sociocultural Origins of the Anthropocene, Keygan SandsChapter 10: The Politics of Language and Culture in China Mieville's Novel Embassytown, Aleksandr KolesnikovChapter 11: Mythological Aspects of Immigration in Fantasy: Case Study Of Mercy Thompson and Alpha and Omega Series by Patricia Briggs, Dariya KhokhelChapter 12: The Development of Realist Speculative Narratives to Represent and Confront the Anthropocene, Dwight Tanner
