(in Polish) IMAGINING THE WORLD CATASTROPHE. DISASTER FICTIONS IN ENGLISH 1500-SDN-ITWCDF
Imagining The World Catastrophe. Disaster Fictions In English seminar is dedicated to students interested in science fiction and dystopia, as well as in the environmental humanities. During the classes we discuss a number of science fiction texts (stories and book chapters) by, among other writers, J.G. Ballard, Philip K. Dick and Roger Zelazny, in the context of disaster fiction, climate change debate and the so-called cli-fi (climate fiction) criticism. Ecoanxiety, Climate-Related Pre-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, the alleged impact of climate change on mental health and other scientific concepts are discussed as literary motives. E. Ann Kaplan’s recent publications on trauma help to frame our discussions.
During our classes we discuss the following topics:
Class 1
Introductory class: key terms and concepts
Class 2
- H.F. Heard "The Great Fog"
- Ellison, Katherine „Conservation on the Couch”
Axel Goodbody and Adeline Johns-Putra Introduction (to Cli-Fi: A Companion, Oxford: Peter Lang, 2018)
Class 3
- J.G. Ballard, The Drowned World (selected: Chapters I and II)
- Jim Clarke „Reading Climate Change in J.G. Ballard”
Class 4
- Turner, George The Sea and Summer (selected: pp. 21-69 and Postscript)
- Eva Gifford & Robert Gifford “The largely unacknowledged impact of climate change on mental health”
Class 5
- Gee, Maggie. “The Ice People”. (pp. 8-23 and 60) Roger Zelazny “Permafrost”
- Savi, Melina Pereira. "The Anthropocene (and) (in) the Humanities: Possibilities for Literary Studies"
Class 6
- Preuss, Paul, “Half-Life”
- Curie, Pierre, “Radioactive substances, especially radium” - Nobel Lecture
Class 7
- Jones, Roger, “The Island”
- New Wave Info (handout)
Class 8
- Pohl, Frederik, “Fermi and Frost”
- Kaplan, E. Ann “Is Climate-Related Pre-Traumatic Stress Syndrome a Real Condition?”
Class 9
- Zoline, Pamela A., “The Heat Death of the Universe”
- Kelsey, Elin, "Dear _": Writing Our Way Beyond Doom and Gloom”
Class 10
- Dick, Philip K., “Dr Bloodmoney,” (selected)
- Brians, Paul, “Nuclear War in Science Fiction: 1945-1959”
Class 11
- Dick, Philip K., “The Penultimate Truth “ (selected)
- Disch, Thomas M., “In the Mold of 1964: An Afterword”
Class 12
- Lee, Tanith, "Written in Water"
- Luckhurst, Roger, “The Many Deaths of Science Fiction: A Polemic”
Class 13
- Foreward, Robert L., “A Matter Most Strange”
- Neimanis, Astrida, Cecilia Åsberg and Johan Hedrén, “Four Problems, Four Directions For Environmental Humanitiies: Toward A Critical Posthumanities For Our Post-Political Times”
Class 14
Conclusions
Type of course
Course coordinators
Assessment criteria
- In-class participation - participants are allowed 2 absences
- Presentation or speech
Bibliography
Ballard, J.G. The Drowned World . Penguin 1974
Bloom, Dan. The Cli-Fi Report. http://www.cli-fi.net/
Brians, Paul, “Nuclear War in Science Fiction: 1945-1959”, Science-Fiction Studies, vol. 11, part 3 (1984),
Clarke, Jim. “Reading Climate Change in J.G. Ballard.” Critical Survey, vol. 25, no. 2, 2013, pp. 7–21. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/42751031 (accessed Sept., 27, 2020)
Cordle, Daniel, “Protect/Protest: British nuclear fiction of the 1980s”
Curie, Pierre, “Radioactive substances, especially radium” - Nobel Lecture
https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/pierre-curie-lecture.pdf
Dick, Philip K., “The Penultimate Truth “ Orion Publishing, 2005 (selected)
Dick, Philip K., “Dr Bloodmoney,” Orion Publishing, 2014 (selected)
Disch, Thomas M., “In the Mold of 1964: An Afterword”
https://press.umich.edu/pdf/9780472068968-26.pdf
Ellison, Katherine „Conservation on the Couch” Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment , Apr., 2008, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Apr., 2008), p. 168
Foreward, Robert L., “A Matter Most Strange” in Byron Preiss and William R. Alschuler, eds. “The Microverse”, Bantam Books, 1989.
Gee, Maggie. The Ice People. Telegram, 2008.
Gifford, Eva & Robert Gifford “The largely unacknowledged impact of climate change on mental health”, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 72:5, 292-297, DOI:
10.1080/00963402.2016.1216505
Goodbody, Axel and Adeline Johns-Putra, “Introduction” (to Cli-Fi: A Companion, Oxford: Peter Lang, 2018)
Heard, H.F., “The Great Fog”, in Gunn, J. Road to Science Fiction t. V, The British Way, Clarkson 1998
Jones, Roger, “The Island” in Merill, J. “England Swings SF,” New York 1968
Kaplan, E. Ann, Is Climate-Related Pre-Traumatic Stress Syndrome a Real Condition? American Imago Johns Hopkins University Press Volume 77, Number 1, Spring 2020 • pp. 81-104 10.1353/aim.2020.0004
Kelsey, Elin, "Dear _": Writing Our Way Beyond Doom and Gloom”
https://www.jstor.org/stable/e26241280
Lee, Tanith, "Written in Water" in Gunn, J. “The British Way” (vol. 7 of The Road to Science Fiction), Clarkston 1998
Lovelock, E. James, Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth Oxford University Press, 2000.
Luckhurst, Roger, “The Many Deaths of Science Fiction: A Polemic”, https://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/62/luckhurst62art.htm
Neimanis, Astrida, Cecilia Åsberg and Johan Hedrén, “Four Problems, Four Directions For Environmental Humanitiies: Toward A Critical Posthumanities For Our Post-Political Times”
Pohl, Frederik, “Fermi and Frost” in “Platinum Pohl” , Tor Books, 2005.
Preuss, Paul, “Half-Life” in Ursula K. Le Guin & Brian Attebery, ed., “The Norton Book of Science Fiction”, Norton 1993
Savi, Melina Pereira, "The Anthropocene (and) (in) the Humanities: Possibilities for Literary Studies" Revista Estudos Feministas.5 /2 (May/Aug. 2017).
Turner, George, The Sea and Summer. Golancz, London 2012.
Zelazny, Roger. “Permafrost”, in “Omni,” April 1986
Zoline, Pamela A., “The Heat Death of the Universe” in Merill, J. “England Swings SF,” New York 1968
Notes
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Term 2024Z:
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Additional information
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