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'This Is The Hell That I Have Heard Of' : Some Dialectical Images in Fossil Fuel Fiction

Malm, Andreas LU (2017) In Forum for Modern Language Studies 53(2). p.121-141
Abstract

How can the realities of global warming be made visible in literary texts? After the rise of 'cli-fi', it might be time to return to a trove of literature written long before the discoveries of climate science: fiction about fossil fuels. It is filled with premonitions of disasters, such as extreme heat and terrible storms. Focusing on two texts - Ghassan Kanafani's Men in the Sun and Joseph Conrad's Typhoon - this essay makes a case for developing 'dialectical images', in Walter Benjamin's sense of the term, from fossil fuel fiction. Such images might contribute to a critical understanding of our current epoch, fracturing the narrative of the human species as a united entity ascending to biospheric dominance in the Anthropocene. The... (More)

How can the realities of global warming be made visible in literary texts? After the rise of 'cli-fi', it might be time to return to a trove of literature written long before the discoveries of climate science: fiction about fossil fuels. It is filled with premonitions of disasters, such as extreme heat and terrible storms. Focusing on two texts - Ghassan Kanafani's Men in the Sun and Joseph Conrad's Typhoon - this essay makes a case for developing 'dialectical images', in Walter Benjamin's sense of the term, from fossil fuel fiction. Such images might contribute to a critical understanding of our current epoch, fracturing the narrative of the human species as a united entity ascending to biospheric dominance in the Anthropocene. The miseries of global warming have been in preparation for a long time. Some have felt the heat from the start.

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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Dialectical image, Ecocriticism, Fossil fuel fiction, Ghassan Kanafani, Global warming, Joseph Conrad, Material allegory, Walter Benjamin
in
Forum for Modern Language Studies
volume
53
issue
2
pages
21 pages
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85027403100
  • wos:000400998700001
  • scopus:85027403100
ISSN
0015-8518
DOI
10.1093/fmls/cqw090
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7864e0e7-d7f5-49c5-abef-ca61b8fa6b5e
date added to LUP
2017-05-24 12:39:10
date last changed
2024-10-29 07:21:04
@article{7864e0e7-d7f5-49c5-abef-ca61b8fa6b5e,
  abstract     = {{<p>How can the realities of global warming be made visible in literary texts? After the rise of 'cli-fi', it might be time to return to a trove of literature written long before the discoveries of climate science: fiction about fossil fuels. It is filled with premonitions of disasters, such as extreme heat and terrible storms. Focusing on two texts - Ghassan Kanafani's Men in the Sun and Joseph Conrad's Typhoon - this essay makes a case for developing 'dialectical images', in Walter Benjamin's sense of the term, from fossil fuel fiction. Such images might contribute to a critical understanding of our current epoch, fracturing the narrative of the human species as a united entity ascending to biospheric dominance in the Anthropocene. The miseries of global warming have been in preparation for a long time. Some have felt the heat from the start.</p>}},
  author       = {{Malm, Andreas}},
  issn         = {{0015-8518}},
  keywords     = {{Dialectical image; Ecocriticism; Fossil fuel fiction; Ghassan Kanafani; Global warming; Joseph Conrad; Material allegory; Walter Benjamin}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{04}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{121--141}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{Forum for Modern Language Studies}},
  title        = {{'This Is The Hell That I Have Heard Of' : Some Dialectical Images in Fossil Fuel Fiction}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/fmls/cqw090}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/fmls/cqw090}},
  volume       = {{53}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}