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Narratives of Resilience in Times of Climate Crisis : Angry Optimism and Utopian Minimalism in Kim Stanley Robinson's New York 2140 and Jenny Offill's Weather

Titelangaben

Mayer, Sylvia:
Narratives of Resilience in Times of Climate Crisis : Angry Optimism and Utopian Minimalism in Kim Stanley Robinson's New York 2140 and Jenny Offill's Weather.
In: Journal of the Austrian Association for American Studies. Bd. 6 (2025) Heft 2 . - S. 186-207.
ISSN 2616-9533
DOI: https://doi.org/10.47060/jaaas.v6i2.227

Abstract

The essay discusses two climate change novels, Kim Stanley Robinson’sNew York 2140and Jenny Offill’sWeather, as resilience narratives. It argues that these novels –New York 2140speculating about a possible future, set more than 100 years in the future,Weatherengaging our present cultural moment, the early 21stcentury –ex-plore diverse experiences of, and responses to, human-made climate crisis, directly engaging with the interconnected ecological, political, economic, social, and cultural effects ofglobal warming, but also with responses such as climate skepticism and denial as well as cognitive dissonance, climate anxiety, and grief related to climate change. Applying the concept of resilience in its diverse meanings as an analytical framework emphasizes that fictional climate narratives often go beyond merely “sounding the alarm” about climate risks or concentrating exclusively on catastrophe. Rather, they also shed light on strategies of adaptation, flexibility and endurance and on the potential for transformation to allow for a more hopeful and even utopian reading. For this purpose, the concepts of “angry optimism” and “utopian minimal-ism” are introduced, the former articulated by Robinson, the latter introduced by critic Anahid Nersessian, who have both participated in the debate on the relevance and timeliness of utopianism in times of climate crisis.

Weitere Angaben

Publikationsform: Artikel in einer Zeitschrift
Begutachteter Beitrag: Ja
Keywords: Transformation; solidarity; co-operation; socio-ecological systems; climate fiction; climate anxiety; resilience
Institutionen der Universität: Fakultäten > Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaftliche Fakultät > Lehrstuhl Amerikastudien / Anglophone Literaturen und Kulturen > Lehrstuhl Amerikastudien / Anglophone Literaturen und Kulturen - Univ.-Prof. Dr. Sylvia Mayer
Profilfelder > Emerging Fields > Kulturbegegnungen und Transkulturelle Prozesse
Forschungseinrichtungen > Zentrale wissenschaftliche Einrichtungen > Bayreuth Institute for American Studies - BIFAS
Titel an der UBT entstanden: Ja
Themengebiete aus DDC: 800 Literatur > 810 Amerikanische Literatur in Englisch
Eingestellt am: 04 Aug 2025 06:12
Letzte Änderung: 04 Aug 2025 06:12
URI: https://eref.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/94415