Mapping Memory, Stories and Science in the Age of Globalization: Reading Richard Powers' Bewilderment

Abstract The paper will examine Richard Powers’ Bewilderment (2021) to outline how memory, science and the idea of storytelling strive to anchor the ecological notion of sustainability in a world that is already in crisis. I will draw on Astrid Erll’s idea of implicit collective memory while simultaneously drawing parallels to the plot of the novel that explicitly discusses the inherent relationship between humankind and its rapidly changing landscape(s). The paper will further examine the cumulative effects of mankind’s actions on the planet and how memory cautions the race of the gradual depletion of the natural world. This paper will also explore how memory, and the art of storytelling intersect several scientific vectors to bring forth the belligerence of humankind as it fervently marches towards progress. In conclusion, I will draw a subtle comparison between Powers’ novel and Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide (2004) to emphasise the deterritorialization of native cultural ecology in an age of globalization. Keywords: memory, storytelling, science, implicit collective memory,