Climate Change and the Radical Power of Fiction

Since the 19th century, the global temperature has risen two degrees Fahrenheit (approximately one degree Celsius), and many scientists have theorized that it is too late to stop climate change (and its subsequent catastrophes). As an individual, knowledge regarding the disastrous effects of climate change can quickly become overwhelming to the point of paralyzation. However overwhelming this knowledge may be for a majority of Americans, it does not detract from the fact that, according to a study done by the University of Michigan, nearly fifteen percent of Americans deny the occurrence of climate change. This begs the question: How does a person come to understand that climate change is happening? More importantly, how does a person come to believe that they should act and vote toward lessening its damaging effects? Ecocriticism is a growing literary field, and I believe that works of eco-fiction, such as Barbara Kingsolver’s novel Flight Behavior and Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake, can supplement modern ecocritical theories. Suzanne Keen’s theory of narrative empathy supports this hypothesis. ‘Empathy,’ as opposed to ‘sympathy’ is a particularly important nuance here, as Keen’s theory of narrative empathy suggests that feeling and thinking are inseparably linked; and reading a story can cause a person to experience genuine empathy, which then leads to a change in thinking. Peoples’ emotions are used and abused by both right and left-wing media sources, and I believe that this power of feeling can be used, instead, to propulse climate change education and understanding. Approaching climate change from new angles becomes more important by the day, and fiction is an incredibly valuable place to incubate revolutionary ideas.