Climate crisis: an exploration of climate fiction, magical realism, and intersectional trauma
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The genre of climate fiction has never been more relevant than in the current age. With climate change affecting all parts of life from rising seas to food supply, it is more important than ever that authors find a way to discuss the subject. Climate fiction as a whole gives authors the space to discuss the effects of climate change on a more personal scale. Not only are authors able to make larger-scale issues more palatable through the shrinking of narrative, but they also often use magical realism to further engage with climate change. Magical realism enables authors to add another layer between reader and reality. By adding layers between the reality of climate change and a portrayal of it, the authors give readers a chance to deal with the larger trauma and implications of climate change while bypassing the need to deal with the actual situation at hand. Climate fiction also gives writers a chance to imagine how issues of today will shift under the pressures of climate change. Two major categories that authors have been drawn to in this vein are issues of gender and class differences. This paper will look at how authors delve into both of these subsections and use magical realism to bring the intersections between climate change and other issues to light. The works that this paper will interact with are Lidia Yuknavitch's The Book of Joan (2017), The Swan Book (2018) by Alexis Wright, and The Roar (2008) by Emma Clayton. On some level, each of these works deals with the injustices of today and plays out how these injustices will be either remedied or exacerbated under the pressures of climate change. The genre of climate fiction with the inclusion of magical realism enables authors to create complex allegories about the present and future of climate change.
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M.A.