Between the Covers and Beyond the Page: Gauging Climate Fiction's Impact through Ecocriticism and Virtual Book Club Observations

Abstract

Despite increasing global concern about climate change, a gap persists between climate worry and action. Researchers across various disciplines and popular media suggest that narratives can motivate pro-environmental behaviour. Cli-fi novels, in particular, are believed to influence readers’ behaviours and perceptions of climate change. However, most evidence supporting these claims comes from classroom observations and traditional humanistic inquiry. In 2018, a new research methodology emerged, empirical ecocriticism, which set out to determine how general readers engage with these novels. This dissertation follows the principles of this method, namely, the combination of ecocritical analyses with empirical methods. To that end, the first part of this dissertation (Chapters 2 and 3) is an ecocritical examination of four diverse cli-fi novels published in the last decade to determine how they conveyed climate change information to their readers and how this portrayal may affect readers’ understanding of this issue. The second part of this dissertation (Chapter 4) is a report on empirical findings from a book club observation study of readers reading these same cli-fi novels. The two interdisciplinary objectives of this dissertation were to firstly examine how cli-fi novels relate information about climate change and what aspects of climate change are emphasized to readers in these novels, and secondly to contribute to the emerging field of empirical ecocriticism by reporting on how groups of readers discussed cli-fi novels and the climate change information therein. To achieve these objectives, I: (1) interpreted of four diverse cli-fi novels using ecocritical methods and (2) designed and implemented a book club observation study of general readers reading these same novels. Drawing on ecocriticism, climate change communication, and social sciences research, Chapter 2 introduces a new subcategory of cli-fi – ambivalent cli-fi. This subcategory is defined through an analysis of two realistic cli-fi novels Weather by Jenny Offill and Blaze Island by Catherine Bush to determine how climate change is portrayed in these novels and how their narratives might help readers explore their emotional responses to climate change. The novels were chosen due to their connections to the 2020s and the ecocritical analysis of these novels demonstrates that they can help readers sit in the uncomfortable space where the world is not yet irreversibly ruing, yet there is also no easy solution. Chapter 3 examines Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller and The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline, two speculative cli-fi novels, whose authors claimed they wanted their readers to feel hope despite narratives that portray radically altered environments and nightmarish societies. This chapter reviews climate change communication research that points towards more inclusive messaging favouring neither hope nor despair. The ecocritical analysis of the two novels utilizes Albert Camus’ notion of the absurd to address the feelings of existential crisis evoked by the novels’ depictions of climate change. It concludes by advocating for the creation of narratives that help audiences find ways to embrace futures that are neither apocalyptic nor utopic. Chapter 4 reports on virtual cli-fi book club sessions conducted from January to June 2022, involving 40 participants from across Canada. Participants read the same cli-fi novels discussed above in order to ascertain how ecocritical readings of these novels might differ from general readers’ interpretations. Pre- and post-survey data indicated that participants were younger than the average Canadian population (65% less than 44 years old compared to 42%), liberal, and concerned about climate change. The study identified three main themes from participant discussions: (1) the relatability of the cli-fi novels enhanced the believability of the story and climate change; (2) the presence or absence of hope was linked to whether novels included individual actions to mitigate climate change; and (3) participants experienced anxiety when they empathized with characters and scenarios. These findings suggest that readers use cli-fi novels to understand current climate issues. Results from the book club observation study also suggested that general readers in groups find solace and reach new conclusions through discussion. This discovery underscores the importance of considering reading as both an individual and social practice for empirical ecocriticism. The conclusions drawn from the ecocritical chapters highlight how cli-fi narratives have the potential to influence reader emotions. The arguments in Chapters 2 and 3 demonstrate that the negative emotions present in each cli-fi novel are necessary for readers to engage with and learn from. Chapter 5 concludes with a comparison of these arguments with the results from the book club study (Chapter 4). This discussion reinforces research from climate change communication and the social sciences that argues audiences (and readers) do not need to be frightened with catastrophic images of climate change dystopias. Instead, what readers (and non-scholarly audiences) might need now are stories that help them learn how to live-with climate uncertainty, and spaces to do this together.