Abstract: Literary works that explore the effects of anthropogenic climate change are reimagining how human beings are in the world. Climate change fiction, or cli-fi, can do so by depicting the climate crisis as a form of slow violence, often rooted in settler colonialism. Unsettling the colonial past and imagining a different future is inspiring authors to reexamine the literary roots of attitudes to the environment, to seek out ways to ‘bring the breathing world close,’ as Canadian novelist Catherine Bush phrases it, and to strengthen sustainable relationships between human beings and all living things. This presentation surveys this literature with examples by a selection of authors, including Cherie Dimaline and Tanya Tagaq.
Biography: Dr. Renée Hulan is the author of Climate Change and Writing the Canadian Arctic (Palgrave 2018), Canadian Historical Writing: Reading the Remains (Palgrave, 2014) and Northern Experience and the Myths of Canadian Culture (McGill-Queens, 2002). She served as President of the Canadian Studies Network-Réseau d’études canadiennes (2018-2020) and was co-editor Journal of Canadian Studies/Revue d’études canadiennes with Donald Wright (2005-2008). She also edited Native North America: Critical and Cultural Perspectives (ECW, 1999) and, with Renate Eigenbrod, Aboriginal Oral Traditions: Theory, Practice, Ethics (Fernwood, 2008). In 2020-2021, she was the Craig Dobbin Visiting Professor at the University College Dublin.
The Nerve: Ep. 71: “Cli-fi” (Climate fiction) with Renée Hulan
In this episode of the podcast, Jenny chats to Dr Renée Hulan, a Professor of English Language and Literature at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax. She was the Craig Dobbin Visiting Professor in Canadian Studies at University College Dublin in 2020-2021 and has written several books that bring together her interests in climate fiction, Canadian heritage and indigenous communities. She has also edited collections on these themes and recently gave a fascinating online lecture at South East Technological University, entitled “To bring the breathing world close: Reading Cli-Fi from Canada” which was run in conjunction with the Centre for Newfoundland and Labrador Studies at SETU.
Listen to the episode here or wherever you get your podcasts: https://pod.fo/e/28099b
