Hope and Fear: Narratives of Extinction 1850-2050
MONDAY 7 MARCH / 11AM–1PM / BOOK HERE
Dr Will Abberley, English (w.abberley@sussex.ac.uk)
Dr Pam Thurschwell, English (p.thurschwell@sussex.ac.uk)
This week, we will be examining extinction as a concept and a discourse, considering how it shapes the ways we imagine life and environment. Extinction is not only a biological reality but also a narrative that frames the world in certain ways. We will, therefore, trace the cultural history of extinction, investigating how its meanings have changed over time and interacted with wider ideologies and values. We will also consider how the language and logic of extinction inflects representations of the environment (and our relations with it) today.
This workshop aims to enable students to :
• think about and discuss extinction as a narrative and discursive construct.
• analyse how texts and media can reflect or contest narratives of extinction.
• analyse how narratives of extinction can echo and amplify other narratives about politics and human society.
In preparation for Will’s half of the workshop, you must read the short extracts from the following texts (see module reading list).
• Charles Lyell, Principles of Geology (1830) [a scientific bestseller that popularised ideas of extinction as a law of nature].
• Alfred Tennyson, ‘In Memoriam’ (1850) [an immensely popular poem that linked species extinction with human experiences of grief and loss].
• Charles Kingsley, The Water-Babies (1863) [a novel that sought to make sense of evolution and extinction through allegorical fairytale].
Further recommended reading can be found on the reading list.
Information on reading materials for this week is available from the module reading list.
For Pam’s half of the workshop, please read pages x to x of Amitav Ghosh, The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable (University of Chicago Press, 2017)
Recommended (not required!):
Interview with Ghosh from 2019: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/09/amitav-ghosh-on-our-failure-to-face-up-to-the-climate-crisis.html (Links to an external site.)
Don’t Look Up (Adam McKay, 2021) available via Netflix
MONDAY 7 MARCH / 11AM–1PM / BOOK HERE
Dr Will Abberley, English (w.abberley@sussex.ac.uk)
Dr Pam Thurschwell, English (p.thurschwell@sussex.ac.uk)
This week, we will be examining extinction as a concept and a discourse, considering how it shapes the ways we imagine life and environment. Extinction is not only a biological reality but also a narrative that frames the world in certain ways. We will, therefore, trace the cultural history of extinction, investigating how its meanings have changed over time and interacted with wider ideologies and values. We will also consider how the language and logic of extinction inflects representations of the environment (and our relations with it) today.
This workshop aims to enable students to :
• think about and discuss extinction as a narrative and discursive construct.
• analyse how texts and media can reflect or contest narratives of extinction.
• analyse how narratives of extinction can echo and amplify other narratives about politics and human society.
In preparation for Will’s half of the workshop, you must read the short extracts from the following texts (see module reading list).
• Charles Lyell, Principles of Geology (1830) [a scientific bestseller that popularised ideas of extinction as a law of nature].
• Alfred Tennyson, ‘In Memoriam’ (1850) [an immensely popular poem that linked species extinction with human experiences of grief and loss].
• Charles Kingsley, The Water-Babies (1863) [a novel that sought to make sense of evolution and extinction through allegorical fairytale].
Further recommended reading can be found on the reading list.
Information on reading materials for this week is available from the module reading list.
For Pam’s half of the workshop, please read pages x to x of Amitav Ghosh, The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable (University of Chicago Press, 2017)
Recommended (not required!):
Interview with Ghosh from 2019: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/09/amitav-ghosh-on-our-failure-to-face-up-to-the-climate-crisis.html (Links to an external site.)
Don’t Look Up (Adam McKay, 2021) available via Netflix
