Rong, Mingcan. “Climate Fiction:A Promising Way of Communicating Climate Change with the General Public.” Studies in Social & Humanities, Vol. 2 No.2(2023)https://www.paradigmpress.org/SSSH/article/view/432

• This text is broken down into parts but I will only be focusing on the Cli-fi portion of it to get a better explanation of what the genre as a whole is focused on. Ron talks about the emergence of Cli-fi in 2010 and how it is used as a communication tool to provide more information about what is actually happening as a “‘precautionary measures to anticipate, precent, or minimize the causes of climate change’” it helps show the word what is actually happening in the world around us that not everyone is paying attention to.

Baeza, Francisco, “SLOW VIOLENCE, CLI-FI, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHANGE HOW BIPOC FUTURISMS PROMOTE ACTIVISM” (2022). Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations. 1434.

SLOW VIOLENCE, CLI-FI, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHANGE HOW BIPOC FUTURISMS PROMOTE ACTIVISM

The threat of anthropogenic climate change is discussed almost exclusively in terms of “scientific” data to the exclusion of the humanities. For some worlds, climate change has already destroyed their ways of life and forced them to adapt.

• People are quick on dismissing the power of literature and how it can change a persons perception of the world. The author goes in depth of slow violence talking about how the magic of it is that no one can really see the effect it causes. He brings up how novels like Parable of the Sower, The Marrow Thieves, and parts of The Vanished Birds imagines a setting similar to ours in ruins pulling the reader to thing that Climate Change  is something that truly is happening right here and right now. But he speaks on Butlers influence of writing the novel and how it takes place so far in the future trying to predict the world coming to an end.

Estock, C. Simon. “Cli-fi and the Future of the Novel: Building on Helena Feder’s “Ecocriticism and Biology” Special Issue” John Hopkins University Press Vol. 31, Number 4, Fall 2023, p. 317-329. Project MUSE, https://doi.org/10.1353/con.2023.a912112.

• Estock speaks on how the climate and environmental issues have gotten worse since Helen Feder’s Special issue. Since it is all getting worse  more questions are starting to rise of urgency of presenting scientific data in literary narratives which will impact literary genres. He raises the question “Who wants to read about the little things? Who would read about the nematode Potoroxyuris keninupensis or eukaryal aeroplankton when tigers and elephants are so much more relatable?” Saying that aspects like this is a challenge that the genre of Cli-fi as a whole faces. Estock explains how Ghosh manages to make this narrative driven story but also maintains how science is the focal point of the story  and it helps build a better understanding of the world. He acknowledges how “Ghosh not only presents local knowledge but also shows both its dialogue and its conflict with the more scientific explanations of things.” even going and explaining how people cross the line on certain things causing a metaphorical storm.

Butler, Octavia. “Parable of the Sower” Grand Central Publishing, 1993.

• A world in ruin after the effects of climate change causing the plants to dry up and the people to go crazy. The main character Lauren loses all of her family in her town of Robledo California. After that she and two of her friends Harry and Zahra set out on an adventure across North America. As more members join their group the more Lauren spreads her ideology of Earthed a religion she created.

Ghosh, Amitav. “The Hungry Tide” A Mariner Book Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004.

• Two characters Kanai and Piya meet on a train and meet up again in some unforeseen circumstances. They venture out to see to help Piya find these special species of dolphins. Coming across these deadly moments especially Piya coming into the crosshair of village people for defending a tiger from being killed as she wants all life to be protected. which Kanais uncle took part in Ghandi’s protest to protect animals.

Bergthaller, Hannes. “Cli-Fi and Petrofiction: Questioning Genre in the Anthropocene” Amerikastudien/American studies, Vol. 62, No. 1 (2017), pp. 120-125 https://www.jstor.org/stable/44982310

Clarke, Jim. “Reading Climate Change in J.G. Ballard” Critical Survey, Vol. 25, No. 2 (2013) pp. 7-21 https://www.jstor.org/stable/42751031

Adeline, Johns Putra. “Climate change in literature and literary studies: From cli-fi, climate change theater and ecopoetry to ecocriticism and climate change criticism” https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.385

Rong, Mingcan. “Climate Fiction:A Promising Way of Communicating Climate Change with the General Public.” Studies in Social & Humanities, Vol. 2 No.2(2023)

My question has changed a bit. I felt like because I am new to this genre I should try and do a deeper dive into what the genre is and how it changed the view of Climate change. It was a bit hard to find the articles because I honestly couldn’t just look for them as easily as I would’ve liked to but looking and searching through for the articles helped me find question which was odd. My new question is how has the genre of Cli-Fi effected the way the world sees Climate Change.

Before diving into this book I took an interest in the title alone. Who names a book “10:04” that’s not a normal occurrence. What would it even be about especially since we have been talking about cli-fi so maybe it can be about the time the world came collapsing down. These questions I would often think about and I wouldn’t read the back of the book because I wanted to keep that excitement alive. But when we started reading all of it washed away. I feel like there’s a good story to tell, especially since the book feels like a nonfiction story. But there just seems like there’s so much detail about the littlest of things that just take away from any kind of story that is being told. So I do find it interesting that Lerner and his old fling Alex still connected as friends in the present time but she comes to him for his semen. Well that last part happens in the world we have sperm banks for a reason. While there are side stories that talk about the most random things and are sometimes pretty difficult to follow along with the main focal point at least from what I have read so far has been about them two.

I think that this part is great while there are a lot of details it still hold its own against pretty much whatever else Lerner talks about because it comes back so frequently. Not only that but it actually has an effect on Lerner. He has this war in his head as he goes into the sperm bank. It’s as if his thoughts become fragmented with each part thinking about something else. his health being deteriorated as his heart continues to fail on him. He also questions the future if the sperm actually does give Alex the kid that she indeed wants then what do they tell them. Do they tell the kid how it was made and that it wasn’t the person he mothers with rather than just a friend. But even after all of these thoughts he gets aroused with what is happening still finding it difficult with what he is supposed to be doing. Even with an entire catalog at his disposal, in which none of it he actually likes, his mind still wanders back into the thoughts of the possible future of which this all works out in the end. This leads him into a drunken fit after completing the task and learning that majority of his semen is abnormal and he might not even be able to help her so he goes to her trying to sleep with her to try and see if that will work. Their narrative together to me seems like the most intriguing part of the story so far.

With one story being about a world affected by climate change and another where people are trying to stop it. One has to question how diverse the view of climate change truly is?

The Hungry Tide made sure that it hit every stop. It speaks on past conflicts, a search for this rare dolphin, a love triangle that does become a bit convoluted, conflict with others and nature. The problem is with all of this it feels like the conclusion was just rushed. You have this big death of one of the main characters and it seems to just be a moment. After that there’s no grieving everyone is just better they are happy again they found their peace. The people who had problems with one another are now perfectly fine with each other. A foundation is made in the name after Fokir who is the character who ended up dying during the storm that passed through the forest. Now it was a really sad moment as we know especially since the build up of this relationship has been growing since the two have met that Piya had some harbored feelings pent up for Fokir. So, for him to die in her arms must have come as a shock to her. But it feels like her grieving just gets glossed over like it didn’t happen.

I think this story as a whole isn’t the greatest. There are certain aspects that I find interesting. I think the reform of Kanai from this womanizer to someone who starts to care about other people and wants to make sure that they are ok even putting himself in danger to do so is great to see. I think the history of what happened with Nirmal in Marichjhapi was fascinating as it is such a big part of history and it connects two characters with Nirmal falling for Fokirs mom Kusum. The problem with that is that Nirmal stopped writing in it so it felt like something that was left unsolved and while we know what happened it is still I wish would’ve continued to see a different perspective. I felt as if Piya’s hunt for the dolphins was just boring to me. I think the only aspect I liked was the growth between Piya and Fokir because it grew progressively and it showed how much she respected him which Fokir never really got outside of her. I feel like the constant jumping back and forth between Kanai and Piyas perspective in what was happening in their lives was just difficult to follow and even when it got easy there wasn’t much to talk about. The tension between characters like Piya and Fokirs wife Moyna was really intriguing but felt as if it went no where.

The story had its moments where it was really captivating but others where it feels like it just falls flat in its entirety. I believe the ending is just rushed and it makes it so that it leaves so many loose ends and just leaves the reader yearning for something more.