THE CLI-FI REPORT

TEMPLE UNIVERSITY " cli fi '' literature class 2015 spring

http://sites.temple.edu/clifi/about/

English 2113: Popular Fiction Spring 2015

Section 002 Wednesday
5:30-8 Anderson 25

Instructor: Ted Howell Office: 937 Anderson Office
hours: M 9-10:30; W 4-5:30

 Course Topic


Cli-fi: Science Fiction, Climate Change, & Apocalypse


 Recent years
have seen the emergence of a new genre of novel:
"cli-fi". Its nickname reveals its connection to the larger
genre of science fiction, which has for a century imagined alternative
wo
short. Its nickname reveals its connection to the larger genre of
science fiction, which has for a century imagined alternative worlds
and wondered what it would be like for humans to live during (and
after) apocalyptic events. At the same time, contemporary science has
begun to understand the irrevocable interconnection between humans and
the earth's climate--to wit, the frightening fact that human beings
have altered the climate itself, for now and for long into the future.
Taking up the intersection of science fiction and the climate, this
course will explore contemporary fiction (and, to begin, some fiction
from earlier in the twentieth-century) that depicts and/or imagines
the impact of climate change. Our key questions will be these: how can
something so gradual, so significant, and so mind-boggling as climate
change be treated in literature? And can fiction help to alter our
conceptions of the earth and our role in changing it? Required texts
(available online and in the University bookstore). It is much, much
easier for everyone if you obtain the exact same version listed below,
so I've included ISBN numbers. If you wish to read a different
edition, or on a Kindle or other e-reader, I won't object - but do
know that you'll be working with different page numbers, or without
page numbers entirely, which will likely make it harder to follow
along in class. 1. H.G. Wells, The Time Machine (978-0375761188) 2.
Phillippe Squarzoni, Climate Changed: A Personal Journey through the
Science (978- 1419712555) 3. 1 George R. Stewart, Earth Abides
(978-0449213018) 4. Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway, The Collapse of
Western Civilization: A View from the Future (978-0231169547) 5.
Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower (978-0446675505) 6. Barbara
Kingsolver, Flight Behavior (978-0062124272) 7. Kim Stanley Robinson,
Forty Signs of Rain (978-0553585803) 8. Paolo Bacigalupi, The Wind-up
Girl (978-1597801584) 9. Margaret Atwood, The Year of the Flood
(978-030745547
--
NEW YORK TIMES OPED:
ROOM FOR DEBATE:
Can Cli Fi Save the World?
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/07/29/will-fiction-influence-how-we-react-to-climate-change

CLI FI MOVIE AWARDS http://korgw101.blogspot.com

#CLIFI hashtag PHOTO link:
http://klima101.blogspot.com/2014/05/cli-fi-hashtag-cley-in-ukifi-created-by.html

TIME magazine on CLI FI
May 19, 2014:
http://time.com/92065/godzilla-into-the-storm-and-more-summer-cli-fi-thrillers/


WIKIPEDIA on ''CLI FI''
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cli_fi