Environmental Justice and Narrative in the Anthropocene

In this episode of the Narrative for Social Justice Podcast, host Carolin Gebauer talks with Erin James about environmental justice and the role of narrative in the Anthropocene. Erin speaks about her new book, Narrative in the Anthropocene (Ohio State University Press, 2022), in which she conceptualizes narrative as both a rhetorical and cognitive mode that can help us to analyze and comprehend the causes, consequences, and problems of the current global climate crisis. The conversation focuses on various aspects that shape our understanding of climate change such as the relation between humankind and other species, the nexus between climate and social justice, as well as the difference between collective and individual agency in the context of climate action. We also discuss the role of narrative in public debates about climate change as well as the pedagogical benefits of teaching cli-fi and narrative theory in the classroom.

Podcast music created by Drew Morgan

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Bibliography (also in transcript):

Bennett, Jane. Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2010.

Breithaupt, Fritz. The Dark Sides of Empathy. Translated by Andrew B. B. Hamilton. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2019.

Chakrabarty, Dipesh. “The Climate of History: Four Theses.” Critical Inquiry 35.2 (2009): 197–222.

Herman, David. Story Logic: Problems and Possibilities of Narrative. Lincoln, NE: The University of Nebraska Press, 2002.

James, Erin. “Narrating Nature: Narrative Theory and the Unnatural Nature of Climate Change.” Nature and Literary Studies, edited by Peter Remien and Scott Slovic. Cambridge University Press, 2022. 325-338.

James, Erin. Narrative in the Anthropocene. Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University Press, 2022.

James, Erin. The Storyworld Accord: Econarratology and Postcolonial Narratives. Lincoln, NE: The University of Nebraska Press, 2015.

James, Erin. “The Value of ‘Old’Stories. A Response to Marco Caracciolo’s ‘Negotiating Stories in the Anthropocene.’” In: DIEGESIS: Interdisciplinary E-Journal for Narrative Research 9.2 (2020). 34–44. URN: http://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hbz:468-20201201-102135-6.

James, Erin, and Birgit Spengler. “(Life) Narrative in the Posthuman Anthropocene: Erin James in Conversation with Birgit Spengler.” In: Life Writing in the Posthuman Anthropocene, edited by Ina Batzke, Lea Espinoza Garrido, and Linda M. Hess, 225–255. Cham: Springer.

James, Erin, and Eric Morel (eds.). Narrative and Environment: New Directions in Econarratology. Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University Press, 2020.

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Zunshine, Lisa. Why We Read Fiction: Theory of Mind and the Novel. Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University Press, 2006.