Let’s start off on an honest note: if you were an ordinary person (and not in a cli-fi English class) would you have read any of the stories/novels we read in class? Personally, I know I wouldn’t be reading Odds Against Tomorrow for fun. However since I am in a cli-fi English class, I found a new respect for the cli-fi genre. I found a respect for the storytelling and how most of the stories grabbed my attention and opened discussion. Reading the NYTimes Room for Debate article on cli-fi, I noticed a lot of the debaters mentioned the same thing; cli-fi needs a good story and a teller to get the message out.
Within the open discussion of Will Fiction Influence How We React to Climate Change?, the debaters all had different backgrounds and relations with climate change. Each thought to agree or disagree on the impact the genre of cli-fi has, but were consistent with the thought of that it needs a great storyteller to grab the audiences attention and even emotion. In Heidi Cullen’s debate Personal Stories About Global Warming Change Minds, she says, “For many climate change simply feels too distant, both in time and space. That’s where storytelling comes in.”
As we have read the texts throughout the course and as some of the debaters noted, the situations of cli-fi seem to be overly dramatic. Almost nearly impossible, yet we imagined it and felt emotion toward it. Sheree Renee Thomas made a great point in her debate Imagination Will Help Find Solutions to Climate Change. “The best stories take us inside of storytelling so seamlessly, that when we emerge, the impossible is easier to imagine.” It makes us think of the impossible being possible (the what-if) and then find countless ways to survive.
Stories, good and bad, are made in order for us to make sense of the world. George Marshall in this Climate Fiction Will Reinforce Existing Views debate mentions, “The rational side of our brain readily accept that this is a problem. But it needs the alchemy of stories to turn that cold data into the emotional gold it needs to mobilize.” The ones that tug at our heartstrings are the ones that make that connection with climate change, the ones that make a difference. Even if we can’t find a solution, just discussing the problem is better than doing nothing.
For our final class project, my partner and I wanted to expand outside of writing a short story or a children’s book; so we thought of a board game. C(li-fe)-I will resemble the game of Life, but a climate change edition. With several different choices and outcomes the gamers can have, it creates a unique storyline for each individual to play and live. We thought it would be a great way to tell a story, create engagement and even discussion on the issue of climate change.
Storytelling has a superior power to many of us. How a story is told and the plot can create emotions and connections. We have read some great cli-fi stories, analyzed them and created open and engaging discussions. And for our final project we are able to be the storytellers and tell our story of climate change.
I’ve been thinking about the same question you asked: If we weren’t in this class, would we take the time to read the stories? Sorry to Stephen, but the answer is definitely not.
But as you mention story-telling, I start to think about the conventions of the stories that have made an impact in my life. My favorite movie is “The Devil Wears Prada,” and my favorite book (at this moment; it tends to change every few months) is a memoir written by Grace Coddington, who is the creative director at Vogue magazine. I love those two stories because I can relate to them through my love of fashion.
So, this makes me wonder if today’s society can’t find a connection with cli-fi because the world depicted is not relatable. How can story-tellers create characters and scenarios that leave us, readers, filled with emotion and drive us to make a change?
I can’t wait to see the final version of your C(li-fe)-I game! I think it’s a brilliant idea as a way to get readers (or players) immersed into a climate change story by making them participants in a game (in this way, I think your project shares some similarities with Future Coast, as well as with other climate change games that have come out recently, for instance: http://blueandgreentomorrow.com/features/top-5-climate-change-board-games/
I do not take it personally at all that you probably wouldn’t read these works if not for the class; I think that’s one of the reasons we go to college — to be exposed to cultural works we wouldn’t otherwise encounter. However, I tend to disagree somewhat with the claim that not many people read these kinds of works. For instance, there are many “cli-fi” books listed on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=cli-fi) and Goodreads (http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/36205.Cli_Fi_Climate_Change_Fiction), and a lot of these books aren’t what we might call “literary fiction” but are “popular fiction”–like thrillers, romance novels, Young Adult novels, mysteries, etc. Even a book (and movie) like The Hunger Games could be considered part of this emerging genre. So even if people don’t refer to these books are “cli-fi,” such books are really popular and people are definitely reading them outside of academia.