Arizona University gives a shout-out to 'Cli-Fi" with the publication of a cli-fi anthology of prize-winning short stories
October 1, 2016
PDF LINK
http://cli-fi-books.blogspot.tw/2016/09/everything-change-anthology-of-cli-fi.html
PDF LINK
http://cli-fi-books.blogspot.tw/2016/09/everything-change-anthology-of-cli-fi.html
By Staff Writer (edited by Dan Bloom at ''The Cli-Fi Report'' via www.cli-fi.net)
It was indeed nice and comforting to read the introduction to the anthology by its three editors, and also to the accompanying commentary by Kim Stanley Robinson, also included in the book, titled "Everything Change," a nod to Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood who coined the Everything Change term.
The three editors wrote in their intro:
We hope that this collection will help readers to make sense of climate
change, to grapple with all of the bewildering emotions associated with
climate imagination and climate reality, and to facilitate conversations
about the futures we want and how to create them.
The literary movement of
climate fiction
is often credited with playing
a major part in mobilizing societies to act on climate change.
Climate
fiction, sometimes called “cli-fi,” has exploded over the last decade
and enjoys growing popularity.
Amazon lists more than 2000 results
for “climate fiction,” and more than 400 for “cli-fi.” Among these
are a growing number of anthologies and academic treatments. And
climate fiction novels are only one part of a larger cultural trend
that is beginning to explore climate change as a social and cultural
phenomenon, not just a scientific and policy issue. '
Kim Stanley Robinson also pronounced on ''cli-fi'' -- aand pproved of it -- and says it's here for the long haul, in his commentary in the new ASU antho:
KSR wrote:
''As part of that fidelity to the real, a lot of near-future science fiction is also becoming what some people now call **climate fiction**. [Aka cli-fi.] This is because climate change is already happening, and has become an unavoidable dominating element in the coming century. The new name thus reflects the basic realism of near-future science fiction, and is just the latest in the names people have given it; in the 1980s it was often called cyberpunk, because so many near-future stories incorporated the coming dominance of globalization and the emerging neoliberal dystopia. Now it’s climate change that is clearly coming, even more certainly than globalization. That these two biophysical dominants constitute a kind of cause and effect is perhaps another story that near-future science fiction can tell. In any case, climate fiction will be one name for this subgenre for a long time to come. This is a good thing, because fiction is how we organize our knowledge into plots that suggest how to behave in the real world. We decide what to do based on the stories we tell ourselves, so we very much need to be telling stories about our responses to climate change and the associated massive problems bearing down on us and our descendants. This book collects a number of new and exciting stories about things that will be happening soon, as people try to adapt to a changing climate and its impacts on our biosphere. It’s fair to ask whether that means that these stories are depressing and unpleasant to read; the answer is no, they aren’t, and in fact they are tremendously stimulating. This should not come as a surprise. Literature is about reality, indeed is part of the creation of reality, so it always deals with hard situations. This engagement is a crucial part of literature’s interest to us."
''As part of that fidelity to the real, a lot of near-future science fiction is also becoming what some people now call 'climate fiction'. This is because climate change is already happening, and has become an unavoidable dominating element in the coming century. The new name thus reflects the basic realism of near-future science fiction, and is just the latest in the names people have given it; in the 1980s it was often called cyberpunk, because so many near-future stories incorporated the coming dominance of globalization and the emerging neoliberal dystopia. Now it’s climate change that is clearly coming, even more certainly than globalization. That these two biophysical dominants constitute a kind of cause and effect is perhaps another story that near-future science fiction can tell. In any case, climate fiction will be one name for this subgenre for a long time to come. This is a good thing, because fiction is how we organize our knowledge into plots that suggest how to behave in the real world.
KSR wrote:
''As part of that fidelity to the real, a lot of near-future science fiction is also becoming what some people now call **climate fiction**. [Aka cli-fi.] This is because climate change is already happening, and has become an unavoidable dominating element in the coming century. The new name thus reflects the basic realism of near-future science fiction, and is just the latest in the names people have given it; in the 1980s it was often called cyberpunk, because so many near-future stories incorporated the coming dominance of globalization and the emerging neoliberal dystopia. Now it’s climate change that is clearly coming, even more certainly than globalization. That these two biophysical dominants constitute a kind of cause and effect is perhaps another story that near-future science fiction can tell. In any case, climate fiction will be one name for this subgenre for a long time to come. This is a good thing, because fiction is how we organize our knowledge into plots that suggest how to behave in the real world. We decide what to do based on the stories we tell ourselves, so we very much need to be telling stories about our responses to climate change and the associated massive problems bearing down on us and our descendants. This book collects a number of new and exciting stories about things that will be happening soon, as people try to adapt to a changing climate and its impacts on our biosphere. It’s fair to ask whether that means that these stories are depressing and unpleasant to read; the answer is no, they aren’t, and in fact they are tremendously stimulating. This should not come as a surprise. Literature is about reality, indeed is part of the creation of reality, so it always deals with hard situations. This engagement is a crucial part of literature’s interest to us."
So it's official. ''Cli-fi'' is here to stay.
As Robinson said:
''As part of that fidelity to the real, a lot of near-future science fiction is also becoming what some people now call 'climate fiction'. This is because climate change is already happening, and has become an unavoidable dominating element in the coming century. The new name thus reflects the basic realism of near-future science fiction, and is just the latest in the names people have given it; in the 1980s it was often called cyberpunk, because so many near-future stories incorporated the coming dominance of globalization and the emerging neoliberal dystopia. Now it’s climate change that is clearly coming, even more certainly than globalization. That these two biophysical dominants constitute a kind of cause and effect is perhaps another story that near-future science fiction can tell. In any case, climate fiction will be one name for this subgenre for a long time to come. This is a good thing, because fiction is how we organize our knowledge into plots that suggest how to behave in the real world.
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