JOURNAL ARTICLE

Towards the Cli-Fi Historical Novel; Or, Climate Futures Past in Recent Fiction.

  • Published In: American Literary History, 2023, v. 35, n. 4. P. 1665 1 of 3

  • Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Forter, Greg 3 of 3

Abstract

This article examines the future of the historical novel through the lens of climate fiction (cli-fi), arguing that it must incorporate climate change to address the temporal and ecological crises of late capitalism. Building on Fredric Jameson's claim that the historical novel of the future will be science-fictional due to capitalism's reification of the present, the essay contends that cli-fi uniquely unsettles the present's self-identity by revealing the persistence and uncanniness of nature within a supposedly postnatural world. Through detailed analyses of Matt Bell's *Appleseed* (2021) and Amitav Ghosh's *Gun Island* (2019), the essay highlights how these novels employ mythic and folkloric forms to capture nonlinear, heterogeneous temporalities that link past, present, and future, thereby challenging dominant historical narratives and emphasizing the intertwined legacies of capitalism, colonialism, and climate change. Ultimately, it proposes that the historical novel must engage with nonhuman temporalities and the "language" of nature to imagine new planetary futures beyond capitalist destruction.

Additional Information

  • Source:American Literary History. 2023/12, Vol. 35, Issue 4, p1665
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:Literature and Writing
  • Publication Date:2023
  • ISSN:0896-7148
  • DOI:10.1093/alh/ajad156
  • Accession Number:173831857
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