13. NATURE, THE ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN BRITISH AND AMERICAN LITERATURE, BRITISH DYSTOPIAN FICTION

Nature Writing

It considers other species or non-human places and our relationship with them, often written in a lyrical or poetic style. It incorporates personal observations, philosophical reflections, and scientific information

Environmental Writing

Chronicles the global environmental crisis, addressing issues like deforestation, species extinction, climate change, and the damage caused by human progres

Ecocriticism

Literary criticism that explores human and nonhuman interactions and the interrelationship between them. It critiques how society devalues and degrades the natural world through the lens of literary texts.

Nature Writing Origins

Emerged from sportsmen authors, scientific naturalists, and Romantics who defined a new relationship with nature as a place for self-discovery and wonder.

Romanticism & Nature

Romantic writers like Wordsworth and Coleridge celebrated nature for its beauty, power, and spiritual significance, reflecting a concern for nature’s loss due to industrialization.

Scientific Revolution & Literature

The Enlightenment brought a fascination with scientific discovery and technological progress, reflected in literature like Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Gulliver's Travels

• Author: Jonathan Swift

• Key Idea: Satirizes scientific pride and the limits of human reason, critiquing the period’s obsession with rationality and scientific discovery.

Frankenstein

• Author: Mary Shelley

• Key Idea: Critiques the dangers of unchecked scientific ambition and 'playing God,' using the story of Victor Frankenstein and his creation to explore the consequences of scientific exploration without ethical responsibility.

Enlightenment & Literature

British writers during the 18th century engaged with scientific ideas about nature and human anatomy, reflecting both optimism and anxiety about scientific progress.

Romantic Period Science

The Romantic period reacted against Enlightenment rationality, focusing on emotion, nature, and fears about unchecked scientific ambition, as exemplified in Frankenstein.

Victorian Era & Industrialization

The Victorian era saw rapid industrialization and scientific breakthroughs, reflected in works like Dickens' Hard Times and H.G. Wells' The Time Machine.

Early 20th Century & Technology

Early 20th-century literature explored tensions between scientific advancement and human values, with authors like Aldous Huxley and Orwell critiquing technological control over society.

Post-War Science Fiction

Post-WWII literature addressed concerns over nuclear power, AI, biotechnology, and environmental collapse, with works like Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan

Dystopian Fiction Origins

Dystopian fiction emerged in the late 19th century as a critique of industrialization, social inequality, and scientific overreach, influenced by the growing popularity of socialism.

Characteristics of Dystopian Fiction

Depictions of totalitarian regimes, loss of individual freedom, dehumanization, surveillance, and technological dominance.

Dystopia in the 20th Century

Dystopian literature reflected anxieties about totalitarian regimes, environmental degeneration, and technological dominance, as seen in Orwell’s 1984.

The Time Machine

• Author: H.G. Wells

• Key Idea: Explores the future of class divisions, with the Eloi and Morlocks as a metaphor for deepening inequality in Victorian Britain.

The Machine Stops

• Author: E.M. Forster

• Key Idea: Critiques a society isolated by technology, where human connections are mediated by machines, reflecting the loss of human experience.

Brave New World

• Author: Aldous Huxley

• Key Idea: Depicts a society of consumerism, genetic engineering, and psychological conditioning, critiquing the loss of individuality in a capitalist society.

1984 & Totalitarianism

• Author: George Orwell

• Key Idea: Critiques totalitarianism, surveillance, and the manipulation of truth, illustrating the dangers of authoritarian regimes.

Fahrenheit 451

• Author: Ray Bradbury

• Key Idea: Critiques censorship and conformity in a future where books are banned and firemen burn them to suppress dissent.

The Handmaid's Tale

• Author: Margaret Atwood

• Key Idea: Critiques gender oppression, totalitarianism, and religious extremism in a theocratic society.

Transcendentalism

A 19th-century American philosophical movement emphasizing the connection between humanity and nature, intuition over reason, and finding God in nature.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

• Key Work: Nature (1836)

• Idea: Advocates for a spiritual connection with nature, seeing it as a source of truth and insight.

Henry David Thoreau

• Key Work: Walden

• Idea: Encourages simple living and introspection, rejecting materialism and emphasizing the search for true wisdom.

Naturalism in American Literature

A literary movement analyzing human nature through a scientific, objective perspective, with characters often shaped by their environment and unable to change.

Stephen Crane & Naturalism

• Key Work: Maggie: A Girl of the Streets

• Idea: Depicts how characters are controlled by their environment, illustrating social struggles and fate.

Hamlin Garland

• Key Work: Main-Travelled Roads

• Idea: Critiques the painful conditions faced by Midwestern farmers, using "veritism" to portray life realistically.

American Science Fiction

Overview: Flourished in the 20th century, exploring the ethical and social consequences of technological advancements, with works like Fahrenheit 451 and Player Piano.