Coming-of-Age as Ecocitizens in Young Adult Climate Fiction: Saci Lloyd’s The Carbon Diaries 2015 and 2017
This article considers the threat of environmental destruction in YA dystopian imagination by providing a close reading of Saci Lloyd’s The Carbon Diaries 2015 (2008) and The Carbon Diaries 2017 (2010) that particularly considers whether these texts espouse radical social change and whether they of...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
2023-08-01
|
| Series: | Ilha do Desterro |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/92592 |
| _version_ | 1797739246217330688 |
|---|---|
| author | Chiara Xausa |
| author_facet | Chiara Xausa |
| author_sort | Chiara Xausa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
This article considers the threat of environmental destruction in YA dystopian imagination by providing a close reading of Saci Lloyd’s The Carbon Diaries 2015 (2008) and The Carbon Diaries 2017 (2010) that particularly considers whether these texts espouse radical social change and whether they offer hope or despair. First, the article demonstrates that Lloyd’s novels do not merely portray climate change as a backdrop for human drama, but rather attempt to disentangle the environmental crisis from the post-political sphere (Swyngedouw 2010) where humanity as a whole is under threat. While its protagonists learn to cope with ecological uncertainty and the multidimensional challenges of climate change, indeed, they also come to terms with the social and political dimensions of climate change. Second, the article claims that one of the most important features of these two novels is their attempt to explore the challenges faced by the younger generations when dealing with the contemporary climate challenge. Young people in fact bear a disproportionate burden of the environmental crises the world faces today and are subject to climate anxiety. Moreover, they are not only disproportionately impacted by climate change, but their agency and visions of the future are often placed under erasure discursively. Lloyd’s novels, instead, provide a young adult perspective on the uneven universality of climate change. Finally, the article suggests that the presence of utopian hope at the conclusion of the novels does not provide a consoling and comforting happy ending but helps readers to come to terms with an imperfect world. The article’s close reading of The Carbon Diaries 2015 and 2017, therefore, attempts to underscore the novels’ projection of a possible future where a radical systemic change is envisaged.
|
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T13:54:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fbfd0bc2ecd1499790b4b27f5cf5f6d7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0101-4846 2175-8026 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T13:54:27Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ilha do Desterro |
| spelling | doaj.art-fbfd0bc2ecd1499790b4b27f5cf5f6d72023-08-22T18:22:00ZengUniversidade Federal de Santa CatarinaIlha do Desterro0101-48462175-80262023-08-0176210.5007/2175-8026.2023.e92592Coming-of-Age as Ecocitizens in Young Adult Climate Fiction: Saci Lloyd’s The Carbon Diaries 2015 and 2017Chiara Xausa0University of Bologna This article considers the threat of environmental destruction in YA dystopian imagination by providing a close reading of Saci Lloyd’s The Carbon Diaries 2015 (2008) and The Carbon Diaries 2017 (2010) that particularly considers whether these texts espouse radical social change and whether they offer hope or despair. First, the article demonstrates that Lloyd’s novels do not merely portray climate change as a backdrop for human drama, but rather attempt to disentangle the environmental crisis from the post-political sphere (Swyngedouw 2010) where humanity as a whole is under threat. While its protagonists learn to cope with ecological uncertainty and the multidimensional challenges of climate change, indeed, they also come to terms with the social and political dimensions of climate change. Second, the article claims that one of the most important features of these two novels is their attempt to explore the challenges faced by the younger generations when dealing with the contemporary climate challenge. Young people in fact bear a disproportionate burden of the environmental crises the world faces today and are subject to climate anxiety. Moreover, they are not only disproportionately impacted by climate change, but their agency and visions of the future are often placed under erasure discursively. Lloyd’s novels, instead, provide a young adult perspective on the uneven universality of climate change. Finally, the article suggests that the presence of utopian hope at the conclusion of the novels does not provide a consoling and comforting happy ending but helps readers to come to terms with an imperfect world. The article’s close reading of The Carbon Diaries 2015 and 2017, therefore, attempts to underscore the novels’ projection of a possible future where a radical systemic change is envisaged. https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/92592Climate fictionYA dystopian fictionSaci Lloydhopesystemic change |
| spellingShingle | Chiara Xausa Coming-of-Age as Ecocitizens in Young Adult Climate Fiction: Saci Lloyd’s The Carbon Diaries 2015 and 2017 Ilha do Desterro Climate fiction YA dystopian fiction Saci Lloyd hope systemic change |
| title | Coming-of-Age as Ecocitizens in Young Adult Climate Fiction: Saci Lloyd’s The Carbon Diaries 2015 and 2017 |
| title_full | Coming-of-Age as Ecocitizens in Young Adult Climate Fiction: Saci Lloyd’s The Carbon Diaries 2015 and 2017 |
| title_fullStr | Coming-of-Age as Ecocitizens in Young Adult Climate Fiction: Saci Lloyd’s The Carbon Diaries 2015 and 2017 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Coming-of-Age as Ecocitizens in Young Adult Climate Fiction: Saci Lloyd’s The Carbon Diaries 2015 and 2017 |
| title_short | Coming-of-Age as Ecocitizens in Young Adult Climate Fiction: Saci Lloyd’s The Carbon Diaries 2015 and 2017 |
| title_sort | coming of age as ecocitizens in young adult climate fiction saci lloyd s the carbon diaries 2015 and 2017 |
| topic | Climate fiction YA dystopian fiction Saci Lloyd hope systemic change |
| url | https://periodicos.ufsc.br/index.php/desterro/article/view/92592 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT chiaraxausa comingofageasecocitizensinyoungadultclimatefictionsacilloydsthecarbondiaries2015and2017 |