教授 吉恩·韦伯, Director of the 儿童文学研究国际论坛, interrogates how Young Adult Science Fiction explores the possible futures of our planet.
Climate change 而且 the impact upon the environment are very much in the current public arena. 全球变暖带来的问题, climate change 而且 the depletion of natural resources are not going to end with the current generation but will continue into the future becoming the problems with which the youth of today will have to grapple.
Increasingly writers of teenage 而且 Young Adult fiction are addressing such matters in speculative science fiction - a space where these matters can be contemplated; awareness raised 而且 possible futures posited in creative 而且 imaginative ways. 年轻的主角被置于中心位置, 经历和学习处理这些遗传问题.
Through researching a book chapter I found that this is an international phenomenon arising in publishing in Australia, 英国和美国. Although the authors devise different scenarios there are commonalities such as the interface between people 而且 the environment, 社会的崩溃和技术的使用.
They question what it is to be human in an environmentally devastated world by placing their protagonists in extreme circumstances testing their moral character, 勇气和独创性. They all place the responsibility with teenagers who become the decision makers who can affect the course of the world, implicitly raising questions for the reader such as ‘What would I do in this situation?'
Through my research I identified a spectrum of development with three key stages. 第一个, “极端天气”, comprises texts intent upon raising consciousness of the devastating effects of global warming 而且 extreme weather. They interrogate experiences of surviving increasingly difficult situations such as extreme drought or flooding due to rising sea levels. 第二个, ‘Cityscapes’ uses more hypothetical scenarios reimagining the city as a physical 而且 social environment. 第三阶段, “后人类的未来”, considers the possibilities of life adapted beyond the boundaries of the normal body. 所有这些都提出了一系列进一步的问题, 例如, 关于人性的本质, 权力关系与社会组织. The examples given below are indicative of the work to be found on the Goodreads’ websites 而且 dedicated Environmental Science Fiction sites.
2001年至2009年，澳大利亚东南部遭受了严重干旱. 托尼•戴维斯 大干旱 (2013) is an Australian novel confronting living in a drought stricken area. 这对小弟弟孤身一人，因为他们的父亲去找食物了.
The effects of drought result in crime 而且 violence for people are desperate to protect what they have in order to survive. Survival in this hostile climate 而且 social environment is paramount for the boys as they search for their now lost father.
Whereas drought is a reality Australia in the UK devastating flooding is an increasing possibility, 2015-16年是自1910年有记录以来最潮湿的月份. 马库斯·塞奇威克的 Floodl而且 (2010)直接阐述了这种可能的结果.
故事发生在地势低洼的东安格利亚, the drastic rise in sea levels means towns 而且 cities such as Norwich are reduced to over-crowded isl而且s. 佐伊和她的父母被迫离开. 不幸地和父母分开了, Zoe has to draw on all her strength 而且 personal resources to survive alone in a socially hostile environment, 因为在 大干旱 社会崩溃了. Finally finding her parents they have to adapt positively to a changed way of life.
朱莉Bertgana的 《出埃及记》 (2011) is a speculative hypothetical world affected by environmental disaster due to human behaviour, 结合迄今为止所考虑的一些主题. 上升的海平面有可能吞噬这个苏格兰小岛.
玛拉开始出埃及寻找“新芒戈”, a city sitting above the ocean on great steel legs around which gather refugee boats. This supposed haven is guarded by Sea Police who fire on the refugees raising questions about the treatment of refugees by those in power; about the conditions in camps 而且 the treatment of the dispossessed, 当今世界存在哪些情况. 《冰球突破官网》的内部是一个人造的, futuristic 而且 hostile world which Mara has to negotiate as is a refugee, 一个外星人.
A further response to environmental disaster is the adaptation of the body. B.R. 柯林斯 比赛跑步 (2011)在电脑游戏中使用了一个平行的第二世界.
瑞克, the teenage protagonist ‘lives’ in this computer generated world of immersive multimedia virtual reality gaming. 在这里，他表演了超人的壮举.
Outside the real environment has been destroyed by nuclear war 而且 industrial waste. 瑞克’s final decision is whether to live as playing a game or to face the real dangers created by environmental abuse 而且 re-make this world.
In conclusion these are some examples of the weight 而且 wealth of environmental speculative fiction available for teenagers: fiction which plays out what could all too closely become reality
吉恩·韦伯教授 教授 英国文学学士(荣誉) 他是冰球突破官网课程的主任 儿童文学研究国际论坛.
All views expressed in this blog are the Academic’s own 而且 do not represent the views, policies or opinions of the 冰球突破官网 or any of its partners.