Fictionalizing Antarctica
In late 2004, bestselling novelist Michael Crichton published State of Fear , a thriller in which eco-terrorists manufacture environmental disasters - including the deliberate fracturing of the Ross Ice Shelf by explosives- in order to maintain alarm over global warming and hence ensure continued fu...
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| Format: | Book Part |
| Language: | English |
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Edward Elgar
2017
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| Online Access: | http://www.e-elgar.com/shop/handbook-on-the-politics-of-antarctica http://ecite.utas.edu.au/106413 |
| Summary: | In late 2004, bestselling novelist Michael Crichton published State of Fear , a thriller in which eco-terrorists manufacture environmental disasters - including the deliberate fracturing of the Ross Ice Shelf by explosives- in order to maintain alarm over global warming and hence ensure continued funding to environmental organisations. While only one of the novel's seven sections is set in Antarctica, the continent - and more particularly, whether and why its ice is melting- features frequently in the footnotes, graphs and bibliography that Crichton added (unusually) to his popular thriller. Despite mixed critical reviews, only a week after publication Crichton's novel had 'stirred intense reactions . from people at every corner of the debate about climate change'. In what follows, I offer some ways to begin thinking about the relationship between fiction, politics and Antarctica, both in the abstract and in regard to specific traditions, texts and genres. |
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