“You Are Turning into a Hive Mind”: Storytelling, Ecological Thought, and the Problem of Form in Generation A
This article discusses the relationship between literary form and contemporary ecological anxiety in Douglas Coupland’s novel Generation A. Coupland’s speculative fiction envisions a possible future in the wake of Colony Collapse Disorder, but the more generalized eco-anxiety the novel explores is a...
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ftwlaurieruniv:oai:scholars.wlu.ca:engl_faculty-1018 2023-05-15T17:51:23+02:00 “You Are Turning into a Hive Mind”: Storytelling, Ecological Thought, and the Problem of Form in Generation A Kerber, Jenny 2014-06-01T07:00:00Z application/pdf https://scholars.wlu.ca/engl_faculty/16 https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018&context=engl_faculty unknown Scholars Commons @ Laurier https://scholars.wlu.ca/engl_faculty/16 https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018&context=engl_faculty English and Film Studies Faculty Publications English Language and Literature Film and Media Studies text 2014 ftwlaurieruniv 2022-03-31T17:29:46Z This article discusses the relationship between literary form and contemporary ecological anxiety in Douglas Coupland’s novel Generation A. Coupland’s speculative fiction envisions a possible future in the wake of Colony Collapse Disorder, but the more generalized eco-anxiety the novel explores is applicable to a number of contemporary environmental issues ranging from climate change to ocean acidification. I argue that Coupland’s novel invites readers to consider the problem of representing ecological problems characterized by global scale, temporal uncertainty, and multiple origins. I then explore how Coupland responds to these challenges by stretching form in two directions. First, he juxtaposes and recycles a series of stories in a manner that capitalizes on lateral, shortened forms of attention, leading readers to detect larger patterns of significance within a database of what might initially seem like insignificant or banal details. Second, he cultivates the development of a form of “hive mind” among characters and readers that stretches ideas of personhood beyond the corporeal boundaries of the individual subject. The latter opens new possibilities for conceiving of a collective, networked mode of political agency in the era of social media and global scale effects. Text Ocean acidification Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario: Scholars Commons@Laurier |
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Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario: Scholars Commons@Laurier |
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English Language and Literature Film and Media Studies |
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English Language and Literature Film and Media Studies Kerber, Jenny “You Are Turning into a Hive Mind”: Storytelling, Ecological Thought, and the Problem of Form in Generation A |
topic_facet |
English Language and Literature Film and Media Studies |
description |
This article discusses the relationship between literary form and contemporary ecological anxiety in Douglas Coupland’s novel Generation A. Coupland’s speculative fiction envisions a possible future in the wake of Colony Collapse Disorder, but the more generalized eco-anxiety the novel explores is applicable to a number of contemporary environmental issues ranging from climate change to ocean acidification. I argue that Coupland’s novel invites readers to consider the problem of representing ecological problems characterized by global scale, temporal uncertainty, and multiple origins. I then explore how Coupland responds to these challenges by stretching form in two directions. First, he juxtaposes and recycles a series of stories in a manner that capitalizes on lateral, shortened forms of attention, leading readers to detect larger patterns of significance within a database of what might initially seem like insignificant or banal details. Second, he cultivates the development of a form of “hive mind” among characters and readers that stretches ideas of personhood beyond the corporeal boundaries of the individual subject. The latter opens new possibilities for conceiving of a collective, networked mode of political agency in the era of social media and global scale effects. |
format |
Text |
author |
Kerber, Jenny |
author_facet |
Kerber, Jenny |
author_sort |
Kerber, Jenny |
title |
“You Are Turning into a Hive Mind”: Storytelling, Ecological Thought, and the Problem of Form in Generation A |
title_short |
“You Are Turning into a Hive Mind”: Storytelling, Ecological Thought, and the Problem of Form in Generation A |
title_full |
“You Are Turning into a Hive Mind”: Storytelling, Ecological Thought, and the Problem of Form in Generation A |
title_fullStr |
“You Are Turning into a Hive Mind”: Storytelling, Ecological Thought, and the Problem of Form in Generation A |
title_full_unstemmed |
“You Are Turning into a Hive Mind”: Storytelling, Ecological Thought, and the Problem of Form in Generation A |
title_sort |
“you are turning into a hive mind”: storytelling, ecological thought, and the problem of form in generation a |
publisher |
Scholars Commons @ Laurier |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://scholars.wlu.ca/engl_faculty/16 https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018&context=engl_faculty |
genre |
Ocean acidification |
genre_facet |
Ocean acidification |
op_source |
English and Film Studies Faculty Publications |
op_relation |
https://scholars.wlu.ca/engl_faculty/16 https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018&context=engl_faculty |
_version_ |
1766158520617533440 |