Browsing by Author "Laaksonen, Fanny"

In this thesis I analyze the economic and ecological themes in Margaret Atwood’s 2003 novel Oryx and Crake. I show that the dystopian near-future world of the novel is a satirical depiction of the culture of 2000’s late capitalism and that Atwood is specifically criticizing global capitalism’s detrimental effects on the environment. Atwood herself categorizes the novel as a work of speculative fiction, by which she means that the dystopian fictional elements of the novel have real-world precedents, and that they are an exaggeration of contemporary conditions. In my analysis of capitalism and culture in the novel I use theoretical concepts introduced by Frederic Jameson regarding the culture of late capitalism. I show that Atwood’s extensive use of the language of branding calls attention to the role global capitalism plays in the story. The estranging effect works by foregrounding the neologisms and fictional brands, which then reveal how similarly pervasive real corporations and brands are in our world. In accordance with the satirical tone of the novel, the absurd elements in the story are rarely questioned or commented on critically by the characters. I claim this works to show how a lack of political concern or action in the real world leads to the worsening social and ecological conditions described in the novel. The ecological satire of the novel, on the other hand, comes across in the way climate and nature are approached in the story. In my analysis I claim that Atwood is criticizing the shallow environmentalism of corporations, the commodification of production animals, and the opposition between humans and nature by taking these themes to their extremes. Instead of system change, individual solutions are applied to individual problems, including Crake’s ultimate decision to end humanity, which I read as a misapplication of deep ecological politics. I conclude that speculative fiction serves an important function in imagining possible futures and challenging our ideas about where we might be headed. The theoretical approaches I adopt in my thesis work together to present capitalism not only as a system of human exploitation, but of ecological exploitation as well. Oryx and Crake is a deeply political novel that shows the trajectory of the cultural and ecological decline we are on if our understanding of our own role in the ecosphere does not change.