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Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

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Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust A Consideration of Dirt and Its Material and Mythological Significance in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Water Knife Veera Vehmas Pro gradu English Philology University of Helsinki November 2019 Tiedekunta/Osasto – Fakultet/Sektion – Faculty Laitos – Institution – Department Humanistinen tiedekunta Kielten laitos Tekijä – Författare – Author Veera Vehmas Työn nimi – Arbetets titel – Title Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust: A Consideration of Dirt and Its Material and Mythological Significance in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Water Knife Oppiaine – Läroämne – Subject Englantilainen filologia Työn laji – Arbetets art – Level Aika – Datum – Month and year Sivumäärä– Sidoantal – Number of pages Pro gradu -tutkielma Marraskuu 2019 80 Tiivistelmä – Referat – Abstract Tutkielmassa käsitellään ilmakehän saastumista aiheuttavaa likaa ilmastofiktioteoksissa ei-inhimillisenä toimijana, joka muuttaa amerikkalaista ympäristöä ja täten haastaa amerikkalaisia luontokäsityksiä. Tutkielmassa tarkastellaan kahta romaania, Cormac McCarthyn The Road (2006) ja Paolo Bacigalupin The Water Knife (2015). Teokset edustavat spekulatiivista ilmastofiktiota, ja molemmissa teoksissa miljöö on tuhkan tai tomun peitossa. Tutkimus pyrkii tunnistamaan ne tavat, jolla tämä lika esiintyy ei- inhimillisenä toimijana, rikkoen amerikkalaisia luontokäsityksiä. Tutkimusta lähestytään myyttikriittisen ja materiaalisen ekokriittisen viitekehyksen kautta. Ilmastofiktio on myös tärkeä, argumenttia raamittava konsepti. Ilmastofiktio tyylilajina osoittaa, kuinka ilmastonmuutos haastaa kirjallisuuden konventioita ja näin muuttaa tapaamme ymmärtää maailmaa. Materiaalisen ekokriittisen luennan kautta tutkielmassa avataan tapaa, jolla lika haastaa näitä luontokäsityksiä ei-inhimillisenä toimijana. Tutkielman ensimmäisessä analyysiluvussa teoksia tarkastellaan myyttikritiikin kautta, ja luvussa osoitetaan, että molemmat teokset hyödyntävät juutalaiskristillisestä mytologiasta kumpuavia amerikkalaisia myyttejä. The Road ja The Water Knife viittaavat narratiiviin paratiisin takaisinsaamisesta. Narratiivi pohjautuu juutalaiskristilliseen luomiskertomukseen. Tarinan mukaan Jumala on antanut ihmiskunnalle määräysvallan luontoon, ja ihmiskunta voi palauttaa paratiisiin maan päälle kovalla työllä. Kyseinen narratiivi on muovannut amerikkalaisten suhdetta luontoon. Myyttiviittaukset luovat ristiriidan myyttisten luontoihanteiden ja teosten apokalyptisen, ilmastonmuutoksen muokkaaman miljöön välille. Tutkielman toisessa ja kolmannessa analyysiluvussa teoksia tarkastellaan materiaalisen ekokritiikin ja myyttikritiikin kautta keskittyen likaan ei-inhimillisenä toimijana. McCarthyn teoksessa tuhka rikkoo luontoideaalia aiheuttamalla maailmanlaajuisen sukupuuton, tekemällä ympäristöstä ennalta-arvaamattomamman ja haastamalla käsitteellistä rajaa ihmisen ja luonnon välillä. Bacigalupin teoksessa tomu haastaa luontokäsityksiä vaikuttamalla päähenkilöiden tapaan ymmärtää ympäristöään ja rikkomalla ihmisen ja luonnon välillä olevaa käsitteellistä rajaa. Tutkimuksen perusteella sekä McCarthyn että Bacigalupin romaanit viittaavat amerikkalaisiin myytteihin ja myyttisiin trooppeihin luodakseen ristiriidan luontokäsitysten ja ilmastomuutoksen tuomien realiteettien välille. Lähestymällä teoksia materiaalisen ekokritiikin tulokulmasta lian rooli ei-inhimillisenä toimijana ja amerikkalaisten luontokäsityksien haastajana korostuu. Kirjalliset konventiot uudelleenmäärittyvät teoksissa ilmastofiktiolle ominaisella tavalla. Avainsanat – Nyckelord – Keywords Materiaalinen ekokritiikki, myyttikritiikki, ilmastofiktio, maailmanloppu, luontokäsitykset, amerikkalaiset myytit Säilytyspaikka – Förvaringställe – Where deposited Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto HELDA (E-thesis) Muita tietoja – Övriga uppgifter – Additional information Table of Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Synopses of The Road and The Water Knife ....................................................................................... 2 1.2 Introducing thesis approaches and structure ........................................................................................ 5 2. Background and Theoretical Approaches ...................................................................................................... 7 2.1 An American approach to the environment ............................................................................................. 8 2.2 Judeo-Christian mythology in America ................................................................................................. 10 2.3 Mythcriticism ........................................................................................................................................ 11 2.4 Carolyn Merchant’s recovery narrative ................................................................................................. 13 2.5 Material ecocriticism ............................................................................................................................. 14 2.6 Overview of previous scholarly work ................................................................................................... 17 2.6.1 The Road ......................................................................................................................................... 17 2.6.2 The Water Knife .............................................................................................................................. 19 3. The American recovery narrative in the novels ........................................................................................... 20 3.1 Eden in the apocalypse .......................................................................................................................... 22 3.1.1 Eden in The Water Knife ................................................................................................................ 22 3.1.2 Eden in The Road ........................................................................................................................... 28 3.2 Settlers and the frontier mentality in the apocalypse ............................................................................. 32 3.2.1 The Water Knife .............................................................................................................................. 33 3.2.2 The Road ......................................................................................................................................... 35 3.3 Chapter conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 38 4. The Road and Agentic Dirt .......................................................................................................................... 39 4.1 Dirt modifying the environment ............................................................................................................ 40 4.1.1 Ash as a material............................................................................................................................. 41 4.1.2 Ash as a modifier ............................................................................................................................ 42 4.2 Dirt and unpredictability ........................................................................................................................ 46 4.3 Dirt defying human/more-than-human boundaries ............................................................................... 49 4.3.1 Burnt biosphere............................................................................................................................... 50 4.3.2 Ash and the body ............................................................................................................................ 52 4.4 Chapter conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 54 5. The Water Knife and Agentic Dirt ............................................................................................................... 55 5.1 Dust as a material .................................................................................................................................. 56 5.2 Dirt modifying environment .................................................................................................................. 58 5.2.1 Perception and dust ......................................................................................................................... 58 5.2.2 Dust and the American way of life ................................................................................................. 62 5.3 Dirt defying human/more-than-human boundaries ............................................................................... 63 5.3.1 Separation ....................................................................................................................................... 64 5.3.2 Enmeshment ................................................................................................................................... 67 5.4 Chapter conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 69 6. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................
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