POSTCOLONIAL CLI-FI: ADVOCACY AND THE NOVEL FORM IN THE ANTHROPOCENE by RACHEL HODGES ROCHESTER A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of English and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2018 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Rachel Hodges Rochester Title: Postcolonial Cli-Fi: Advocacy and the Novel Form in the Anthropocene This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of English by: Sangita Gopal Chairperson Stephanie LeMenager Core Member David Vázquez Core Member Kari Norgaard Institutional Representative and Sara D. Hodges Interim Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded June 2018 ii © 2018 Rachel Hodges Rochester This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (United States) License. iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Rachel Hodges Rochester Doctor of Philosophy Department of English June 2018 Title: Postcolonial Cli-Fi: Advocacy and the Novel Form in the Anthropocene Through the filters of postcolonial theory, environmental humanities, and digital humanities, this project considers the capabilities and limitations of novels to galvanize action in response to environmental crises. My findings suggest that novels are well equipped to engage in environmental education, although some of the form’s conventions must be disrupted to fully capitalize upon its strengths. The modern novel is conventionally limited in scope, often resorts to apocalyptic narratives that can breed hopelessness, is dedicated to a form of realism that belies the dramatic weather events exacerbated by climate change, defers authority to a single voice, and is logocentric. By supplementing conventional novels with a variety of paratexts, including digital tools, scientific findings, non-fiction accounts of past, present, and future activism, and authorial biography, it is my contention that the novel’s potency as a pedagogical tool increases. After addressing this project’s stakes and contexts in my Introduction, Chapter II assesses three South Asian novels in English that are concerned with sustainable development: Bhabani Bhattacharya’s Shadow from Ladakh, Bharati Mukherjee’s Jasmine, and Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger. I conclude by considering how StoryMaps might further disrupt pro-sustainable development propaganda alongside iv more traditional novels. Chapter III examines how explicitly activist South Asian novelists construct authorial personae that propose additional solutions to the environmental problems identified in their novels, focusing on Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide and Indra Sinha’s Animal’s People. Chapter IV coins the term “locus- colonial novel,” a novel that decenters the human, situating place at the fulcrum of a work of historical fiction, using Hari Kunzru’s Gods without Men as one exemplar. I examine Kunzru’s novel alongside promotional materials for planned Mars missions to consider how narratives of colonialism on Earth might lead to a more socially and environmentally sustainable colonial model for Mars. Chapter V introduces the concept of a digital locus-colonial novel that allows users to develop informed, environmentally focused scenarios for colonial Mars. Through these chapters, this dissertation identifies specific rhetorical techniques that allow conscientious novels to create imaginative spaces where readers might explore solutions to the social, economic, and increasingly environmental problems facing human populations worldwide. v CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Rachel Hodges Rochester GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene, OR Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ Lesley University, Cambridge, MA DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, English, 2018, University of Oregon Master of Arts, English, 2011, Arizona State University Bachelor of Science, Education, 2007, Lesley University AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Digital Humanities Environmental Humanities and Ecocriticism Environmental Justice New Media Studies Postcolonial Literature and Theory Speculative Fiction World Literatures PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Instructor, Composition and Literature, University of Oregon, 2013-2018 Assistant Director of Digital Humanities, University of Oregon, 2016-2017 GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: Tuition Scholarship, Colonize Mars, Digital Humanities Summer Institute, 2017 Sherwood Research Award, University of Oregon, 2014 Sarah Harkness Kirby Award, “We’re Alive: The Resurrection of the Audio Drama in the Anthropocene,” University of Oregon, 2014 English Graduate Student Travel Award, University of Oregon, 2013 & 2014 vi Graduate Teaching Fellowship, University of Oregon, 2012-2018 PUBLICATIONS: Rochester, Rachel. “Speculative Diasporas: Hari Kunzru’s Historical Consciousness, the Rhetoric of Interplanetary Colonization, and the Locus-Colonial Novel.” New Directions in Diaspora Studies: Cultural and Literary Approaches, edited by Sarah Ilott, Ana Cristina Mendes, and Lucinda Newns, Rowman & Littlefield, 2018, pp. 55-68. Rochester, Rachel. “We’re Alive: The Resurrection of the Audio Drama in the Anthropocene.” Philological Quarterly, vol. 93, no. 3, 2014, pp. 361-381. vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my appreciation for all of my committee members, Professors Stephanie LeMenager, David Vázquez, and Kari Norgaard, for their assistance and direction throughout the dissertation process. I am particularly thankful to my advisor, Dr. Sangita Gopal, for her invaluable guidance during my time at the University of Oregon. I would also like to thank Dr. Heidi Kaufman for initiating me into the world of Digital Humanities, and Dr. Lara Bovilsky for her help in achieving work-life balance and navigating academia. There are countless people to thank for their attention and brilliance throughout my tenure at the University of Oregon, including all the members of Mesa Verde, both current and former, and my dissertation writing group, Dr. Elizabeth LeRud, Helen Huang, Paula Wright, and, informally, Dr. Emily Williams. Without your input and friendship this project would not be what it is today. This project also owes a debt of gratitude to Dr. Edward Mallot, who co-chaired my Masters Thesis and showed me the importance of postcolonial theory. Finally, I am incredibly grateful for my wonderful family: my partner, Jonathan Beckhart, and my parents, Larky and Kip Hodges. Without your patience and support this would never have happened. viii This dissertation is dedicated to Clementine & Lucinda Beckhart. You motivate me to imagine the world you deserve. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 II. THE CREST OF DEVELOPMENT’S “TERRIFIC WAVE”: PRO- DEVELOPMENTAL RHETORIC AND THE MEANS OF RESISTANCE ............ 34 III. THE ACTIVIST AUTHOR: PARATEXTS AND THE NOVEL IN THE ANTHROPOCENE .................................................................................................... 80 IV. SPECULATIVE DIASPORAS: HARI KUNZRU’S HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS, THE RHETORIC OF INTERPLANETARY COLONIZATION, AND THE LOCUS-COLONIAL NOVEL ................................. 129 V. FINAL THOUGHTS: COLONIZE MARS AND THE LOCUS-COLONIAL NOVEL IN THE DIGITAL AGE ............................................................................... 165 REFERENCES CITED ............................................................................................... 187 x LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. A visualization of extra-textual environmental repercussions of the steel industry paired with textual events from Shadow from Ladakh. .......................... 77 2. A screenshot of an annotated immersive satellite tour of Shadow from Ladakh ................................................................................................................... 78 3. An image of a t-shirt available for sale at the Mars One webshop ...................... 149 4. A screenshot showing one section of Colonize Mars .......................................... 179 5. Many of the narratives showcased on Colonize Mars are supplemented by other, linked media ................................................................................................ 180 xi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Analysis dimensions and criteria for evaluating the efficacy of digital climate change games. ....................................................................................................... 171 xii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This project seeks to answer two deceptively simple questions at issue: Can novels encourage readers to respond meaningfully to climate change and other environmental crises? And, if so, how? There is little doubt that environmental welfare is an urgent and pressing issue, and that a failure to adequately respond to environmental threats has dire consequences for life on Earth. Already, humanity contends with increasingly extreme weather events and natural disasters that are exacerbated by environmental issues. Climate change is simultaneously a problem of scarcity and super- saturation: Cape Town spent much of 2018 grappling with the looming threat of “Day Zero,” the day it will run out of drinking water, endowed with the dubious honor of becoming the first of the world’s major cities to do so; warming global