This thesis has been approved by The Honors Tutorial College and the Department of English __________________________ Dr. Eric LeMay Professor, English Thesis Adviser ___________________________ Dr. Mary Kate Hurley Director of Studies, English ___________________________ Dr. Donal Skinner Dean, Honors Tutorial College ECOFICTION: REALIZING THE FULL POTENTIAL OF THE GENRE THROUGH SPECULATIVE AND ECOFEMINIST THEORY and TRICOLORED WATERS: A NOVEL - PART 1 ____________________________________ A Thesis Presented to The Honors Tutorial College Ohio University _______________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Graduation from the Honors Tutorial College with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in English ______________________________________ by Kayla McGinnis April 2021 McGinnis 1 Critical Introduction “Warning! Pollutants rife in the air, in the city: carbon emission, racism, oil spills, sexism, deforestation, misogynism, xenophobia, murder . .” (Tsamaase, 5). Ecofiction texts have the power to creatively address how environmental deterioration affects a person depending on their subject position. While many ecofiction works draw from realism, I was attracted to author Tlotlo Tsamaase and her more speculative twists on ecofiction. In her novella, Eclipse our Sins, Tlotlo Tsamaase creates a world in which the earth punishes humanity for the damage it has caused to her. Due to the goddess Mama Earth, humans are punished any time they commit sin against the Earth or one another. Words of hate manifest into a vapor that pollutes the lungs of everyone around them. Humans could resolve this issue by addressing issues of equality and the environment. The upper-class instead focus on making their living situations more comfortable and long-lasting. The upper-class extract energy, female eggs, and bodies from the lower-class in order to make themselves new bodies. The upper-class additionally build expensive urban architecture that continues to damage the planet. These expensive buildings grow more lavish as they tower over the constantly deteriorating slums. People of color, women, and the lower class have it the hardest. They are victims of the vapor whether they spread hate or not. Through a fantastical world, Tsamaase shows the consequences of racism, technological failures, sexism, and classism in relation to the state of the environment. She makes tangible the dynamics that humanity has with the natural world and one another. This ecofiction narrative proves that there are parallels between ecological destruction and human inequality. This is the true potential of ecofiction. McGinnis 2 Tsamaase’s ability to manipulate the genre of ecofiction inspires my creative thesis work. Similar to her, magical elements, sci-fi technology, and the characterization of nature all enhance the telling of my story about issues of the environment and inequality. In Tsamaase’s novella, the upper class escapes many of the consequences. Similarly, in mine, the upper class and major corporations escape much of the initial punishments. Based on a character’s subject position they may be affected more by the human destruction of nature. Additionally, both her piece and mine force the characters to directly face the consequences of their pollution of nature. Eclipse our Sins challenges readers to imagine what would happen if discrimination and ignorance developed into literal plagues. My novel has characters who are empaths. Empaths have the power, and the burden, of feeling the physical and psychological pain that beings of nature experience. Through the utilization of speculative elements and ecofeminism, just as Tsamaase did, I challenge the full potential of the ecofiction genre. Part I: The Ecofiction Genre Discourse The current “definition” of ecofiction is an amalgamation of the contrasting ideas of a variety of literary critics. Consequently, there is no official definition, only discourse, and many various criteria. Ecofiction has also spawned various subgenres that draw influence from the core foundations of ecofiction. While the official term ecofiction became popular in the 1970s, the idea of ecofiction existed much earlier, and discourse McGinnis 3 continues to this day (Woodbury). This section plans to explore the variety of arguments that shape the ecofiction of today. The major arguments in regards to ecofiction involve the inclusivity and exclusivity of the genre. Some literary critics believe that very specific criteria must be met for a work of fiction to count as ecofiction. While other critics consider it a very flexible genre that can coincide with numerous other genres. For example, in the Cambridge History of the American Novel, Jonathan Levin has a chapter titled “Contemporary Ecofiction.” Jonathan Levin describes contemporary ecofiction and his definition allows for room for the author to play. He describes the word ecofiction as “an elastic term, capacious enough to accommodate a variety of fictional works that address the relationship between natural settings and the human communities that dwell within them” (Levin, 1122). His perspective defines ecofiction as a composite genre full of many subgenres. The most important part of his definition is that ecofiction focuses on the human-nature relationship. The rest of this overarching definition is left open for interpretation. Another literary critic who believes in the overarching fluidity of ecofiction is Mary Woodbury. Mary Woodbury is the author of Dragonfly, an academic blog on ecofiction as well as one of the largest databases for ecofiction work. Woodbury elaborates upon Levin’s definition. She sees ecofiction “not so much as a genre than as a way to join natural landscapes and species, environmental issues--and usually human connection--into any genre and make it come alive” (Woodbury). This definition makes ecofiction adaptable, but rather than a genre it acts more like an abstract idea. It allows for any genre to claim aspects of ecofiction in its own work. McGinnis 4 Woodbury claims that it is important for the story that the “ecological elements” do not remain in the background but instead act as “integral parts of the narrative” (Woodbury). The environment can be a setting of a text. That does not make it a work of ecofiction. It needs to be a character, reflect in the themes of the text, or the environment needs to be intertwined with the narrative structure. However, beyond this statement, Woodbury’s requirements for ecofiction remain inclusive. Woodbury further expands upon this inclusivity of ecofiction through the analysis of Jim Dwyer’s book on ecofiction. In his book, Where the Wild Books Are: A Field Guide to Ecofiction, Dwyer explores the discourse, literary history, and historical context of ecofiction. While he openly explores the variety of opinions on the genre, he introduces ecofiction to the readers as follows: “ecofiction is a composite subgenre made up of many styles primarily modernism, postmodernism, realism, and magical realism, and can be found in many genres, … [including] speculative fiction” (Dwyer, 3). He acknowledges the variety of genre influences that have impacted ecofiction. According to Woodbury’s analysis, though Jim Dwyer defends many different ecofiction definitions, he too has his own criteria. Dwyer’s research on ecofiction has led him to agree with four general criteria in determining whether a work fits the genre (Woodbury). These criteria include: the environment acts as a way to suggest that “human history is implicated in natural history;” that “human history is not understood to be the only legitimate interest;” “human accountability to the environment is part of the text’s ethical orientation;” and that the environment is presented as a “process” rather than a “constant” (Woodbury). All of these criteria are very valid ways to understand ecofiction at its core. We have to acknowledge human involvement while still engaging McGinnis 5 ecological narratives. And an ecofiction text should indeed analyze the history and constant change that nature endures. While I do not believe that every ecofiction work must have all of these criteria, I do believe that they should encompass some of them in order to be effective. Some academics and authors have more exclusive definitions and criteria. Literary critic Mike Vasey, like many others who partake in ecocriticism, believes that realism is important in ecofiction. Mike Vasey’s definition does allow for some flexibility, “[they] can build around human relationships to [natural] ecosystems or leave out humans altogether” (Dwyer, 3). While many definitions include humanity Vasey’s allows for the narrative to solely focus on nature. However, he demands more realism from the ecosystems than other definitions require: “ideally the landscape and ecosystems--whether fantasy or real--should be as ‘realistic’ as possible and plot constraints should accord with ecological principles” (Dwyer, 3). There is something to be said about having realistic ecological systems in fiction. It provides the reader with realism and allows them to imagine actual potential solutions to our problems. However, if we focus solely on perfecting science and replication in our texts, we will miss the larger scope of the issue. We must be able to see the future of the planet in imaginative and sometimes odd, but new, viewpoints. In response to Vasey, Dwyer notes that speculative fiction and magical realism “frequently employ fantastical elements to provide readers with a different perspective