Climate Change in Popular Culture
A Warming World in the American Imagination
by James Craig Holte
June 2022, 285pp, 7 x 10
1 volume, Greenwood

Hardcover: 978-1-4408-7807-7
$107, £83, 94€, A147
Please contact your preferred distributor for pricing.
eBook Available: 978-1-4408-7808-4
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Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in 1760, the amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere has doubled, raising the world’s temperature by 2°F and leading to rising oceans, species extinctions, stronger hurricanes, increased wildfires, and droughts.

An invaluable resource for general readers investigating climate change, this book examines the impact of climate change on popular culture and analyzes how writers and directors treat the disasters caused by climate change in their novels and films.

Climate Change in Popular Culture: A Warming World in the American Imagination is the first study that includes analyses of both fiction and popular nonfiction works devoted to climate change. In addition, the book examines a number of classic works from the perspective of the growing field of climate change literature and includes a brief history of climate change science as well basic scientific definitions, all intended for general readers.

The text provides an introduction to the science, politics, and economics of climate change. It also includes both historical overviews and potential probable futures projected by leading climate scientists and environmental writers. In addition, the text looks at how such creative writers and directors as Margaret Atwood, John Steinbeck, Paulo Bacigalupi, Kim Stanley Robinson, T. C. Boyle, Michael Crichton, and Octavia Butler, among others, have used the disasters caused by climate change in their work.

Features

  • Provides readers with an overview of the causes and impacts of climate change
  • Examines how authors and directors use a variety of narrative forms to explore the impact of climate change
  • Introduces readers to an overview of the literary and filmic responses to climate change
  • Includes an introduction to climate change science as well as detailed definitions for readers unfamiliar with the subject matter
James Craig Holte, PhD, is professor emeritus of English and film studies at East Carolina University. He is the author of Imagining the End: The Apocalypse in American Popular Culture; Dracula in the Dark: The Dracula Film Adaptations; The Conversion Experience in America: A Sourcebook on Religious Conversion Autobiography; and The Ethnic I: A Sourcebook for Ethnic-American Autobiography, all from ABC-CLIO/Greenwood. His work on film and popular culture has also appeared in numerous journals and other collections.

Reviews

"The entries reflect a good English-language representation of the genre and give the reader much to consider—and hours of enjoyable browsing."—Booklist, October 21, 2022
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