Ethics in the Anthropocene: Traumatic Exhaustion and Posthuman Regeneration in N. K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy

Ferrández San Miguel, María (Universidad de Zaragoza)

Resumen: This article focuses on N. K. Jemisin’s triple-Hugo-award-winning epic trilogy Broken Earth (2015–2017), using the strategically powerful perspectives of trauma studies and the discourses around the figure of the posthuman, and paying special attention to issues of ethics and the notion of the Anthropocene. It is contended that the main issues at play in the Broken Earth trilogy are the representation of structural oppression against a marginalised minority and the foregrounding of the possible consequences of extreme exploitation of the environment. The article argues that Jemisin’s work draws a connection between the subjugation and exploitation of certain groups and of nature, framing both as traumatic phenomena. Yet, the story allows for a possibility of regeneration in the promotion of a posthuman form of ethics. In short, as this article attempts to prove, the Broken Earth series considers the past, interprets the present and offers a cautionary tale about a the future that makes a strong case for the hopeful practice of posthuman ethics.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.1080/0013838X.2020.1798138

Año: 2020

Publicado en: English studies (Amsterdam) 101, 4 (2020), 471-486
ISSN: 0013-838X

Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 0.227 - Literature and Literary Theory (Q1) - Linguistics and Language (Q1)

Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/FFI2015-63506

Tipo y forma: Article (PostPrint)

Área (Departamento): Área Filología Inglesa (Dpto. Filolog.Inglesa y Alema.)