Trailing Climate Crisis Communication Through VanderMeer’s Annihilation and Authority

Abstract

This article intends to read Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation and Authority, first two installments of his Southern Reach (2014) trilogy, through the philosophies of Lee McIntyre, Per Espen Stoknes, and Donna Haraway.

Following the path traced by information throughout the novels, in terms of divulgation, processing, and storytelling, it will become clear how VanderMeer successfully manages to recreate the mechanisms of post-truth climate crisis communication in a setting that perfectly mirrors the transitional nature of our world in current times of crisis, making his depiction even more realistic by allowing the emotive/psychological consequences on humanity to transpire through the text.

VanderMeer's narrative connects readers to climate change reality and shifts perspective by placing the story within Haraway's Terrapolis and the interconnected realms of her multispecies Chthulucene. These novels exemplify Stoknes' motivating "better stories" for climate action.