Deterritorialization and ecogothic space in Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake: a capitalocenic approach
In this article, the connection between the ecoGothic and human subjectivity in a post-apocalyptic society is examined through Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of deterritorialization. The concept of ecoGothic space intersects the studies of geography, ecocriticism and ecoGothic literary analysi...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2024
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| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25031/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/25031/1/Gema%20Online_24_4_19.pdf |
| Summary: | In this article, the connection between the ecoGothic and human subjectivity in a post-apocalyptic
society is examined through Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of deterritorialization. The concept
of ecoGothic space intersects the studies of geography, ecocriticism and ecoGothic literary
analysis. The ecoGothic is particularly pertinent in the post-apocalyptic visions of authors who are
haunted by the spectre of climate change and climate disaster in the Capitalocene. Following from
this premise, this article interrogates the concept of ecoGothic space in relation to the Capitalocene
as a fundamental idea and subsequently upholds the concept of ecoGothic space as a tool to
discover the character’s dynamic spatial experiences by way of deterritorialization. By focusing
on the novel Oryx and Crake by a Canadian writer, Margaret Atwood, this article therefore
interrogates the characteristics of ecoGothic space that are heavily embedded in Atwood’s
apocalyptic spaces. The article argues that although the protagonist of the novel experiences a form
of deterritorialization in this novel, there is a subsequent reterritorialization happening both in the
protagonist and the environment of the narrative which allows him to become reconciled to present
reality. Therefore, the apocalyptic discourse in the novel is analysed in tandem with global
environmental issues to interrogate the personal and psychological impact of the disruption of
natural environmnent on the individual. By using an ecoGothic analytical lens in tandem with an
engagement with Capitolocenic discourse as a methodology, this paper sheds some lights upon the
study of ecoGothic specifically on the aspects of space and deterritorialization. This has led to the
finding which demonstrates the correlation between the element of ecoGothic space with the
protagonist’s deconstruction of space, cultural unease, social uprooting and psychological
discomfort which is symptomatic of a post-apocalyptic subjectivity. |
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