Dr Katherine Bowers

Unstable Environments: Reading Climate Catastrophe Across the Long Nineteenth Century

“Unstable Environments” reads Russophone literary texts that depict natural disasters through the lens of contemporary climate fiction analytical models. Through analyzing the representation of flood, impact event, deforestation, plague, and extinction, the project will focus on human reaction to and resilience in extreme circumstances.

This experimental study explores the possibility that the literary text holds for helping today’s readers grapple with feelings and experiences related to climate change. A key aspect of the project is public engagement through a podcast, “Reading Climate Change”, that will engage with the themes of “Unstable Environments” by bringing environmental scientists, humanists, and climate journalists together in dialogue. The project aims to have both academic and non-academic impact and the proposed Visiting Fellowship is a central component of achieving this goal.