Popular Science and Apocalyptic Narrative in Frank Schätzing’s The Swarm

Authors

  • Gabriele Dürbeck University of Vechta

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37536/ECOZONA.2012.3.1.447

Keywords:

Ecothriller, disaster narrative, science fiction, apocalypse, environmental crisis

Abstract

 

This paper analyses the use of the rhetoric of the Apocalypse and the concept of nature's revenge in Frank Schätzing's eco-thriller The Swarm. Ecocritical research has identified these narrative patterns as characteristic of contemporary environmental literature. In The Swarm, the apocalyptical rhetoric fulfils the double function of providing thrill and pleasure to the readers and warning them about imminent environmental peril, thereby combining conventions from the two genres of eco-thriller and science fiction. Contrasting reviews have described the novel as either enlightening or pseudo-religious. This ambivalence is the effect of various strategies employed to popularise scientific knowledge in the novel. The narrative embraces various scientific fields, for example the depiction of a network in contrast to swarm theory. The key conflict in the story embodies conflicting concepts of nature - anthropocentric vs. eco-systemic - which are represented by two contrasting groups of characters: one aiming to extinguish the alien superorganism that attacks the human race, the other aspiring to integrate the alien organism into the human world and propagating a holistic view of the Earth. The concepts of a 'tragic' and a 'comical apocalypse' correspond to the double closure which first features a show-down, the annihilation of the 'bad' characters, and then, in the epilogue, a warning message delivered by a 'good' character which confirms - in contrast to, for example, Michael Crichton's State of Fear - the ongoing environmental crisis. Although the epilogue extensively appeals to the human ability to rethink attitudes towards nature, the novel's support for environmental concerns is limited, not only because this message remains rather abstract but also because the vision of a reconciled, pseudo-religious ecosystem as a holistic superorganism has a highly ambivalent meaning for humanity.

 

Resumen

 

Este trabajo analiza el uso de la retórica del Apocalipsis y el concepto de la venganza de la naturaleza en la novela de eco-suspense El Quinto Día de Frank Schätzing. Estudios realizados en ecocrítica han identificado estos patrones narrativos como característicos de la literatura medioambiental contemporánea. En El Quinto Día, la retórica apocalíptica cumple una doble función: proporciona emoción y placer a los lectores y les advierte sobre el peligro ambiental inminente - combinando así las convenciones de los dos géneros de eco-suspense y ciencia ficción. Reseñas opuestas han descrito la novela como instructiva o pseudoreligiosa, siendo esta ambivalencia el efecto de las estrategias variadas para popularizar el conocimiento científico en la novela. El relato abarca diversos campos científicos, por ejemplo, la representación de una red, en contraste con la teoría de enjambres. El conflicto clave en la historia incorpora conceptos contradictorios de la naturaleza - antropocéntrico vs eco-sistémico - que están representados por dos grupos opuestos de personajes: uno con el objetivo de extinguir el superorganismo alienígeno que ataca a la raza humana, y el otro que aspira a integrar al organismo alienígeno en el mundo humano y a propagar una visión holística de la Tierra. Los conceptos de un "apocalipsis trágico y cómico" corresponden con el doble final: en primer lugar se nos presenta una confrontación donde se aniquila a los "malos" personajes y, luego en el epílogo, un mensaje de aviso emitido por una figura "positiva" que confirma la crisis ambiental que continúa - en contraste con, por ejemplo, Estado de Miedo de Michael Crichton.

 

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Author Biography

Gabriele Dürbeck, University of Vechta

Gabriele Dürbeck is Full Professor of German and Cultural Studies at University of Vechta. She is author of Einbildungskraft und Aufklärung. Perspektiven der Philosophie, Anthropologie und Ästhetik um 1750 (Niemeyer 1998) and Stereotype Paradiese. Ozeanismus in der deutschen Südseelite­ratur 1815-1914. (Niemeyer 2007). She has published numerous articles on literary anthropology, German travel literature, and postdramatic theatre. She was co-director of the Research Network on Postcolonialism in German Literature (2008-2011, founded by German Research Foundation) and is currently co-editing a book on German Postcolonialism. In 2010, she has organised the section Klima­chaos und Naturkatastrophen in der deutschen Literatur – Desaster und deren Deutung at the XIIth Conference of the International German Studies Association (IVG) and has edited the selection of papers included in the conference proceedings (Vielheit und Einheit der Germanistik, Vol. 17, Peter Lang, 2012). She is a member of the Alexander-von-Humboldt Network Environmental Humanities: http://environmental-humanities-network.org.

Additional Files

Published

2012-04-28

Issue

Section

Writing Catastrophes: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Semantics of Natural and Anthropogenic Disasters