Subterranean Imaginaries and Groundwater Narratives

This book explores the problems of how and why largely unseen matter, groundwater, has found limited expression in climate fiction. It provides eco-critical analysis, with creative fiction and non-fiction excerpts interwoven throughout, and draws on Indigenous Australian and Australian settler novels and poems alongside European, American, and Japanese texts. It illuminates the processes of 'storying with subterranean waters' and provides an important contribution to transnational, comparative climate fiction analysis.

Format: Hardback
Length: 238 pages
Publication date: 04 October 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Introduction:
The book explores the challenges of how and why groundwater, a largely unseen matter, has found limited expression in climate fiction. It delves into key considerations for writing groundwater narratives in the Anthropocene, a period marked by significant environmental changes and human impacts.

Hydrosocial Environmental Humanities:
The book integrates a unique selection of climate fiction alongside an exploration of hydrosocial environmental humanities through a focus on groundwater and groundwater narratives. It provides eco-critical analysis, interweaving creative fiction and non-fiction excerpts, and draws on a diverse range of texts, including Indigenous Australian and Australian settler novels and poems, as well as European, American, and Japanese texts. By examining the processes of 'storying with subterranean waters,' the book illuminates the facts, uncertainties, potentials, and vulnerabilities associated with groundwater extraction and pollution.

Water Crisis in the Anthropocene:
In the context of the escalating water crisis in Australia and worldwide, given the response to global warming, it is crucial to give voice to the complexities of groundwater extraction and pollution. The book contributes to transnational, comparative climate fiction analysis by enabling an interdisciplinary exchange between hydrogeological science and the eco-humanities.

Non-Representational, Posthumanist, and Feminist Perspectives:
The book adopts non-representational, posthumanist, and feminist perspectives to analyze groundwater narratives. It explores the ways in which subterranean waters can be seen as non-human agents, challenging traditional human-centric narratives. By incorporating these perspectives, the book offers an important contribution to transnational, comparative climate fiction analysis, fostering an interdisciplinary exchange between hydrogeological science and the eco-humanities.

Significance for Scholars and Students:
This book is an engaging read for scholars and students in creative writing, environmental humanities, cultural and post-colonial studies, Australian studies, and eco-critical literary studies. Writers and thinkers addressing the problems of the Anthropocene are called to pay attention to the importance of subterranean imaginaries and groundwater narratives.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, the book interrogates the problems of how and why groundwater, a largely unseen matter, has found limited expression in climate fiction. It explores key considerations for writing groundwater narratives in the Anthropocene, providing eco-critical analysis and interdisciplinary insights. By giving voice to the complexities of groundwater extraction and pollution, the book contributes to transnational, comparative climate fiction analysis and fosters an interdisciplinary exchange between hydrogeological science and the eco-humanities.

Weight: 625g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032218816