Surrealist Becomings
Evolution, Extinction, and Climate Change in Yoko Tawada’s Memoirs of a Polar Bear
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21722433 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ines Kirschner (0009-0003-6448-9693, University of Aberdeen, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 311-325 |
| Publication date | 2024-10-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Green Letters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1468-8417 • E-ISSN: 2168-1414 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/14688417.2025.2527703 |
| OpenAlex | W4412357180 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 28 |
Published at the tail end of a global polar bear craze, Tawada’s novel Memoirs of a Polar Bear is a family saga of three generations of the endangered animals: the grandmother in this tripartite tale becomes humanlike, whereas her daughter and grandson revert to more bearlike form. This article reads their lateral change through the lens of the Sixth Extinction thesis, where humanity emerges as a major selective force that drives both extinction and evolution. It applies literary theory on scale and pace, and compares theoretical approaches to the birth and death of species in critical time studies and extinction studies. Exploring the novel’s surrealist scalar juxtapositions and engagement with literary form, this article argues that Tawada subverts anthropocentric discourses of progress in evolution. It further posits that surrealism can be a productive mode for thinking through the temporal distortions of the Anthropocene
Art · Astrobiology · Astronomy · Biology · Climate change · Literature · Memoir · Physics · Polar · Climate Change Communication and Perception · Ecocriticism and Environmental Literature · Philosophy · Polar Research and Ecology · Ecology · Geology · Paleontology
On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or, The preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life
Wildlife in the Anthropocene
Flight Ways
The Arctic has warmed nearly four times faster than the globe since 1979
Multispecies Knots of Ethical Time
On Lyric Shame and Extinction
Albedo
Extinction in Public
Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor
The Nick of Time
Writing Animals
Time Travels
Extinction and the End of Futures
Multi-species, ecological and climate change temporalities
| Highly cited | No |
|---|