Planetary Los Angeles
Climate Realism and Transnational Narrative in Amitav Ghosh's Gun Island (2019)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3852167 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Edwin Gilson (0009-0001-1204-0267, University of Surrey, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue | 2-3 |
| Pages | 269-288 |
| Publication date | 2022-07-03 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Comparative American Studies An International Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1477-5700 • E-ISSN: 1741-2676 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/14775700.2022.2114286 |
| OpenAlex | W4292512796 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 12 |
This essay argues that the fire-plagued Los Angeles of Amitav Ghosh’s 2019 novel Gun Island functions as a device to illuminate the planetary processes and continuities of climate change and the Anthropocene. I demonstrate the ways in which Ghosh makes metaphorical connections between the disparate settings of his novel - particularly L.A and the Sundarbans delta in the Bay of Bengal - to portray the Earth as a single living organism defined by environmental, ecological and social flux. As a consequence of this transnational narrative, Los Angeles becomes a symptom of planetary malaise rather than a distinct, bounded space. Analysing Gun Island primarily through the framework of Lynn Badia, Marija Cetinic and Jeff Diamanti’s conception of ‘climate realism’ - with reference also to Amy Elias and Christian Moraru’s ‘planetarity’ and Ursula Heise’s ‘sense of planet’ - I explain how the novel exhibits a contemporary realist form that rejects provincial thinking and advocates a planetary consciousness. Moreover, I contend that Gun Island departs from the long lineage of Los Angeles disaster literature, suggesting that Ghosh’s L.A does not expose national anxieties - as has often been the case in such fiction - but rather a planetary condition
Anthropocene · Art · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Literature · Narrative · Realism · Sociology · Ecocriticism and Environmental Literature · Environmental Philosophy and Ethics · History · Philosophy · Religion, Ecology, and Ethics
| Citations per year | 0.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2023 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |