Ecophobia and Natural Disaster in Catastrophic and Apocalyptic Narratives

Abstract

The aim of this essay is to approach the long literary tradition of catastrophic or apocalyptic narratives in relation to natural disasters and to explore examples of ecological threats to human species in contemporary Anglophone literature. By using the concept of ecophobia – a widespread irrational fear for nature – the author analyses novels by George R. Stewart (Storm and Earth Abides) and by Margaret Atwood (Oryx and Crake). Among the shared traits of these novels, the author highlights the uncertain relationship with supernatural entities or divinities, the presence of surviving characters acting like last men of a disappearing human civilization, and the role of the humanities in the survival of the human species.