2023 Distinguished Visitor Lecture

Prof. Ursula Heise (UCLA)

"Beyond Realism: Narrative and Environmental Crisis"

Thursday, May 4, 2023, at 5PM
in the
 Wallis Annenberg Conference Room (Social Science and Media Studies Building, Room 4315)

Environmental journalists, novelists, film-makers, and artists have traditionally preferred realist genres and styles to highlight the materiality and scientific grounding of environmental crises. Over the last twenty years, this convention has increasingly come into question. On one hand, climate change and other rapidly evolving ecological crises have diminished the relevance of stories and images focused primarily on individuals and families, particular places, and events commonly considered plausible. On the other hand, narrative themes and plots from speculative fiction have increasingly spread into environmental journalism and nonfiction. Concepts such as the “new normal,” the "New Weird," and “hyperobjects" have sought to capture this altered type of realism. This lecture will explore the controversies around what kinds of realism is appropriate and effective in environmental communication today.