The essay is part of a special focus on Utopia, Dystopia, and Climate Fiction in Gegenwartsliteratur: Ein germanistisches Jahrbuch / A German Studies Yearbook (edited by Friederike Eigler). It is available to download (open access) here.

Abstract: As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that the world is close to irreversible climate breakdown, Climate Fiction (Cli-Fi) furnishes our imagination with grim scenarios of the future. German writers add their voices to a global discourse when they explore the social and psychological impact of climate change. However, one may wonder whether their endless depiction of dark futures does not in fact yield diminishing returns. ‘Mainstream’ writers are often praised for their Sprachmächtigkeit, their ability to couch the destructive effects of climate change in poetic language. ‘Genre’ writers supply us with ever more depressing apocalyptic visions of the future. This essay, a critical survey of a burgeoning field, analyzes German literary Cli-Fi and climate thrillers, but also considers more hopeful examples as well as progressive Young Adult novels. By taking a synoptic approach, it seeks to determine German Climate Fiction’s contribution to the task of Zukunftsbewältigung.