What on Earth Can Atlantis Teach Us?

Cli-fi and the inconvenient truth behind our pre-history

Authors

  • Sarah Holding former Professor of Architecture at Kingston University and University of Greenwich

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v8i2.582

Keywords:

cli-fi, Atlantis, Younger Dryas, catastrophism, antediluvian, demythologisation, pre-historical climate change

Abstract

This article presents and contextualises my recently completed cli-fi novel, Chameleon, which is set during the fall of Atlantis and presents a scenario of extreme climate change some 12,000 years ago. I argue that by referring back to our pre-history we have much to learn and uncover about our earlier experiences of surviving climate change, and of coming to terms with its devastating impact, which has caused us to couch flood stories as myth and legend. Cli-fi has the potential to go beyond narratives of fear and humiliation to show us hope that our planet can survive a climate catastrophe as did our predecessors and live to tell the tale, just as the Atlanteans did. 

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Stonehenge megaliths against a stormy background

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Published

2021-02-04