From eco-pessimism to eco-activism : trends in selected South African teen literature

Abstract

This article explores the response in selected South African teen fiction to a sense of impending ecological disaster in the face of global warming, environmental exploitation, and political, social, and economic manipulation with an ecological impact. A broadly ecocritical literary approach is followed to examine relevant aspects of Helen Brain’s Elevation trilogy (2016–2019), Jayne Bauling’s New Keepers (2017), and the Eco-Warriors trilogy by Joanne Macgregor (2011–2016). These novels go beyond the interpersonal to address ecological concerns in a southern African space. Two genres are used—Brain’s Elevation trilogy and Bauling’s New Keepers are dystopian fantasy novels set in a post-apocalyptic future, while Macgregor’s Eco-Warriors trilogy is a school story set in contemporary South Africa. All seven novels draw on the local landscape in their world building. They position the protagonists as potential rescuers of their world, or as activists for better management of that world. The dystopian fantasy allows for awareness-building around social and environmental (in)justice, while the realist school story is an ideal vehicle to convey ecological information, laying a groundwork for change.