Contextualizing the Environmental Crisis through Narrative in Richard Powers’ The Overstory

Abstract

Richard Powers’ 2018 novel The Overstory confronts an uncertain planetary future in the face of a world ravaged by climate change. While many recent works of environmental-based literature employ elements of science fiction—dystopian settings in a not-so distant future—Powers’ novel mirrors the contemporary United States and rooted in applicable ecology. The following analysis explores how The Overstory and selected precedent works of fiction use narrative to contextualize complex ideas, particularly the climate crisis. While data and science can be instructive, they often fail to grab public attention to the degree necessary to inspire appropriate reactions and behaviors, as underscored by many actions of the American government. Climate crisis skeptics are unlikely to care more about the environment through a bombardment of data, but those nonbelievers might be moved by a well-told story they can connect with. Drawing on the literary field of eco-criticism—particularly the work of Ursula K. Heise and Richard Nixon—this paper explores how fiction can shape the conversation around climate change in ways that account for both the human and natural world.