The Ecological Uncanny as an Element of the Contemporary Pastoral in “The Bad Graft” and “The Gondoliers” by Karen Russell

Abstract

As the world faces the time of the Anthropocene, ecological thought and understanding of nature are vital for survival. The thesis argues that the ecological uncanny is an essential characteristic of contemporary pastoral literature. By analyzing two short stories by Karen Russell, “The Bad Graft” (2019) and “The Gondoliers” (2019), the study aims to prove that besides being an essential element of contemporary pastoral literature, the ecological uncanny also provokes ecological thought and enables humans to reconsider their status in the pastoral divide of nature versus human. The short stories have been chosen because each of them represents a different kind of contemporary pastoral narrative, yet both have ecologically uncanny elements. “The Bad Graft” is about a vagabond couple, Andy and Angie, whose travel plans change when they visit the Joshua Tree National Park in California. “The Gondoliers” is located in the ruins of storm-drowned New Florida, where a young woman, Blister, pilots a gondola, navigating by echolocation. Theoretical background of the thesis is contemporary pastoral literature, ecological uncanny, and ecological thought. Contemporary pastoral literature gives the opportunity to see how the Anthropocene is affecting life on Earth; fictional literature thus gives a channel to avoid denial and the repression of known facts. Ecological uncanny is where the clean nature meets the polluted nature in contemporary pastoral literature. The ecological uncanny is an essential characteristic of contemporary pastoral literature – it transforms the pastoral into contemporary pastoral. Reading contemporary pastoral literature gives humans the opportunity to realize they are a part of nature and that nature is not the enemy. Ecological uncanny is necessary to move beyond seeing nature as something separate, something that humans can simply exploit.