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Weirding the Anthropocene:
A Critique of Annihilation

 Aiswari A.V. & Gayathri Mohan

Introduction

The term “Anthropocene” describes a new geological period in which human activity has taken centre stage in forming Earth’s systems and bringing about significant and permanent changes to the environment. Among other ecological disasters, this era is marked by biodiversity loss, climate change, and the depletion of natural resources. The traditional view of nature as a distinct and unchangeable entity is being challenged by the Anthropocene, which highlights how humans are potent change agents in the environment. In light of this, media such as literature, movies, and television have increasingly examined how humans affect the natural environment and what that implies for our future. These Anthropocene stories frequently act as warnings, imploring viewers and readers to reevaluate humanity’s relationship with the environment and the effects of its actions.

The term “Anthropocene” describes a new geological period in which human activity has taken centre stage in forming Earth’s systems and bringing about significant and permanent changes to the environment. Among other ecological disasters, this era is marked by biodiversity loss, climate change, and the depletion of natural resources. The traditional view of nature as a distinct and unchangeable entity is being challenged by the Anthropocene, which highlights how humans are potent change agents in the environment. In light of this, media such as literature, movies, and television have increasingly examined how humans affect the natural environment and what that implies for our future. These Anthropocene stories frequently act as warnings, imploring viewers and readers to reevaluate humanity’s relationship with the environment and the effects of its actions.

The 2014 novel Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer, which is part of the New Weird genre, is one example of a work that openly addresses ecological change and environmental damage. VanderMeer is well-known for his ability to combine environmental problems with speculative aspects, and his literature frequently challenges the idea that humans have authority over nature. The story of Annihilation centres on a group of four unidentified women who travel to Area X, a shadowy and increasingly dangerous place where nature appears to have changed drastically beyond human comprehension and control. The story poses significant queries regarding humanity’s relationship with nature, its control over the environment, and the possible repercussions of this supremacy as the crew experiences bizarre phenomena and undergoes physical and mental changes. This essay investigates how Annihilation by VanderMeer serves as a metaphor for the Anthropocene, looking at how the book criticizes environmental exploitation by humans and what it implies about the planet’s future. It also explores how speculative fiction might help people become more conscious of environmental issues and rethink how humans fit into the planet’s ecosystems.

The Anthropocene and Literature

The Anthropocene is a name for the current age, where human actions have drastically changed the Earth. These changes include environmental damage, have become the biggest force shaping the planet, often in harmful ways.

Amitav Ghosh in his work The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable states that: “In our literature, climate change remains largely invisible; the novel is a medium particularly unsuited to the challenges of climate change.” (Page 12) This idea is not just scientific; it has become a topic for writers and artists too. Literature often explores how people interact with nature and the consequences of those actions. Jeff VanderMeer’s novel Annihilation is an excellent example of this. Set in the New Weird genre, the story mixes science fiction and horror to explore the Anthropocene. Annihilation upholds the principles of the New Weird by not just mixing tropes from science fiction, fantasy and horror, but also, as in New Weird fiction, “maintains its weirdness by staying philosophically connected to questions concerning the nature of the world and the cosmos and whether they are truly knowable” (Sederholm 162). According to Elisa Mazzocato, “What New Weird texts strive to portray is the uncanny, the eerie, or precisely the weird in our familiar reality. By embodying environmental concerns as the uncanniness which results from inexplicable events immersed in an everyday context, they lead us to realize how our world—the real, present world, not a futuristic or magical one—is itself “weird”” (158). Annihilation challenges the idea of humans controlling nature and asks us to rethink our place on this planet.

Annihilation: Plot and Structure

The main plot of Annihilation revolves around a four-person research team, each of whom is an authority in a distinct field, and whose mission is to investigate Area X, a strange area isolated from the outside world. In Area X, ecosystems undergo bizarre and frequently inexplicable changes, giving the impression that the laws of nature are breaking down. A shifting, organic “tower” and altered creatures are among the strange occurrences the crew encounters on their voyage into this hazardous environment, as described by the novel’s protagonist, named simply the biologist. The team’s stated goal is to observe and comprehend the forces operating in Area X, but as they go farther, it becomes harder to distinguish between the natural environment and the human psyche. The biologist in particular has a significant metamorphosis, and the other team members battle the psychological and physical effects of the area’s change.

The novel’s structure mirrors the disjointed and confusing experience of investigating a strange and quickly evolving ecology. The biologist’s diary entries, which offer readers a personal and unreliable account of the events, are used to tell the story. The novel’s themes of ecological instability and the boundaries of human comprehension are reflected in this narrative style. The premise that nature is difficult for humans to understand or control is further supported by the plot’s concentration on a small, isolated group of experts in contrast to the huge, unknown force of nature they are trying to understand.

Themes in Annihilation

1. Nature’s Power and Independence

In Annihilation, Area Xis a place where nature takes back control. It doesn’t follow human rules or expectations. The strange, self-sustaining environment of Area X challenges the idea that humans can dominate or fully understand nature. The term “Anthropocene” describes a new geological period in which human activity has taken centre stage in forming Earth’s systems and bringing about significant and permanent changes to the environment. Among other ecological disasters, this era is marked by biodiversity loss, climate change, and the depletion of natural resources. The traditional view of nature as a distinct and unchangeable entity is being challenged by the Anthropocene, which highlights how humans are potent change agents in the environment. In light of this, media such as literature, movies, and television have increasingly examined how humans affect the natural environment and what that implies for our future. These Anthropocene stories frequently act as warnings, imploring viewers and readers to reevaluate humanity’s relationship with the environment and the effects of its actions.

VanderMeer is well known for his ability to combine environmental problems with speculative aspects, and his literature frequently challenges the idea that humans have authority over nature. The story of Annihilation centres on a group of four unidentified women who travel to Area X, a shadowy and increasingly dangerous place where nature appears to have changed drastically beyond human comprehension and control. The story poses significant queries regarding humanity’s relationship with nature, its control over the environment, and the possible repercussions of this supremacy as the crew experiences bizarre phenomena and undergoes physical and mental changes. It also explores how speculative fiction might help people become more conscious of environmental issues and rethink how humans fit into the planet’s ecosystems.

This theme reminds us that ecosystems are complex and powerful. Even if humans damage them, nature has a way of adapting and evolving, often in ways that humans cannot predict or control.

2. Human Weakness in the Face of Nature

Although humans are the main focus of the Anthropocene, Annihilation shows how small and fragile we are compared to the natural world. The scientists in the story, despite their expertise, fail to understand Area X. Their tools and knowledge are useless in the face of its mysteries.

Mark Fisher in his work The Weird and the Eerie states that:” The weird is a particular kind of perturbation. It is a fascination for the outside, for that which lies beyond standard perception, cognition, and experience.”(15) According to Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, “The Weird can be transformative — sometimes literally — and it entertains monsters while not always see them as monstrous. It strives for a kind of understanding even when something cannot be understood, and acknowledges that failure as sign and symbol of our limitations.”

In Annihilation, the biologist’s transformation symbolizes how humans are deeply connected to nature. Her journey blurs the boundary between human and non-human, showing that people are part of the environment, not separate from it.

3. A Time of Change and Renewal

While many see the Anthropocene as a time of destruction, VanderMeer suggests it could also be a time of renewal. Area X evolves and changes in response to human actions. Though unsettling, this change reflects nature’s ability to heal and adapt. This idea encourages readers to rethink their relationship with the planet. Rather than trying to control nature, humans should learn to live in harmony with it.

Annihilation as a Metaphor for the Anthropocene

Because it examines how humans interact with nature, Annihilation might be interpreted as a metaphor for the Anthropocene. The idea that people can completely understand or control the natural world is criticized in the novel. The limitations of scientific understanding and human control over the environment are brought to light by the team’s inability to interpret Area X. The crew is powerless against an ecosystem that develops without human intervention, despite their sophisticated technology and experience. The novel makes the argument that, in the face of nature’s intricate and self-governing processes, human endeavours to control and take advantage of it— whether via scientific study, environmental deterioration, or technological manipulation—are ultimately pointless.

Furthermore, the ecological awakening that characterizes the Anthropocene is reflected in the alteration of Area X. The world of Area X is changing in ways that beyond human comprehension, much like how human activity is causing the ecosystems on Earth to adapt in unanticipated ways. Geological reordering is suggested by the book, in which natural systems actively oppose human interference in addition to being changed. Annihilation addresses the significant changes taking place on Earth in this fashion, challenging readers to reevaluate their beliefs about human dominion over the environment and to accept that ecosystems will continue to change despite human activity.

The enigmatic force in Area X, which appears to have its own power over the land, the animals, and even the human explorers, is another way the book presents the concept of non-human agency. The anthropocentric worldview, which holds that humans are the primary and most significant species on Earth, is challenged by this force. Annihilation’s autonomous, non-human force emphasizes the idea that nature functions according to its own rules, unaffected by human demands or desires.

Speculative Fiction’s Role in Raising Environmental Awareness

For many years, speculative fiction has been a potent medium for examining environmental issues and envisioning future societies that have been influenced by human activity. Exaggeration and world-building are two ways that works like Annihilation employ the genre to illustrate the possible effects of the Anthropocene. VanderMeer challenges readers to consider the ecological effects of unbridled human activity by transporting them to a different universe where nature is erratic and uncontrollable. In this sense, speculative fiction engages readers in conversations about sustainability, climate change, and the moral ramifications of environmental degradation while simultaneously acting as a warning and a call to action.

Amitav Ghosh in his work The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable states that:” What makes climate change unthinkable is precisely the fact that it is so radically different from anything that has come before it, in its scope, its unpredictability, and its long-term consequences.” The ability of speculative fiction to challenge anthropocentric thinking—the idea that people are the primary and most significant actors in the world—is one of its main advantages. According to Mazzocato:

Dealing with the reality of the climate crisis requires new ways to speak of that which we cannot even think of, new categories to represent that which we can barely conceive of. We need a framework to embrace the ambiguity and accept the ungraspability, without denying the tangibility and urgency of the countless signals which nature is giving us that climate change is a one-way path, and we might be already past the point of no-return (170)

By depicting a situation in which people are helpless against a sophisticated, dynamic natural system rather than the masters of their surroundings, Annihilation challenges this way of thinking. VanderMeer challenges readers to reevaluate their relationship with nature by reorienting the emphasis away from human supremacy and acknowledging that the Earth is a dynamic, independent force that will always change despite human activity.

Furthermore, by stimulating readers’ emotions and imaginations, speculative fiction can increase environmental consciousness. Annihilation compels readers to consider the possible repercussions of the Anthropocene’s present course by transporting them to another world. In this way, speculative fiction serves as a tool for visualizing more sustainable futures as well as a reflection of environmental concerns.

Conclusion

Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation is more than a story about strange phenomena. It is a critique of how humans interact with the natural world. By using the New Weird genre, the novel forces readers to question humanity’s place in the Anthropocene. The mysterious Area X symbolizes the unpredictability and resilience of nature. It shows that nature will continue to evolve, with or without humans. This serves as a reminder that we are not above nature but part of it. As we face environmental challenges like climate change and habitat loss, stories like Annihilation encourage us to rethink our priorities. They show the need for humility, respect, and a deeper understanding of the natural world. In the end, Annihilation leaves us with a powerful message: to survive and thrive, we must learn to live in harmony with the planet. It’s a call to action, urging us to protect the Earth before it’s too late.

References

 Fisher, Mark. The Weird and the Eerie. Repeater Books,2017.

Ghosh, Amitav. The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable, University of Chicago Press ,2016

VanderMeer, Jeff. Annihilation. FSG Originals, 2014.

Sederholm, Carl H. “The New Weird.” Twenty-First-Century Gothic: An Edinburgh Companion. Edited by Maisha Wester and Xavier Aldana Reyes. Edinburg UP, 2019, pp. 161-73.

VanderMeer, Ann and Jeff. “The Weird: An Introduction.” Weird Fiction Review, 8 May 2012, weirdfictionreview.com/2012/05/the-weird-an-introduction.

Mazzocato, Elisa. “Weird Ghosts of the Anthropocene: The Spectral Encounter in New Weird Fiction as a Conceptual Metaphor for Ecocritical Theory.” Ecozon@: European Journal of Literature, Culture and Environment, vol. 15, no. 2, 30 Oct. 2024, pp. 156–172, https://doi.org/10.37536/ecozona.2024.15.2.5368.

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Aiswari A.V. is a postgraduate student pursuing an M.A. in English in the Department of Languages at Jain University, Kochi Campus, Kerala, India.

Gayathri Mohan is a postgraduate student pursuing an M.A. in English in the Department of Languages at Jain University, Kochi Campus, Kerala, India.

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