Visions of post-apocalyptic worlds have proved to be irresistible for many 21st-century writers, from literary novelists to fantasy and young adult writers. Exploring a wide range of texts, from the works of Margaret Atwood, Cormac McCarthy, Tom Perrotta and Emily St. John Mandel to young adult novels such as Suzanne Collins'sThe Hunger Gamesseries, this is the first critical introduction to contemporary apocalyptic fiction.
Exploring the cultural and political contexts of these writings and their echoes in popular media,Apocalyptic Fictionalso examines how contemporary apocalyptic texts looks back to earlier writings by the likes of Mary Shelley, H.G. Wells and J.G. Ballard.Apocalyptic Fictionincludes an annotated guide to secondary readings, making this an essential guide for students of contemporary fiction at all levels.
Andrew Tateis Reader in Literature, Religion and Aesthetics in the Department of English & Creative Writing at Lancaster University, UK. His previous books include
Contemporary Fiction and Christianity(2008) and, co-authored with Arthur Bradley,
The New Atheist Novel(2010) and, as co-editor,
Literature and the Bible: A Reader(2013).
Released in the 21st-Century Genre Fiction series, this book begins by distinguishing two ways of depicting a ruined future : as dystopia and as a devastated Earth in which 'technofuture' has failed. So Tate (Lancaster Univ., UK) writes in the introduction. Tate correctly defines apocalypse as an uncovering of what was previously hidden about the future and notes its dependence on the Bible. Having acknowledged the biblical origins of modern apocalypses, Tate discusses five types of modern apocalypse, devoting a chapter to each. The first he dubs God Rains Over Everything. These apocalypses depict an end devised by God. The second type, which borrows its theme from the New Testament, depicts a sudden departure of people. The third resembles the implós
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