Deep Ecology and the Rhetoric of Critical Dystopia in Piers Torday’s The Last Wild

Abstract

This paper employs the theoretical framework of Tom Moylan's concept of Critical Dystopia and the biospheric egalitarian principle of Arne Naess's Deep ecology philosophy to explore the representation of various environmental injustices in Piers Torday's The Last Wild. The issues explored include interspecies and intergenerational environmental injustice and the disproportionate distribution of the environmental burdens and benefits between the population of the developed and developing countries. It also studies climate change as a cultural phenomenon resulting from the anthropocentric culture. It expose score components of climate change such as industrialization, capitalism, and techno centricity that have not only destroyed the natural world but also threatened the survival of the human species. In addition to exposing the destructive tendencies of the anthropocentric worldview, the paper also attempts to highlight the ecotopian vision of deep ecology as a solution for contemporary social and ecological problems.