Turning the tide: shining a light on climate change culpability through Cli-Fi

The thesis posits that cli-fi should eschew tropes of individual heroes, technological salvation and a reliance on empathy as a primary emotional vector for reader engagement and instead seek to stimulate emotions of hope and anger through narratives that privilege collective action over individual heroism.<br><br>The creative piece, Turning the Tide, is set in a flooded far-future where a capitalist corporation has an effective hegemony over a world of fragmented micro-nations.

Beneath its superficial functionality the future society has dystopian elements. The protagonist is a detective from the island nation of Down collaborating with an officer from the rival nation of Antrim in investigating the murder of a corporate executive. The protagonist’s initial pro-corporate anti-protester mindset is positioned to appeal to conservative climate change sceptic readers intrigued by the ludic puzzle of the murder mystery.

The narrative leads protagonist and the reader to an appreciation of the corporation’s culpability for toxic inequality and undermining of democracy. The novel’s ending aims to foster hope and anger, while illustrating the contemporary world’s risk of transitioning to such a future.<br>