A novel to influence public policy? The role of New Zealand in climate migration and the occupation of Antarctica

Abstract

In recent years, the notion of ‘climate change fiction’ (‘cli-fi’) has passed into common parlance to denote a strand of fictionalized narratives foregrounding the dynamics and consequences of climate change on Earth. While the acceptance criteria for such a category are flexible at best, the role of policy-making and of New Zealand as a political actor and geographical setting to the global eco-catastrophe remain marginal features in such contemporary stories. Jeff Murray’s 2019 novel entitled Melt crucially bridges fiction and public policy, in a move to put the Pacific, New Zealand and Antarctica at the forefront of climate change debates. As the near future sees Antarctica melting, the novel particularly focuses on the sociopolitical and infrastructural challenge that millions of climate change refugees will represent to wealthy and relatively spared nations, such as New Zealand. Correlated issues in sustainable management, economic inequality, intercultural relations and geopolitics are further evoked. In its attempt to alert New Zealand policy-makers and the general public to these long-term questions, Melt importantly invites reflection on the potentiality of narrative to inspire action taking. This article takes the form of an interdisciplinary discussion between Murray, a first-time novelist with a professional background in strategy policy, and literary and cultural studies scholar Jessica Maufort.