Seeds of latent hope: The figurative entwinement of children, adolescents, and plants in Maja Lunde’s "The Dream of a Tree"

Abstract

Drawing on theorizations of climate fiction, previous studies of plants in climate fiction (cli-fi) for young adults, perspectives from critical plant studies, and discussions on the symbolism of seeds and trees, this study traces metaphorical relationships between plants and the child- and adolescent characters in Maja Lunde’s latest climate fiction, The Dream of a Tree (Drømmen om et tre, 2022). The novel is the last volume in Lunde’s “climate quartet”, where she, for the first time in her series, employs a young adult protagonist. The plot revolves around a group of children, stranded on the archipelago of Svalbard that hosts the Global Seed Vault. The study aims to show how the child and adolescent characters in Lunde’s climate fiction are embedded in metaphorical patterns associating them with growth and hope in ways that serve to move Lunde’s climate quartet from a dystopian towards a more utopian resolution.