The Hero of This Novel Is a Tree: Biocentric Narrative Strategies in Contemporary Eco-fiction

Abstract

Abstract This article considers the novel's possibilities for depicting and responding to the climate crisis by analyzing Richard Powers's efforts to write a biocentric perspective in The Overstory (2018). In biocentric narratives, humans, typically the focal point of the novel, are decentered in favor of perspectives that attempt to encompass more of the living world. Efforts to evade narrative anthropocentrism, which are often encouraged by ecocritics, may not offer an effective frame through which to articulate the climate crisis. The article defends narrative anthropocentrism against the charge that it is unambiguously problematic and challenges the claim that it is potentially avoidable through the adoption of a theoretically biocentric narrative perspective. Rather, strategic awareness of narrative anthropocentrism can help novelists foster visions of strong connections to our environments and inspire reader engagement with environmental concerns. Powers's effort to move beyond anthropocentrism, which is motivated by positive intentions to impact reader interest in environmental issues, is stymied by the inevitability of the human perspectives and interests that attend the construction of any narrative. The article concludes that some instances of anthropocentrism in novels like The Overstory, in which Powers cannot altogether supplant anthropocentrism with a biocentric perspective, are more constructive and positive vis-à-vis nonhuman nature and the environment than others, such as Powers's portrayal of reverence for nonhuman nature. If reverence reveals the attachment of human values and emotions to nonhuman entities, it suggests how anthropocentrism might be harnessed for the benefit of the wider environment.