Contemporary Women’s Post-Apocalyptic Fiction

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

   PDF

2. Introduction: Rewriting and Transforming Traditions

   • Susan Watkins

   Pages 1-40

3. Science, Nature and Matter

   • Susan Watkins

   Pages 41-72

4. The Posthuman Body

   • Susan Watkins

   Pages 73-101

5. The Maternal Imaginary

   • Susan Watkins

   Pages 103-134

6. Time, Narrative and History

   • Susan Watkins

   Pages 135-167

7. Literature and the Word

   • Susan Watkins

   Pages 169-197

8. Conclusion: The Post-secular

   • Susan Watkins

   Pages 199-214

9. Back Matter

   Pages 215-220

   PDF

This book examines how contemporary women novelists have successfully transformed and rewritten the conventions of post-apocalyptic fiction. Since the dawn of the new millennium, there has been an outpouring of writing that depicts the end of the world as we know it, and women writers are no exception to this trend. However, the book argues that their fiction is distinctive. Contemporary women’s work in this genre avoids conservatism, a nostalgic mourning for the past, and the focus on restoring what has been lost, aspects key to much male authored apocalyptic fiction. Instead, contemporary women writers show readers the ways in which patriarchy and neo-colonialism are intrinsically implicated in the disasters they envision, and offer qualified hope for a new beginning for society, culture and literature after an imagined apocalyptic event. Exploring science, nature and matter, the posthuman body, the maternal imaginary, time, narrativeand history, literature and the word, and the post-secular, the book covers a wide variety of writers and addresses issues of nationality, race and ethnicity, as well as gender and sexuality.

• Apocalyptic writing
• Women's writing
• Contemporary women's writing
• Apocalypse literature
• Margaret Atwood
• Sarah Hall
• Jane Rogers
• Jeanette Winterson
• Luce Irigaray
• Lionel Shriver
• Emily St. John Mandel

“The lucidity of Watkins’s prose and the obvious care taken to summarize a variety of feminist theoretical contexts ensure that her study will be immediately useful to undergraduate and graduate students and serve as a foundational assessment for anyone interested in women’s speculative writing today.” (Jennifer A. Wagner-Lawlor, MFS Modern Fiction Studies, Vol. 68 (3), 2022)

“Watkins' book is a meticulously researched work … . One of its compelling aspects is that Watkins develops a multi-faceted interdisciplinary approach and seamlessly weaves textual analyses with various critical theories. Her insightful reading of so wide a range of contemporary women's post-apocalyptic fiction from multiple perspectives is very impressive. … Undoubtedly, this book leaves readers with a strong desire to delve into the fullness and richness of contemporary women's s post-apocalyptic fiction.” (Aihua Chen, Soundings, Vol. 105 (1), 2022)

“Watkins’s thoughtful, well-written analysis of UK and North American post-2000 post-apocalypse … . Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy is discussed in most of the chapters, making this a very useful text in Atwood scholarship. … these texts embrace ambiguity, the feminine, the subaltern, layered narratives, and multiple points of view. … Her enjoyable book gave me a gift—many more books to add to my nightstand. ” (Margaret Atwood Studies Journal, Vol. 15, January, 2022)

“A necessary and timely contribution to the debates surrounding the diversity of cognate subgenres that envision humanity’s precarious, possibly even doubtful future. … Watkins’s insight into the conceptual intricacy of the representation of women’s subjectivity in these fictions is prodigious and is sure to encourage further serious attention from scholars in the field.” (Ana-Karina Schneider, American, British and Canadian Studies, Vol 37 (1), December, 2021)

“Susan Watkins’s book masterfully showcases expertly performed analyses of post-apocalyptic fiction written by women authors and beautifully demonstrates how these works have broadly innovated the genre.” (Alina Preda, Gender Studies, Vol. 20 (1), 2021)

“Contemporary Women's Post-Apocalyptic Fiction fills an important gap … . Readers will appreciate the opportunity to focus either on readings of particular novels … or particular thematic concerns, such as maternity, science, and literary production. … Watkins's book is a far-ranging analysis that looks at a broad swath of contemporary novels in relation to an equally wide range of theoretical approaches. It is a useful place for any scholar to begin their own exploration of these rich and compelling novels.” (Claire P. Curtis, TSWL Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, Vol.40 (2), 2021)

“Contemporary Women’s Post-Apocalyptic Fiction is a well-researched, astute and exciting intervention in both contemporary women’s writing and SF scholarship. … Watkins’ book is a masterclass in how to write an interdisciplinary academic text that is both engaging and easy to follow. I have no doubt that scholars researching contemporary women’s writing, feminist theory, posthumanism, SF or twenty-first century fiction, will benefit greatly from reading Watkins’ monograph.” (Jade Hinchliffe, C21 Literature: Journal of 21st-century Writings, Vol. 9 (1), 2021)

“Contemporary Women’s Post-Apocalyptic Fiction is a rich new resource for scholars interested in the ever-expanding corpus of twenty-first-century apocalyptic literature. … Watkins has produced a significant contribution to scholarship on post-apocalyptic literature, one that will greatly benefit scholars of the field moving forward.” (Heather Hicks, Contemporary Women’s Writing, February 23, 2021)

• School of Cultural Studies, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK

  Susan Watkins

Susan Watkins is a Professor of Women’s Writing at Leeds Beckett University. Her key publications include Twentieth-Century Women Novelists: Feminist Theory into Practice (2001), Doris Lessing (2010) and (as co-editor) Scandalous Fictions: The Twentieth-Century Novel in the Public Sphere (2006), Doris Lessing: Border Crossings (2009) and The History of British Women’s Writing Vol 9: 1945–1975 (2017).

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