Headline: Public Talk: The Cultural Affordances of Climate Fiction

The talk explores the cultural work of literary and screen media in shaping and reflecting popular notions of anthropogenic climate change. In her research as Senior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), Julia Leyda is inquiring into the recent proliferation of climate change narratives in fiction and film, as well as the media and academic conversations about them.

The talk introduces the concept of climate fiction (Cli-Fi) and its origins, uses, and primary features. Film and Television Studies professor Leyda will then outline two case studies. The first focusses on Cli-Fi’s representations of politics. It examines the Norwegian TV series Okkupert and the US-Canadian comics series We Stand on Guard as examples of popular culture texts that portray future political crisis as outcomes of climate change. Her second case study uncovers the ways in which climate change serves as a subtext in several contemporary TV series, including Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, and Daredevil.

Time and place: 1 November 2016, 11 a.m., IASS Potsdam (Bank building, Helmholtzstr.5, room 2.11)

This Public Talk is part of the Berlin Science Week, which brings together excellent academics and their institutions from all over the world in Berlin. It is dedicated to the global exchange of science and society to inspire a deeper understanding of our world. The Berlin Science Week is made possible by leading institutions and individuals offering more than 30 events and meetings from November 1st- 10th 2016.

The Berlin Science Week is kindly supported by the Berlin Senate, Department for Education, Youth and Science.

Communication and coordination is managed by the Falling Walls Foundation.

Further information:
http://www.berlinscienceweek.com