Beyond the human: George Stewart’s fiction

Abstract

In 1949, the American historian and novelist George Stewart published a dystopian novel, Earth Abides (translated into Portuguese as Só a Terra Permanece), which envisions an apocalyptic future. The narrative aligns with the reflections of Déborah Danowski and Eduardo Viveiros de Castro in Há Mundo por Vir? Ensaios sobre os medos e os fins (2023), regarding the existence of a world after humanity. Stewart crafts a fiction in which an American man suddenly finds himself alone in his country, a survivor of an epidemic caused by a deadly virus. The reader follows this character’s survival journey, sharing in his perplexities and reflections on the impact humans can have on the planet. The character’s scientific background in Natural Sciences facilitates an exploration of the intersections between Literature and Science from the outset. Stewart’s work, with its strong ecological focus, is also a deep reflection on the harmful consequences of human interference in Earth’s ecosystems. The central aims of this essay are: 1. To identify the dystopian elements in Earth Abides; 2. To show that the novel allows for an avant la lettre ecocritical reading (as it predates the formal establishment of this field within Literary Studies); 3. To highlight the American writer's warnings about the grim future that humanity faces, in which humans have played a dominant and often detrimental role through the exploitation of natural resources, deforestation, and climate change; and 4. To reflect on one of the most incisive literary analyses of the 20th century concerning the end of humanity.