For a new weird geography

Abstract

The contemporary ecological condition is one of ‘global weirding’, a term coined to describe both anthropogenically changed worlds and the experience of dwelling within them. In this paper, we foreground New Weird fiction as a progressive literary style, distinct from its problematic roots, with conceptual import to human geography. Through attention to the New Weird’s treatment of difference, dis/orientation and ecological relation, these texts provoke geographers to foster a speculative ethics suited to a weirding world. In suggesting this ethical approach, this paper contributes to emerging debates in geography concerning ambivalence, disorientation and affirmation/negation.

Pandemic disorientations and reorientations as legacies: Scoping review of COVID‐19 impacts on European cities

“…Simonsen (2013, p. 20) suggests that "moments of disorientation, then, can be seen as destabilising and undermining, but they can also be seen as productive moments leading to new hopes and new directions." Namely, collective disorientation is also the first step towards collective reorientation as the effect of "the undoing of connections and relations, which simultaneously affords opportunities for forging new ones and building new, more socially and ecologically just worlds" (Turnbull et al, 2022(Turnbull et al, , p. 1215.…”

“…The notion of global weirding has been popularised by political commentator Thomas L. Friedman (2010). It is well recognised among social sciences and humanities scholars and used to interpret anthropogenic climate change‐related events and the often unpredictable environmental disruptions that they cause (Canavan & Hageman, 2016; Turnbull et al, 2022). More and more frequently, these disruptions take the form of unexpected weather events that do not fit into their past temporal and spatial patterns (winters with no snow, extended heat waves, record temperatures), which tend to be referred to as weird.…”

Towards an intersectional postcapitalism

“…Fisher's work suffuses both of these projects, which draw on explicit references and implicit exploration of his spatial sensibilities and aesthetic appreciation of the weird. Resonating with this trend is recent work by Turnbull et al (2022Turnbull et al ( : 1207 on 'a new weird geography', exploring what sci-fi and other fictions can do to prepare imaginations for radical change. They too are inspired by Fisher's work although in less directly spatial terms.…”

Keep biology weird

“…The horror literature of HP Lovecraft, for example, played with the deepest fears and racism of 19–20th century Europe and America: the intrusion of things and people that threaten to bring chaos in a society where the moral and political order is based on what is deemed “natural”. Fueled by the climate crisis as a worldwide anthropogenic transformation of the biosphere, recent “new weird” fiction and scholarly work takes a different stance: nature and society are, and have always been, caught in mutually transformative relations (Turnbull et al , 2022). The horror of the unnatural loses its edge if unruly worms, mutating viruses and microbiotic communities inside and around us are the rule.…”