Botting, Fred. “‘Dead Peasants’: Ethics of Extinction in Oryx and Crake.” Gothic Studies, vol. 27, no. 2, 2025, pp. 142–57.

Botting argues that Oryx and Crake allows us to confront moral ethics after the end of the word of humans, what he calls an “ethics of extinction.” He says Atwood’s novel shows a world where humans have already destroyed themselves and much of the natural world, and the story begins from after that destruction. This discussion is important to my research on Oryx and Crake because it shows how Crake’s plan of a Utopia is created through human loss. This depicts a disconnect between idealized futures and the real ecological harm caused by human actions. 

Canavan, Gerry. “Hope, But Not for Us: Ecological Science Fiction and the End of the World in Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood.” LIT: Literature Interpretation Theory, vol. 23, no. 2, 2012, pp. 138–59.

Canavan argues that contemporary cli-fiction serves as a space for imagining the end of capitalism, since we can no longer imagine political change within it. In the article, Canavan discusses Jameson’s idea that it’s “easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.” Canavan shows how Oryx and Crake use the post-apocalyptic world to show how neoliberalism contributes to ecological devastation. This is useful in my research because it shows that the “ideal futures” people imagine are usually shaped by capitalism, a world with more technology and more luxury. But Canavan’s point shows that this capitalist logic is what causes the dystopia in Oryx and Crake. The book’s pre-apocalyptic world shows how endless growth and profit lead to environmental collapse. However, the future shows the world after those ideas finally destroy everything. 

Kabak, Murat. “Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake as a Critique of Technological Utopianism.” English Studies at NBU, vol. 7, no. 1, 2021, pp. 37–50.

Kabak argues that Oryx and Crake exposes the dangers of technological utopianism, the idea that science and technology can fix human problems and environmental issues by creating a “perfect” world. ThroughOryx and Crake, he uses the juxtaposition of both utopian and dystopian worlds to show how easily idealistic ideas can turn into damaging consequences. Crake’s plan to eliminate human flaws and reset history is framed as a utopia, but it results in erasure of what makes humans human. This article is useful for my research because it supports my argument that Atwood uses the past and future to reveal how humans attempt to improve the world, but this “improvement” often leads to dystopian effects.

Mohr, Dunja M. “Eco-Dystopia and Biotechnology: Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake (2003), The Year of the Flood(2009), and MaddAddam (2013).” Dystopia, Science Fiction, Post-Apocalypse: Classics, New Tendencies and Model Interpretations, 2015, pp. 283–302.

Mohr’s article shows how biotechnological dystopias, like Oryx and Crake, use literature to show environmental consequences of science and technology. The article interweaves literary and scientific imagination. This shows how these technologies depict both utopias and dystopias. Mohr shows that in Oryx and Crake, Crake’s genetic creations imagine a flawless future. These were created to solve ecological problems but instead they created environmental destruction. This article is useful for my research because it places Oryx and Crake within literature that shows the consequences of technological idealism. It supports my argument of how Atwood uses the future to show the effects of human actions on the environment and the disconnect between imagined ideal futures and real ecological consequences. 

Tasnim, Zakiyah. “Storytelling as Environmental Discourse in Oryx and Crake: Climate Change and the Hope for Survival.” Canadian Journal of Language and Literature Studies 5.5 (2025): 1-14.

Tasnim argues that speculative fiction transforms environmental crises into experiences that stick with its readers. Using Oryx and Crake, the article shows how this genre functions to bring awareness to ecological collapse showing how stories create a sense of resilience in the face of disaster. Tasnim discusses that Atwood’s combination of utopia and dystopia shows the tension between human ideas of ideal futures and the environmental consequences of technological power. This article is good to use for research on how Atwood uses temporal frameworks in Oryx and Crake because it discusses the connection between past experiences and speculative futures in creating awareness of ecological distribution. 

Britanica, “Utopia: Ideal Community,” Britanica, Nov 27 2025.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/utopia

I needed an article that talked about the history of utopia to argue about how I want mines to be perceived differently.

Ciobanu, Calina, “Rewriting the Human at the End of the Anthropocene in Margret

Atwood’s MaddAddam Trilogy,” The Minnesota Review, Vol. 2014, Issue 83, Duke

University Press, Nov 1, 2014, pg. 153-162,

https://read.dukeupress.edu/theminnesotareview/articleabstract/2014/83/153/48147/Rewriting-the-Human-at-the-End-of-the-Anthropocene?redirectedFrom=fulltext

Ciobanu talks about humans changing both socially and culturally, along with the idea of the world changing as we know it. In other words, change being a big part of survival in a post-Anthropocene world. I will use this article as the stem for many of my arguments, focused less on fighting against Ciobanu and more on using her as supportive foundation for my arguments on adaptive utopias that are focus on culture and religion. Many of Ciobanu’s points focus centrally on the world changing and people changing for it, and it is something that I have noticed in many novels I have read both in class and out of class. I also notice that it is usually in tandem with some sort of utopian aspect. Ciobanu has many ideas that I agree with; however, in use they will probably be slightly different to exactly how she frames them. Overall, she will be my major steppingstone while talking about Atwood.

Jameson, Fredric, “Then You Are Them,” London Review of Books, Vol. 31, No. 17,

Sep 10^th 2009. https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v31/n17/fredric-jameson/then-you-are-them

This is a glorified book review which I love. It isn’t like a normal book review which gives a thumbs up or down and a couple sentences why; it goes into depth to exactly what they believe to be good and bad about the first two novels in the MaddAddam trilogy. This being the biggest weakness because this article came out before the trilogy ended. However, its views on dystopian society, and religion as a utopian is very interesting and the reason why I’d love to go back and forth with this review, as while not to be a critical review in the scene of a journal article, it still brings up many good points.

Ramírez García, Lucía, “Static and Kenetic Utopianism in Octavia Butler’s Parable of the

Sower,” Zaragoza, Vol. 70, University of Zaragoza, 2024, pg. 159-176,

https://www.proquest.com/docview/3178327136?accountid=27495&parentSessionId=%2 BDq47MLHY6bwAEKcyw1Wu87d43RZFpAEUIK6sN7Ulh8%3D&pq-origsite=primo&sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals

Ramírez discusses two primary types of utopias: static, and kinetic. Static utopianism can be defined as staying inside of a bubble, and sticking to traditional values, and ideologies of the older world. So, it’s basically the idea of staying ignorant even after the world has changed. Kinetic utopianism is the idea of moving on from the old world and changing, hence the article’s use of Parable of the Sower which distinctively has these two types of “living” I would call them, as I do disagree that the way Lauren’s dad lives in as utopianism. In my opinion, it’s staying in the dark and doing exactly what caused the world to get into the situation it is in: being Ignorant. So, this article’s main purpose (for my writing) is open conversation for Parable of the Sower, in which I will disagree with static utopianism as thing, while adopting some aspects of kinetic utopianism in my argument. I find this article’s arguments to be interesting and it’s the reason I’ve kept it, as I never thought of Lauren’s community before Earthseed being a utopia. Yes, it’s probably better than walking out in the wilderness, but in my opinion, it has always been about, “staying in the abyss,” which is why Lauren’s dad mentioning of falling into the abyss is ironic, because they will always be in the abyss living in that community, the people living in it just don’t know it.

Stillman, G, Peter, “Dystopian Critiques, Utopian Possibilities, and Human Purposes, in Octavia

Butler’s Parables,” Utopian Studies, Vol. 14, No.1, 2003, pg. 15-31. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/20718544.pdf

Stillman discusses several aspects of dystopian literature within Parable of the Sower. One part being this “dream” argument, or the idea that many of the early utopian outlooks: escaping to other rich communities, living in the outside as a thief, or living in a cul-de-sac like Lauren does in the beginning of the book are just dreams and not actual possibilities of refugee. He also discusses real world logic and the idea of people tending to come up with scenarios to fix their situation in an ending world. He argues the use of realism to depict a collapsing world, and funnily enough even though not stated many statements in this article line up well with other Anthropocene articles we have read which is mildly interesting. When I first read this article, I would never have made that connection because I didn’t even know about it. Now this allows me to view the arguments differently. When talking about utopia, this article seems to lean heavy on Earthseed being the answer as it’s a new way of life. On top of that, it survives while the community that it creates does not. I would like to use this as an article to talk on Earthseed, and my argument for it as it’s an utopian entity because while it may not fall under the idea of utopia as a world in a world, or a world outside a world, it still does something all utopias are meant to do and that’s garner hope.

Franks, Nadia-Terese Laguna. “‘Belief Rather Than a Memory’: The Relationship Between Gender and Trauma in Margaret Atwood’s ≪Em≫Oryx and Crake≪/Em≫” C21 Literature, vol. 11, no. 1, July 2024, https://doi.org/10.16995/c21.8735. Accessed 19 Nov. 2025.

Soni, Amit Kumar – “Depiction of ‘Slow Violence’ in The Hungry Tide” (2022)

• According to Soni, The Hungry Tide depicts “slow violence,” which is trauma that occurs gradually over time as opposed to all at once. He focuses on how people’s lives in the Sundarbans are slowly destroyed by poverty, migration, and environmental degradation. This is especially important to my theory because it shows how ecological disaster is directly tied to social and political problems. Conflicts over politics and fatalities result from the gradual destruction of land, food sources, and safety. This source is important because it clarifies how Ghosh links long-term political violence, on both historical and personal levels, to environmental damage.

Anand, Divya – “Words on Water: Nature and Agency in The Hungry Tide” (2008)

• Anand argues that nature in The Hungry Tide is not only a setting, but a driving force that changes human lives. She argues that rivers, tides, storms, and animals impact human decisions and conflicts. This relates to my argument since it demonstrates how environmental factors directly influence the novel’s political developments and personal struggles. The Sundarbans’ dangerous environment forces people to make decisions about migration, conflict, and survival. This matters because it indicates that the environmental issue is not independent from political violence; it helps produce it.

Anand, Divya – “Locating the Politics of the Environment and the Exploited” (2007)

• Anand argues in the article that Ghosh demonstrates how neglected and deprived individuals suffer the burden of political and environmental abuse. She describes how ecological problems become political violence in the Sundarbans due to the government’s handling of refugees and immigrants. This demonstrates how land and survival struggles result in state violence and human suffering, which directly supports my claim. This source is important because it clarifies how inequality, migration, and governmental power turn ecological crises into political conflicts.

Jones, Brandon – “A Postcolonial Utopia for the Anthropocene” (2018)

• According to Jones, The Hungry Tide shows the close connections between politics, migration, and climate change in a postcolonial society. He focuses on how natural disasters force people to move, which ultimately leads to disagreements with governments and nations. This relates directly to my argument because it shows how climate disasters lead to political violence and displacement on a large historical scale. This source is significant because it helps position Ghosh’s work within the context of the Anthropocene, indicating that environmental damage and political struggle occur together globally.

Weik, Alexa – “Eco-Cosmopolitan Encounters in The Hungry Tide” (2006)

• According to Weik, The Hungry Tide shows how people from all cultural backgrounds can come together around common environmental issues. She focuses on how people, animals, and the land interact in the Sundarbans. This highlights how the ecological disaster impacts both the local villagers and foreigners, causing stress, conflict, and shared responsibility, which supports my argument. This source is important because it reveals how the book’s environmental concerns are linked to global politics and the natural world rather than being isolated.

Canavan, Gerry. “Hope, But Not for Us: Ecological Science Fiction and the End of the World in Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood*.” Marquette University English Faculty Publications,
https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1191&context=english_fac

– I think a decent chunk of this is irrelevant but there are a few sections relating to religion. Maybe I can use the “hope” part for how some people use religion to cope with things or find a way forward.

DiMarco, Danette. Paradice Lost, Paradice Found.
eng529.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/78915551/paradice%20lost,%20paradice%20found.pdf.

– Not very relevant to religion I don’t think. It mostly focuses on humanity and society. I don’t know how much of this I’ll be able to use.

Dunning, Stephen. Terror of the Therapeutic.
eng529.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/78925703/terror%20of%20the%20theraputic.pdf.

– This might be my main source. There’s a lot of things about religion and ethics in here that I can use.

James, Sonia, Siby James, and Sophia James. “A Critical Analysis of Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake as ‘Ustopia’.” ShodhKosh: Journal of Visual and Performing Arts, vol. 5, no. 6, June 2024, pp. 2002–2007.

– Has very little to do with religion. It does say how Jimmy’s influence won over the Crakers in the end, therefore having something to do with religion.

Trauvitch, Rhona. Plant 1.08.
www.rhonatrauvitch.net/uploads/3/2/1/4/32144301/plant_1_08_-_rhona_trauvitch.pdf

– Directly references biblical stories, so this might be another main source too.