Contesting the Climate Unthinkable

Examining Latin American cultural works that rethink environmental change and natural catastrophes



This

volume explores Latin American cultural works from the twentieth and

twenty-first centuries that reflect environmental changes brought on by

colonization, capitalism, and resource exploitation. Contributors

examine films, novels, photographs, and videos from the Caribbean, the

Southern Cone, the Andes, and the Amazon, showcasing how artists,

writers, and activists depict the scale and impact of ecological crises.





Drawing from environmental humanities, decolonial

thought, and Indigenous scholarship, this book examines how

relationships with the nonhuman reshape human understandings of

ecological collapse and resilience. Contributors discuss movies on toxic

waste in Chile and Bolivia, gothic elements in horror, art and mineral

extraction in Venezuela, dystopian novels set in the R?o de la Plata,

Mapuche poetry and dance in protest of terricidio, and utopias

in Brazilian Afrofuturistic novels. They show how speculative fiction,

testimonial narratives, experimental films, and site-specific

installations address environmental disasters, climate breakdown, and

extractivism, revealing the colonial histories and economic structures

that underpin climate change.



The chapters in this book

examine artistic forms that amplify the voices of affected communities

and envision more ethical futures rooted in regional cultures,

geographies, and practices. Highlighting the significance of

perspectives from the Global South, this volume broadens understandings

of environmental justice and ways of rethinking planetary survival.



Publication

of this work made possible by a Sustaining the Humanities through the

American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the

Humanities.



Contributors: Paul

Merchant Igor Barreto Ken Benson Victoria Saramago Jos? Carlos

D?az Zanelli Andr?s Obando Jasmin Belmar Shagulian Patrick Brock

Gianfranco Selgas Sebastian Wiedemann Roberto Roabilnho Azucena

Castro Emily Baker Montserrat Madariaga-Caro Allison Mackey