Climate change and the future of the city: Arabic science fiction as climate fiction in Egypt and Iraq

Abstract

This article analyses the representation of the climate crisis and urban imaginaries in post-2011 Arabic science fiction (SF), arguing that Arabic SF, and its cross-genre of critical dystopian fiction, intersects with global climate fiction (cli-fi), while maintaining a horizon for hope. It compares two graphic novels written by authors of Egyptian origins, Aḥmad Nājī's Istikhdām al-Ḥayāt (2014; Using Life, 2017) and Ganzeer's English-language The Solar Grid (2016-2020), with two short stories authored by Iraq-born authors, “al-Mutakallim” (“The Worker”) by Ḍiyāʾ Jubaylī; and “Ḥadāʾīq Bābil” (“Gardens of Babylon”) by Ḥasan Blāsim, included in the collection al-ʿIrāq + 100 (2017; Iraq +100, 2016). Through the four works, future apocalyptic urban scenarios are imagined, linked to climate change, city mega-projects, and oil scarcity. Illuminating the unseen violence perpetrated by colonial forces and ruling elites, these visions prefigure the global reach of the climate catastrophe and contribute to understandings of Nixon's “slow violence” and Heise's “eco-cosmopolitanism”.