Cadernos de Literatura Comparada, #52
(June 2025)
Climate Issues and the Rise of New Literary Forms
With the worsening of the global climate crisis, literature has undergone formal and thematic changes due to the necessity of representing and questioning the complexities of environmental degradation, climate change, and the possibility of a global ecological catastrophe, sometimes proposing a new imaginary of the ecosystem (Barontono & Schoentjes, 2022).
Indeed, climate-related themes are not only explored in contemporary literary creation but have also led to the emergence and development of new literary forms and genres, often diverging from traditions such as science fiction. This can be seen in works such as Parable of the Sower (1993) by Octavia Butler, Oryx and Crake (2003) by Margaret Atwood, Memory of Water (2014) by Emmi Itäranta, and the Remembrance of Earth’s Past/The Three-Body Problem trilogy by Liu Cixin (2014-2016).
The organizers of this issue of Cadernos de Literatura Comparada – a journal of the Margarida Losa Institute for Comparative Literature – invite readers to submit articles exploring how climate-related issues, such as global warming, resource scarcity, environmental disasters, and ecological justice, stimulate the development of innovative literary forms, genres, and practices.
This trend is reflected, for example, in what is termed “climate fiction” (cli-fi) (Milner & Burgmann, 2020; Langlet, 2020), in certain narratives of environmental decolonization, and in a type of visual literature with a multimodal dynamic that explores interactive digital storytelling formats or even hybrid forms such as the graphic novel (Sarayeva, 2017), environmental non-fiction, or narratives that explore resilience and adaptability.
Examples of this experimental dimension include the journal/graphic novel Saison brune (2012) by Philippe Squarzoni, and The Rime of the Modern Mariner (2011) by Nick Hayes, the latter being a reinterpretation of Coleridge’s poem. Regarding the continuity or return to older forms and issues related to the representation of nature, the contributions of Johns-Putra (2019) and Nersessian (2015, 2020) are worth highlighting.
We therefore invite researchers interested in these topics to contribute, from a comparative approach, to a reflection on the plurality of literary expressions that climate issues have generated in contemporary literature.
The proposed thematic axes include, but are not limited to, the following topics:
• Literary responses to ecological disasters and environmental justice;
• Responses in creative non-fiction, essays, and memoirs;
• Narrative responses in the field of “climate fiction” (cli-fi) and environmental decolonization;
• Digital and multimedia responses to the climate crisis in literary practices;
• Poetics and aesthetics of “climate fiction” (cli-fi);
• Narratives of resistance and ecological alternatives;
• Climate issues and genre hybridity;
• Metaphorization of climate representations.
All articles must be submitted via email to cadernospreviewjune@gmail.com by May 31, 2025.
Submitted articles must comply with the Cadernos de Literatura Comparada publication guidelines, available at: https://ilc-cadernos.com/index.php/cadernos/about/submissions.
Articles that do not conform to these editorial standards will not be accepted.
Unpublished works in Portuguese, English, and French will be accepted.
This issue (#52) of Cadernos de Literatura Comparada is organized by:
• Fátima Outeirinho (UPorto)
• José Domingues de Almeida (UPorto)
• Simão Valente (UPorto)
The call for papers is also available in French and Portuguese.