• The Sword of Laban, Deleuze, and Climate Change: Slouching Toward Apocalypse in the Book of Mormon

    Author(s):
    Steven Peck (see profile)
    Date:
    2021
    Subject(s):
    Deleuze, Gilles, 1925-1995, Earth sciences, Ecology, Postcolonialism
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    Book of Mormon, climate change, Liteary Studies, Reliigion, Deleuze
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/6eh5-7e52
    Abstract:
    Climate change is considered a wicked problem. Meaning it has fuzzy boundaries, is defined by entangled multiplicities, is non-linear, unique, poorly understood, multivalent, and is not amenable to single or simple solutions (Morton, 2013). Wicked problems generate controversy because humans cannot grasp their temporal pace, dimensions, structure, nor how to influence their trajectories. French philosopher Gilles Deleuze offers terminology and concepts that may be useful in grasping, recognizing, and even taming wicked problems. Using techniques from Deleuzian literary analyses (see (Gilles Deleuze, 1986)), I will examine how the Book of Mormon serves as an apocalyptic text, depicting unaddressed wicked problems culminating in the collapse of societies, ecologies, and stabilizing structures of cultural maintenance. I will argue that the roots of climate change (e.g., poverty, income inequality, greed manifest as unrestrained consumption and war, and ecological inattention) are addressed in the Book of Mormon, arguing further that these roots are growing within wicked problems as described in that text. Note: This paper is a work of non-fiction, fiction, postcolonial studies, the exploitation of brown bodies, minerology, literary analysis, magical realism, philosophy, and science. In short is Deleuzian in both subject matter and in its construction.
    Metadata:
    xml
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    2 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved
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