Nature off-kilter: storytelling and eco-relations in weird fiction (1890-1920)

Abstract

This thesis investigates how late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century weird fiction by Algernon Blackwood (1861–1951), Arthur Machen (1863–1947), and William Hope Hodgson (1877–1918) employs narrative strategies to engage with environmental concerns. While the ecological imagination of weird fiction has recently garnered academic interest, this thesis uniquely prioritises form to argue that the weird’s structural dynamics speculatively reframe anthropocentric assumptions by reimagining environmental belonging and affirming the nonhuman’s ontological depth. Across four chapters, analyses of selected texts integrate insights from ecocriticism, cognitive narratology, and contemporary theories of the nonhuman to explore how the weird’s structural and affective dimensions, such as spatiotemporality, narrative voice, embedding, and atmosphere, query and challenge anthropocentric frameworks. Situating weird fiction amid the fin de siècle’s epistemic transformations, this thesis argues that its narrative forms reflect a nascent ecological awareness and offer transformative models for understanding the nonhuman today. This concentrated examination links weird fiction to contemporary challenges to demonstrate how their imaginative potential can inspire alternative approaches to and conceptions of human-nonhuman relations today.

Thesis embargoed until 30 June 2027

Date of Award	Jun 2025
Original language	English
Sponsors	Vice Chanchellor's Research Scholarship
Supervisor	Jan Jedrzejewski (Supervisor), Kevin De Ornellas (Supervisor) & Katherine Byrne (Supervisor)