According to a Pew Research survey from 2022, 40% of US adults believe humanity is ‘living in end times’, although it would not be difficult to believe that the present number is significantly higher. These views are informed by current events, but also substantially informed by representations of the apocalypse in popular culture. This paper will concentrate on how apocalyptic fiction allows us to confront hard questions about personhood, race/othering, and human rights.
I look at three post/apocalyptic works: Octavia Butler’s Clay’s Ark, C. Robert Cargill’s Sea of Rust, and Ursula LeGuin’s Always Coming Home. Through these examples, I highlight some of the ways we can critically read popular fiction texts as spiritually and socially relevant to how we imagine humanity will exist in the future, as well as point to the challenges we must navigate in our present apocalyptic era.