Steve Waters’ın 'The Contingency Plan' Adlı Oyununda İnsan Kökenli İklim Değişikliğine Akuadistopik Bir Bakış

Year 2025, Volume: 42 Issue: 2

Kübra Vural Özbey

https://doi.org/10.32600/huefd.1581936

Abstract

Steve Waters’ın The Contingency Plan (2009) adlı eseri ikiye ayrılmış, On the Beach ve Resilience, bir çift iklim değişikliği oyunudur. İlk bölümde buzulbilimci Willim Paxton, İklim Değişikliği Bakanlığı için çalışan kız arkadaşı Sarika Chatterjee ile birlikte Antartika’dan Norfolk’taki ailesinin evine döner. Paxton’ın bilimsel gözlemleri, Batı Antartika’daki yüksek seviyedeki buzul erimesinin kıyılarda endişe verici ölçüde deniz seviyesinin yükselmesine sebep olacağını göstermektedir. Son araştırması, eski buzulbilimci olan babası Robin’in 1970lerde yaptığı araştırmasını onaylar, fakat babası keşfinin ardından istifa etmek zorunda kalmıştı. İlk oyun iklim krizi ve gelecek etkilerini William ile Robin arasındaki çatışmayla eviçi sahneleriyle tanıtırken, ikinci oyun iklim afetinin üstünden gelme yetersizliğini William ve Sarika’nın Whitehall’a, siyasi alana geçmesiyle inceler. William gelecek sellerde yaşam kaybını önlemek için acil adımların atılması konusunda politikacıları uyarmaya çalışmasına rağmen, politikacıların isteksizliği iklim değişikliği inkarını gözler önüne serer. Şüphesiz ki oyunlar buzul erimesi ve deniz seviyesi yükselmesine yol açan iklim değişikliğinin insan kaynaklı etkisini öne çıkartır. Dahası, insan kaynaklı eylemler iklim krizi anındaki durumları kötüleştirir. Waters çift oyununu büyük oranda hem baba hem oğulun hikayelerindeki iklim değişikliği krizi üzerinden bilim insanları ve siyasetçiler arasındaki çatışmaya dayandırır. Bu çalışma iklim değişikliği inkârı konularını tartışmayı ve yakın geleceğin karanlık görünüşünü, ailevi ve toplumsal ölçeklerde yansıtılan sorumluluk hissini irdelemeyi amaçlar. Çift oyunlarda, İngiltere’yi silip süpüren apokaliptik sele karşı savunmasızlığı anlamakta gerçeğin yanlış yansıtılması ve siyasetçilerin sorunu göz ardı etmesi önemli bir rol oynamaktadır. Özellikle siyasetçilerin cevapları apokaliptik sel anlatımında iklim değişikliği inkârı konusu üzerinde durur. İnsan ve insan olmayan yaşamlara karşı sorumsuzluk oyunun başından sonuna belirir. Denizin eylem gücü İngiltere’de pek çoğunun hayatını tehdit eder ve tehdit gerçekleştiğinde ülke apokaliptik selle yüzleştiğinde çift oyun insan kökenli iklim değişikliğinden akuadistopik bir bakışla bahseder. Bu çalışma, The Contingency Plan oyununda bu distopik bakışa götüren sebepleri Waters’ın iklim değişikliği inkârı ve sorumluluğu tasvirini dikkate alarak inceler.

Keywords

Steve Waters , The Contingency Plan , iklim değişikliği inkârı , insan kökenli iklim değişikliği , akuadistopya

An Aquadystopian Vision of Anthropogenic Climate Change in Steve Waters’s 'The Contingency Plan'

Abstract

Steve Waters’s The Contingency Plan (2009) is a pair of climate change plays divided into two: On the Beach and Resilience. In the first part, William Paxton, a glaciologist, returns from Antarctica to his family home in Norfolk, accompanied by his girlfriend Sarika Chatterjee, working for the Ministry for Climate Change. His scientific observations unpack that the high level of ice melting in West Antarctica will cause an alarming sea-level rise on the coasts. His recent investigation affirms his ex-glaciologist father Robin’s research back in the 1970s although the father had to resign after his discovery. While the first play introduces the climate crisis and its upcoming effects in the domestic scene through the conflict between William and Robin, the second play investigates the incapacity to cope with climate disaster as William and Sarika move to the political site, Whitehall. Although William tries to warn politicians to take immediate steps to prevent the loss of lives in the upcoming floods, the reluctance of politicians unveils climate change denial. Undoubtedly, the plays single out anthropogenic influence on climate change, leading to ice melting and sea-level rise. Moreover, human-made activities aggravate the conditions at the moment of environmental crisis. Waters largely rests the pair plays on the conflict between scientists and politicians over the climate change crisis in both father and son’s stories. This study aims to discuss the issues of climate change denial and to problematise the sense of responsibility on the domestic and public scales in the dark vision of the near future in The Contingency Plan. In the pair plays, the false representation of reality and the ignorance of politicians play a significant role in understanding the vulnerability to the apocalyptic flood sweeping through England. In particular, the responses of politicians dwell on the issue of climate change denial in the apocalyptic flood narration. The lack of responsibility for human and non-human lives looms from the beginning of the play to the end. The agency of the sea threatens the lives of many in England, and when the threat is realised and the nation faces the apocalyptic flood, the pair plays deal with an aquadystopian vision of anthropogenic climate change. This paper examines the conditions leading to this dystopian vision by considering Waters’s representation of climate change denial and responsibility in The Contingency Plan.

Keywords

Steve Waters , The Contingency Plan , climate change denial , anthropogenic climate change , aquadystopia

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