Dystopias of Reproductive Nightmares: The Ice People and The Children of Men

Year 2021, Volume: 6 Issue: 3, 645 - 657, 31.12.2021

Niğmet Çetiner

https://doi.org/10.29110/soylemdergi.1012406

Cited By: 1

Abstract

Maggie Gee’s The Ice People (1998) and Phyllis Dorothy James’s The Children of Men (1992) are two dystopian novels introducing societies afflicted with infertility because of scientific advancements that have spun out of control. In the novels, science gives way to countless innovations that provide help and comfort in daily life. However, it falls short of determining the exact reason and finding any solution for the problem of infertility. The root cause for this calamity is suggested to be the anthropogenic activities deteriorating nonhuman environments and causing reproductive health problems. Set in Britain in 2050, Gee’s The Ice People portrays a world at the onset of a new ice age. Picturing a world after the global warming during which fertility rates decline dramatically, the novel presents a new type of human, techfixes, the children born through artificial conception, owing to the developments in science and technology. P. D. James describes a world where people abruptly become infertile in1995, which she calls the Year Omega in the novel. Mass infertility which threatens the existence of the humankind results in cruelty against the remaining aging population inflicted by the tyrannical government that never faces resistance from people. In line with this, the aim of this study is to analyze The Ice People and The Children of Men as works of dystopian fiction describing the ramifications of the misuse of science and technology, and the anthropogenic imprint on the nonhuman environment, which comes out as reproductive inability in human beings.

Keywords

Maggie Gee, P. D. James, infertility, dystopia, nonhuman environments.

Üreme Kâbusu Distopyaları: The Ice People ve The Children of Men

Abstract

Maggie Gee’nin The Ice People (1998) and Phyllis Dorothy James’in The Children of Men (1992) adlı romanları kontrolden çıkan bilimsel gelişmeler sebebiyle kısırlık sorunuyla yüz yüze gelen toplumlardan bahseden distopik romanlardır. Romanlarda bilim günlük hayatta yardım ve rahatlık sağlayan sayısız yeniliğin yolunu açar; ancak kısırlık probleminin ne kesin sebebini belirleyebilir ne de bu soruna çözüm getirebilir. Bu sorunun temelinde yatan sebep insan olmayan çevreleri kirleten ve üreme sağlığı sorunlarına sebebiyet veren insan kökenli aktivitelerdir. Gee’nin 2050 İngiltere’sini konu edinen The Ice People adlı eseri yeni bir buz çağının şafağını tasvir eder. Küresel ısınmayla birlikte doğurganlık oranının çarpıcı bir biçimde düştüğü bir dünyayı resmeden roman, bilim ve teknolojideki ilerleme sayesinde yapay döllenme yoluyla doğan çocuklardann (romandaki adıyla “techfixes”) bahseder. P. D. James 1995 yılında, ki James bu yıla Yıl Omega (the Year Omega) adını verir, insanların aniden üreme yeteneklerinin sona erdiği bir dünyayı betimler. İnsan varlığını tehdit eden kitlesel kısırlık geride kalan yaşlanan nüfusa karşı zalimlikle sonuçlanır; çünkü bu insanlar baskıcı hükümete asla karşı çıkmazlar. Bu çalışmanın amacı The Ice People ve The Children of Men adlı romanları kendisini insanlarda üreme sorunları olarak gösteren bilim ve teknolojinin kötüye kullanılmasının ve insan olmayan çevredeki insan kökenli etkilerin sonuçlarını anlatan distopik eserler olarak ele almaktır.

Keywords

Maggie Gee, P. D. James, infertility, dystopya, insan olmayan çevreler.

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