Cartography of Erratic Inhabitation in Doris Lessing’s Speculative Fiction

This article brings speculative cartography and spatial theory together to bear on the fragmented and degraded landscapes of Doris Lessing’s Mara and Dann, asking how survival is redefined in worlds where legal and institutional structures have collapsed. I propose the term “erratic inhabitation” as a critical framework to understand the unpredictable and chaotic modes of spatial adaptation that emerge when climate-induced displacement becomes inevitable. Drawing on Robert T. Tally’s literary cartography, the concept of erratic inhabitation, with its focus on materiality of space, offers a new definition of what it means to inhabit a collapsing world. This approach highlights the sensory, affective, and embodied dimensions of survival, capturing the disorienting experiences of nomadic characters navigating fragmented landscapes. Focusing on the siblings as ecological survivors, this article argues that Lessing’s speculative cartography challenges conventional understandings of survival, positing it not as a straightforward act of endurance but as a harsh negotiation with uncertain environments. The article concludes that erratic inhabitation offers a useful lens in understanding how speculative fiction responds to environmental crisis and the fragile conditions of human life.