Reading Very Well for Our Age: Hyperobject Metadata and Global Warming in Emily St John Mandel's Station Eleven
This peer reviewed essay
was originally published in the Open Library of Humanities. It is 42
pages long, much of the first 22 pages is spent arguing the definition and
value of "metadata" and "hyper-objects" in objective reading.
If you can make it through this painfully long argument, the paper does offer
some real insights.
One of the main insights I
really liked was the idea of symbolism from three points of view. The reader,
the characters born after the plague and before the plague. All of whom, see
the same item from a different point of view. It takes on different symbolism
for each party. For example, as a reader we see a computer as a necessary tool
many of us cannot live without, the characters born before the flu, it is a
reminder of the past, and for those born after the flu it is a strange concept
that will probably never be fully understood.
Another helpful point in this
essay is the contrast of beauty and utility seen throughout the novel.
Throughout the novel this theme keeps returning. For example, Kirsten carries
the paperweight which is of complete uselessness, but it is an object of
beauty. The symphony has made their wagons out of stripped out pick-up trucks,
an example of utility.
This essay did have a few
points I disagreed with. The main one being that the novel is actually meant to
promote global warming theories. While there are some references to a change in
the weather, I don't believe the author was trying to push her views on global warming
on all of her readers. The other point I didn't agree with, is again, we are
asked to believe that the novel was a critique on post-colonialism, and the
author is trying to push her political views on the reader. While these issues
may be on the writer’s mind, I doubt very much, she was using this work as a
means to push her ideologies. A critique on the current state of the world is
not a writer hell bent on converting one’s readers, but simply asking them to
question their views.
Update-In the U of O interview I posted, Emily St. John Mandel does comment on the fact that she specifically tried to avoid letting this story in any way be political. She stats that she chose the flu pandemic because the moment you write about nuclear war it becomes a political book.
Update-In the U of O interview I posted, Emily St. John Mandel does comment on the fact that she specifically tried to avoid letting this story in any way be political. She stats that she chose the flu pandemic because the moment you write about nuclear war it becomes a political book.
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