Teaching Climate change : Reading the Symbiosis Between Mankind and Nature in Ballard’s The Drowned World

Abstract: The purpose of this essay is to examine J.G. Ballard’s The Drowned World to investigate how the relationship between humans and nature affects humanity, and whether humanity is indestructible. By performing an eco-critical reading of The Drowned World, the protagonist’s actions and choices on his journey are examined, as well as how they affect his partner, comrades and nature. In this process, the result was that a complete lack of conscious humanity is impossible as the basic human instincts linger. Furthermore, this essay provides didactical approaches to teaching this novel in an upper-secondary school classroom as well as insight into the many aspects of the novel, which are comparable to modern day society on terms of politics, globalism and environmentalism.