New Maps of Hope: Common Motifs and Narrative Structures in Solarpunk Stories

Abstract

The article seeks to identify common motifs and narrative structures in the emerging genre of solarpunk. The research presented covers short stories from five anthologies: Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk and Eco-Speculation (2017), Solarpunk: Ecological and Fantastical Stories in a Sustainable World (2018), Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers (2018), Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Winters (2020), and Multispecies Cities: Solarpunk Urban Futures (2021). Based on the ideas and methods of formalism and structuralism developed by Vladimir Propp and Claude Lévi-Strauss, the analysis allows for a systematic description of the common elements of the stories. The purpose is to determine the properties of the emerging genre of solarpunk in terms of story types and relations between them, types of plots and their varieties, constellations of characters, and the recurring motifs. The analysis shows that a range of common elements can be identified across the stories in the anthologies. The most obvious is the ubiquity of solar imageries, spanning from descriptions of sunshine to the technicalities connected with solar panels. The issue of sustainability is also omnipresent, with frequent criticism of consumerism, and the strife for ecological solutions to the problems of waste management, recycling, durability of materials, and energy production is one of the main catalysts of the stories. The research established typologies of solarpunk plots and character types.