Extractive Fictions and Postextraction Futurisms

This essay operates at the intersection of the energy humanities and environmental justice studies to survey extractive fictions, a term I use to describe literature and other cultural forms that render visible the socioecological impacts of extractive capitalism and problematize extraction as a cultural practice. The essay first theorizes extraction and examines cultural representations of coal and gas fields in northern Appalachia, including Ann Pancake’s novel Strange as This Weather Has Been (2007) and Jennifer Haigh’s novel Heat and Light (2015). Each, by rendering visible instances of environmental degradation and economic decline associated with energy development, challenges the deep-seated role of extraction as a cornerstone of regional cultural identity and the mythos of fossil fuel development as a path to economic and social progress. In doing so, they lay bare the epistemological failures of extractive capitalism, a mode of accumulation based on the large-scale withdrawal and processing of natural resources. The final section of the essay turns to the AMD&ART Park in Vintondale, Pennsylvania, and artist-activist John Sabraw’s toxic-art initiative in southern Ohio, both of which address these failures through the articulation of postextraction futurism, a critical method that combines environmental science and historically situated aesthetics to remediate ecological and social injustices associated with extraction. Both projects emerge from collaborations among artists, academics, scientists, and local communities to reverse the impacts of extraction through innovative water reclamation techniques and art exhibits that memorialize the region’s coal heritage. These initiatives complement extractive fictions to envision an inclusive, livable Appalachia unencumbered by the dictates of extractive capitalism.