GM Foods, Power, and Globalization in Oryx and Crake

Food is taking on a new character in the twenty-first century; it has transformed into a rich site that brings together discussions about race, species, subjectivities, environment, and so on. In the era of the Anthropocene, when human activities have exerted a decisive and unprecedented impact on the earth, the role that food plays deserves closer examination. This article examines genetically modified (GM) food in Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake through close reading and looks at how GM food transforms into a global actant that influences nature and culture on a global scale. Investigating the transformation of GM food in the novel, this article argues that GM food raises important questions on issues about power, race, gender, and nation, and becomes a crucial semiotics of environmental ethics in the Anthropocene time.