AMERICAN ROT

Norris, Steven (2022) AMERICAN ROT. Masters thesis, Northern Arizona University.

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Abstract

AMERICAN ROT is a novel examining a near future in which the United States of America has dissolved into disparate nations. These new countries struggle to survive without their former networks while extremist beliefs thrive in this new ecosystem. From the perspective of Kansas and surrounding states, these places also deal with the fallout of soil overuse and toxic chemicals that have leaked into the dirt and aquifer. The story largely follows a mycologist who discovers a fungus that has the capability to restore the soil and remove the toxins from the aquifer, but with devastating side effects. The mycologist embarks on a journey to investigate the fungus in the hopes of saving an already diminished society from what could be the final blow, all while outrunning the new militants that have taken hold of the land. This novel examines the familiar political rifts in American society, the ways the degradation of soil mirrors the degradation of the American spirit, and how the magical kingdom of fungus uses death to create new life. This novel is structured in the classic framework of a Road Story, a genre that depicts a character passing through new places—places largely unknown to them—as they come to understand cultures and identities they had previously ignored. As such, this is story is meant to be a political awakening for the main character, as he moves from anhedonia-inspired apathy to an awareness of and engagement with the world around him. American Rot was written over the course of the MFA and was inspired by lessons in Foucault’s concept of Biopolitics, the effects of capitalism and settler colonialism on the environment, and the magic of fungi.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Publisher’s Statement:	© Copyright is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the Cline Library, Northern Arizona University. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.
Keywords:	Novels; Futuristic; Mycology; Political extremism; Water pollution; Soil pollution;
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PS American literature
NAU Depositing Author Academic Status:	Student
Department/Unit:	Graduate College > Theses and Dissertations College of Arts and Letters > English
Date Deposited:	26 May 2023 16:51
Last Modified:	25 May 2024 08:30
URI:	https://openknowledge.nau.edu/id/eprint/5913

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