Between Paradise and Apocalypse: The Relationship between Man, Nature and Technology in Matthias Glaubrecht's «Das Ende der Evolution»

Abstract

This narrative media analysis of the popular German science non-fiction bestseller Das Ende der Evolution by Matthias Glaubrecht (2019) shows how such a medium can portray the conflict between humans and nature in the shape of a Future Narrative. Humans are displayed as «predators» that must withdraw from nature in order to preserve it, popularizing in this way the scientific concept of strong sustainability. Technology can only support humans that work as biologists, whilst other humans are depreciated, thus constructing the biologists’ knowledge as dominant. Nevertheless, the text itself discusses on a meta-textual level its constructive character, thus leading to a doubled paradox of postulating the inambiguity of facts despite of the existence of contesting alternatives.