A timely rethinking of the archetypal story of Noah, the great flood, and who was left behind as the waters rose

Most people know the story of Noah from a children’s bible or a play set with a colorful ship, bearded Noah, pairs of animals, and an uncomplicated vision of survival. Noah’s ark, however, will forever be haunted by what it leaves to the rising waters so that the world can begin again.

In Noah’s Arkive, Jeffrey J. Cohen and Julian Yates examine the long history of imagining endurance against climate catastrophe—as well as alternative ways of creating refuge. They trace how the elements of the flood narrative were elaborated in medieval and early modern art, text, and music, and now shape writing and thinking during the current age of anthropogenic climate change. Arguing that the biblical ark may well be the worst possible exemplar of human behavior, the chapters draw on a range of sources, from the Epic of Gilgamesh and Ovid’s tale of Deucalion and Pyrrah, to speculative fiction, climate fiction, and stories and art dwelling with environmental catastrophe. Noah’s Arkive uncovers the startling afterlife of the Genesis narrative written from the perspective of Noah’s wife and family, the animals on the ark, and those excluded and so left behind to die. This book of recovered stories speaks eloquently to the ethical and political burdens of living through the Anthropocene.

Following a climate change narrative across the millennia, Noah’s Arkive surveys the long history of dwelling with the consequences of choosing only a few to survive in order to start the world over. It is an intriguing meditation on how the story of the ark can frame how we think about environmental catastrophe and refuge, conservation and exclusion, offering hope for a better future by heeding what we know from the past.

Jeffrey J. Cohen is Dean of Humanities at Arizona State University. He is author or editor of several books including Stone: An Ecology of the Inhuman (winner of the René Wellek Prize of the ACLA) as well as Veer Ecology: A Companion for Environmental Thinking and Elemental Ecocriticism: Thinking with Earth, Air, Water, and Fire, all from Minnesota.

Julian Yates is H. Fletcher Brown Professor of English and Material Culture Studies at the University of Delaware. He is author or editor of several books, including Error, Misuse, Failure: Object Lessons from the English Renaissance (finalist for the MLA Best First Book Prize) and Of Sheep, Oranges, and Yeast: A Multispecies Impression (winner of the Michelle Kendrick Memorial Book Prize of the SLSA), both from Minnesota.

"Noah’s Arkive is an indispensable book—one that takes on a central charismatic narrative equipped to address the shuddering socio-ecological transition within which we (a vastly differentiated “we”) find ourselves. Magisterial yet wisely irreverent, it touches upon urgent challenges, including ecofascism, decolonialization, and racial justice, while also delivering a learned, meticulously researched exhibit of historical ark narratives."—Stephanie LeMenager, University of Oregon

"Aboard Noah’s Arkive you’ll experience the Flood from the perspectives of its human and animal passengers and the multitude of creatures drowning shipside, accompanied by the sanctimonious dove and the raucous raven. This beautiful, deep, funny, ardent, rageful book will float the boat of anyone interested in ecocriticism, material culture, science studies, and design."—Julia Reinhard Lupton, University of California, Irvine