73. Archetypes - Cataclysms and Survival Stories

This week, Kelly and JJ are still chatting about Archetypes with a discussion of Cataclysm and Survival Stories. These narratives highlight humankind's innate resourcefulness and desire to survive. We're the cockroaches of the universe!

Cataclysms and Survival Stories

• At their heart, these types of stories--post-apocalyptic or natural disaster or other survival narratives--are about human resilience. They highlight humankind's innate resourcefulness and desire to survive. We're the cockroaches of the universe!

• Stories about survival are great showcases for the type of process porn that JJ and Kelly both really love. The details of how humans shore up their own chances of survival is just fascinating on its face.

• There are always exceptions, of course, but generally survival stories tend to focus on a sole protagonist, or a small group of characters. Whereas post-apocalyptic stories are more likely to feature an ensemble.

• Natural disaster stories typically climax with the disaster itself and then merely surviving the event is the happy ending. Cataclysmic stories are more about enduring in harsh conditions, or sometimes journeying to an oasis or safe haven.

• These stories are also sometimes pretty bleak, because they are often about the end of civilization as we know it. But cataclysm stories exist across many different cultures, myths, religions, and regions. And in that way they can also be hopeful and uplifting, because again, even if civilization as we know it ends there is always the chance to rebuild.

What We're Working On

• Kelly is doing tons of client work gearing up to go out on submission with a few exciting projects, and is also starting to prep for the query workshop she's teaching at the Loft Literary Center this fall!

• JJ is revising her face off, and enjoying her new camera as she takes up photography again.

Books Discussed/What We're Reading

• Under the Never Sky

• Legend

• The Martian

• The Maze Runner

• Hatchet

• My Side of the Mountain

• Robinson Crusoe

• Parable of the Sower

• Station Eleven

• World War Z

• Warm Bodies

• The Road

Off Menu Recommendations

• The Oregon Trail

• The Day After Tomorrow

• Shaun of the Dead

• Man Vs. Wild

• Waterworld

• Mad Max

• The Land Before Time

• The Walking Dead

• The Last of Us

• The Truman Show

• Nerdette Recaps Game of Thrones with Peter Sagal

• Black Nerd Problems

• Orphan Black

• Battlestar Galactica

That’s all for this week! Next week we're finishing our Summer of Archetypes with Coming of Age stories! As always if you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below, send us an ask on Tumblr, or tweet using the hashtag #askpubcrawl!