Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
9th International Conference on Narrative and Language Studies. , Trabzon, Türkiye, 3 - 05 Ekim 2023, ss.77-78
Post-millennial literature inevitably expresses mounng concerns about destrucve environmental acts,
apocalypc scenarios and fear against the backcloth of such major events as 9/11, invasion of Iraq and
Afghanistan, financial crisis, destrucve earthquakes, tsunamis and oil spills in many parts of the world,
climate change, Trumpism, immigrant issues, war and Covid-19 pandemic. In the same vein, discursive
polarizaon inimical to togetherness of any type surges to a considerable level and raises concerns about
safety, anxiety and risk percepon. In this Anthropocene epoch, Ian McEwan puts these issues at the
background of his novels. McEwan’s novel tled Nutshell published in 2016, which has been claimed to be
the most interesng Hamlet rewring so far, is narrated by a fetus, soon-to-be or not-to-be Hamlet and
McEwan puts the familiar context of Shakespearean tragedy to a different level. This unconvenonal
narrator hears his mother Trudy’s plans with her brother-in-law Claudio plong against his father John.
He is in distress and unable to act against his father’s murder plot; thus, he cannot decide whether he
should be born into this type of precarious life or not. The fetus is vulnerable not only because of the
potenal risk of having to stay in prison with his mother and/or being a fatherless child, but also, he might
suffer from some certain types of syndromes as his mother does not take care of his health during her
pregnancy by being involved in such risky acts like consuming a lot of alcohol and engaging in risky sex
during very late period of her pregnancy. As far as the fetus is concerned his father does not have any
plans to keep his son with him when he is born. Apart from these micro familial concerns the fetus is aware
of the global environmental risks like climate change and possible polical turmoil about the demands of
the countries related to sovereignty consisng of the United Kingdom. This paper aims to juxtapose post-
millennial problems at micro and macro level with regard to vulnerable groups deemed to be more liable
to risks and predicaments.
Keywords: Ian McEwan, post-millennial themes, risk theory, vulnerability of children, Hamlet