Intertwining Plague and Memory: Post-Apocalyptic Genre and Possible World Narrative in Peng Shepherd’s The Book of M

Abstract

Abstract This article engages with the relationship between plague and postapocalyptic genre in Peng Shepherd’s The Book of M (2018) in the conceptual system of possible worlds semantics. It argues that Shepherd’s novel frames postapocalypse not as a work of pessimism but as a social and historical context to explore the logical possibilities of the plague named Forgetting in unrevealed catastrophes and to project such themes as love, hope and unquenchable search for answers that never come. This article first examines Ory and Max’s loss of memory before proceeding to explore the mechanisms of logical possibilities and metaphorical use of Forgetting in the story. Following Marie Laure Ryan’s key concepts “accesibility relationships”, “fantasy universe”, and “private worlds” in the possible worlds narrative theory, this study then concludes that The Book of M offers readers an opportunity to observe the fictional Forgetting’s truth and status through metaphors and thus enables them to recognize the potential of plague in reality.