The Weirdness of Hyperobjects

Global weirding, a phrase coined by Hunter Lovins and popularised by Thomas Friedman,
has garnered a modicum of prominence since its popularisation in the late 2000s. It was
coined as a replacement for global warming, with the abnormal effects of climate change
foregrounded. When conceiving the concept of the ‘hyperobject’, Timothy Morton uses
global warming specifically as one of his key examples. However, as the vernacular for
referring to climate change has been updated, it seems prudent to examine the hyperobject
again. When writing on the topic of hyperobjects, Morton does describe them as
being ‘weird’. This article will determine whether hyperobjects exhibit properties
similar to the weird and therefore determine how far hyperobjects can be considered truly
weird, in order to evaluate whether it is an apt description or not. The weird originates from
Weird Fiction, an early 20th century pulp genre. One of the most renowned authors of
weird fiction was H. P. Lovecraft, whose theories of the weird have influenced other
authors and academics, such as Mark Fisher, for decades. In recent years a new wave of the
weird, called the New Weird, has emerged and updated theories of the weird once again. This
article will use Lovecraft’s and Fisher’s theories and definitions of the weird as well as
examples from the weird canon, and compare them to the concept of the hyperobject,
evaluating how far the properties of the hyperobject can be considered weird.