Thinning the Crowds: Lifestyle Monitoring and Man-made Apocalypse in F. H. Batacan’s “Keeping Time”

This paper aims to examine the main novum of Philippine author F. H. Batacan’s science fiction short story “Keeping Time” in the light of apocalypse and how, as a mirror to the real world, it showcases the use of lifestyle as a way of managing populations. The article uses Frank Kermode’s ideas of apocalypse, and Christopher Mayes’ idea of lifestyle as a biopolitical dispositif, a lens through which the story is discussed. While the story depicts an apocalyptic future, the reasons and concerns that lead up to it are already seen in current society, particularly when discussing a lifestyle/health issue like obesity. In the end, the story remains true to Darko Suvin’s stand, that a science fiction story comments on the context of the author, and thus, is a story about present times, rather than it being an escape from it.