Anthropocene Reading: Literary History in Geologic Times (AnthropoScene: The SLSA Book Series)

Few terms have garnered more attention recently in the sciences, humanities, and public sphere than the Anthropocene, the proposed epoch in which a human “signature” appears in the lithostratigraphic record. Anthropocene Reading considers the implications of this concept for literary history and critical method. Entering into conversation with geologists and geographers, this volume reinterprets the cultural past in relation to the anthropogenic transformation of the Earth system while showcasing how literary analysis may help us conceptualize this geohistorical event. The contributors examine how a range of literary texts, from The Tempest to contemporary dystopian novels to the poetry of Emily Dickinson, mediate the convergence of the social institutions, energy regimes, and planetary systems that support the reproduction of life. They explore the long-standing dialogue between imaginative literature and the earth sciences and show how scientists, novelists, and poets represent intersections of geological and human timescales, the deep past and a posthuman future, political exigency and the carbon cycle. Accessibly written and representing a range of methodological perspectives, the essays in this volume consider what it means to read literary history in the Anthropocene. Contributors include Juliana Chow, Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, Thomas H. Ford, Anne-Lise François, Noah Heringman, Matt Hooley, Stephanie LeMenager, Dana Luciano, Steve Mentz, Benjamin Morgan, Justin Neuman, Jennifer Wenzel, and Derek Woods. Considers The Implications Of The Anthropocene, The Proposed Geological Epoch In Which A Human Signature Appears In The Lithostratigraphic Record, For Literary History And Critical Method. Explores The Status Of Reading In The History Of Geology, And Of Geohistory In Literature--provided By Publisher. Introduction / Tobias Menely And Jesse Oak Taylor -- Anarky / Jeffrey Jerome Cohen -- Enter Anthropocene, Circa 1610 / Steve Mentz -- The Anthropocene Reads Buffon, Or, Reading Like Geology / Noah Heringman -- Punctuating History Circa 1800 : The Air Of Jane Eyre / Thomas H. Ford -- Romancing The Trace : Edward Hitchcock's Speculative Ichnology / Dana Luciano -- Partial Readings : Thoreau's Studies As Natural History's Casualties / Juliana Chow -- Scale As Form : Thomas Hardy's Rocks And Stars / Benjamin Morgan -- Anthropocene Interruptions : Energy Recognition Scenes And The Global Cooling Myth / Justin Neuman -- Stratigraphy And Empire : Waiting For The Barbarians, Reading Under Duress / Jennifer Wenzel -- Reading Vulnerably : Indigeneity And The Scale Of Harm / Matt Hooley -- Accelerated Reading : Fossil Fuels, Infowhelm, And Archival Life / Derek Woods -- Climate Change And The Struggle For Genre / Stephanie Lemenager -- Ungiving Time : Reading Lyric By The Light Of The Anthropocene / Anne-lise François. Edited By Tobias Menely And Jesse Oak Taylor. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.