American fictions in/of the Anthropocene.

The notion of the anthropocene captures the influence of human activity on the worlds geological and ecological make-up, proposing that mans dramatic impact on the globes chemical composition and climate be recognized as a geochronological unit in its own right. This project contributes to the ongoing assessment in the fields of cultural and literary studies of the impact of this notion for our imagining and conceptualization of agency, humanity, and global connectedness. Starting from the observation that traditional literary genres, modes, and forms (the western, the realist novel, the tragic, the epic) have inaugurated, sustained, and codified specific conceptions of agency, responsibility, individuality, and community, the project analyzes how generic and formal innovations in contemporary American literature reflect and shape the imaginative reorganization of these social, ethical, and political categories in the face of the anthropocene and the challenges of cl imate change.

Keywords:Anthropocene, American literature, Contemporary literature

Disciplines:Language studies, Literary studies, Theory and methodology of language studies, Theory and methodology of linguistics, Theory and methodology of literary studies, Other languages and literary studies