Readings in the Anthropocene: The Environmental Humanities, German Studies, and Beyond

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Readings in the Anthropocene brings together scholars from German Studies and beyond to interpret the German tradition of the last two hundred years from a perspective that is mindful of the challenge posed by the concept of the Anthropocene. This new age of man, unofficially pronounced in 2000, holds that humans are becoming a geological force in shaping the Earths future. Among the biggest challenges facing our future are climate change, accelerated species loss, and a radical transformation of land use. What are the historical, philosophical, cultural, literary, and artistic responses to this new concept The essays in this volume bring German culture to bear on what it means to live in the Anthropocene from a historical, ethical, and aesthetic perspective.

Reviews

The thirteen interdisciplinary essays assembled in this volume demonstrate that transatlantic German Studies scholars are at the forefront of cultural studies research on the Anthropocene The contributors offer innovative examinations of German-language literature, film, photography, philosophy, illustrated periodicals, critical theory, and locations. The re-interpretation of canonical nineteenth-century literature makes this volume shine. I highly recommend Wilke and Johnstones Readings in the Anthropocene. The volume is essential reading for specialists and broader audiences conducting cultural studies research and living ethically in the Anthropocene. * Pacific Coast Philology *
Readings in the Anthropocene provides a timely collection of transdisciplinary essays on literary, historical and philosophical texts, films, artworks and caricatures in German studies within the broader fields of ecocriticism and environmental humanities from the eighteenth century until today. Scrutinizing the concept of the Anthropocene, the volume analyses the manifold interactions between the human and non-human world and encourages new thinking toward a sustainable future. * Gabriele Drbeck, Professor of German and Culture Studies, University of Vechta, Germany *
What do Kant, Hegel, Romantic poets and Naturphilosophen, as well as contemporary German writers and artists have to say about the Anthropocene The answer to this question is at the core of this rich collection, superbly assembled by Sabine Wilke and Japhet Johnstone. Insightful, deeply researched, and elegantly written, the essays of Readings in the Anthropocene not only remind us that many of the concepts we useecology, the Faustian delusions of anthropocentrismfind their roots in the German imagination, but also show how intensely that imagination continues to enrich the whole discourse of the environmental humanities. * Serenella Iovino, Professor of Comparative Literature, University of Turin, Italy, and editor of Material Ecocriticism and Environmental Humanities: Voices from the Anthropocene *
This excellent volume is distinguished by its cross-disciplinary reach, historical depth, and the considered attention that it brings to the conceptual and poetological, material and moral challenges of living in the Anthropocene. For the seasoned Germanist, there are plenty of welcome surprises here, for instance concerning Kants eco-cosmopolitanism, the comic questioning of techno-optimism in fin-sicle satirical magazines, or the dark ecology of many recent German literary and visual narratives. Yet in addition to advancing environmental approaches within German Studies, Readings in the Anthropocene will contribute substantially to the internationalisation of the environmental humanities, providing ample evidence of the signal importance of German-language thought, literature, film and cultural history to this burgeoning transdisciplinary field. * Kate Rigby, Professor of Environmental Humanities, Bath Spa University, UK, and Adjunct Professor of Literary Studies, Monash University, Australia *

Author Bio

Sabine Wilke is Professor of German at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA, where she is also associated with European Studies and the Program in Critical Theory. Her research and teaching interests include modern German literature and culture, intellectual history and theory, and cultural studies. She is the author of German Culture and the Modern Environmental Imagination (2015) and editor of From Kafka to Sebald: Modernism and Narrative Form (Bloomsbury, 2012). Japhet Johnstone is project manager and translator at the University of Erlangen-Nrnberg, Germany. He is co-editor of Crimes of Passion: Representations of Sexual Pathology in the Early Twentieth Century (2015).