Higgins, D and Somervell, T (2021) Catastrophe. In: Parham, J, (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Literature and the Anthropocene. Cambridge Companions to Literature . Cambridge University Press , Cambridge , pp. 181-195. ISBN 9781108498531
Abstract
Romantic nature writing emerges at roughly the same time as the industrial innovations that will eventually lead to global carbon capitalism and therefore is for some scholars coeval with the birth of the Anthropocene. This chapter takes a genealogical approach to the Anthropocene by suggesting that there are significant continuities between Romantic literature and contemporary discourses on environmental catastrophe. Focusing on two case studies – William Cowper’s The Task and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, both of which responded to climate change caused by volcanic eruptions – this chapter shows how Romantic writers address what it means to be alive at a catastrophic turning point in planetary history. They are concerned with the power of the human imagination to shape its environments, yet also with our vulnerability to elemental forces that we may affect but that we cannot control.
Metadata
Item Type: | Book Section |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © Cambridge University Press 2021. This chapter has been published in a revised form in The Cambridge Companion to Literature and the Anthropocene https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108683111. This version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution or re-use. |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of English (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Arts & Humanities Research Council AHRC AH/N006526/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 17 Jul 2019 13:42 |
Last Modified: | 24 Jan 2024 16:56 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108683111 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
Series Name: | Cambridge Companions to Literature |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/9781108683111.012 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:148640 |