The human impact on the environment has become so massive that a decade ago a new term was introduced: the Anthropocene. Although still a contested concept, the Anthropocene is seen as a new era in Earth History, which confronts us with profound challenges in our relationship with the rest of the living world as we know it and radically altered environments of our own making. Global warming, droughts, floods, migration, mass extinctions, and wars are some of these challenges.
This course aims to explore the representations and observations regarding these phenomena in North American and English fiction as well as film (see reading list below). We will pay particular attention to the modes of literary and visual expression, be they (post)apocalyptic, didactic, or dystopian; or be they stories that make use of comedy/parody. Furthermore, we will investigate what these texts suggest as to survival and coping strategies as well as alternative future visions in the midst of the far-reaching anthropogenic changes.

For the course, please purchase and read: Maggie Gee, The Flood (2004); Karen Tei Yamashita, Through the Arc of the Rainforest (2009); Barbara Kingsolver, Flight Behavior (2012); we will also discuss the climate sci-fi movie The Day After Tomorrow (2004).