The Anthropocene, Technology and Fictional Literature

In the Geosciences, the new concept of the Anthropocene has been well established. Today, in the Humanities, it is increasingly also accepted as centrally relevant because it allows us to describe our present world in a more accurate fashion. The critical question of this study is what opportunities...

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Main Author: Reinhold Münster
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-07-01
Series:Humanities
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/9/3/56
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author Reinhold Münster
author_facet Reinhold Münster
author_sort Reinhold Münster
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description In the Geosciences, the new concept of the Anthropocene has been well established. Today, in the Humanities, it is increasingly also accepted as centrally relevant because it allows us to describe our present world in a more accurate fashion. The critical question of this study is what opportunities result from literature and literary studies in order to increase our understanding of the Anthropocene. This essay argues in favor of promoting the study of literature and of the Humanities in the search for necessary impulses that might free us from unilateral-instrumental concepts employed by the Natural Sciences as the only academic field that might be able to solve problems using exclusively technological strategies. We live in the Anthropocene now and must engage with it critically by drawing from both the Natural Sciences and the Humanities if we want to hope for a livable future here on earth.
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spelling doaj.art-a6d41cd5950f447e9e861d6ef62bea2a2023-11-20T05:40:50ZengMDPI AGHumanities2076-07872020-07-01935610.3390/h9030056The Anthropocene, Technology and Fictional LiteratureReinhold Münster0Fakultät Angewandte Natur- und Geisteswissenschaften, Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Würzburg-Schweinfurt, 97421 Schweinfurt, GermanyIn the Geosciences, the new concept of the Anthropocene has been well established. Today, in the Humanities, it is increasingly also accepted as centrally relevant because it allows us to describe our present world in a more accurate fashion. The critical question of this study is what opportunities result from literature and literary studies in order to increase our understanding of the Anthropocene. This essay argues in favor of promoting the study of literature and of the Humanities in the search for necessary impulses that might free us from unilateral-instrumental concepts employed by the Natural Sciences as the only academic field that might be able to solve problems using exclusively technological strategies. We live in the Anthropocene now and must engage with it critically by drawing from both the Natural Sciences and the Humanities if we want to hope for a livable future here on earth.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/9/3/56Anthropocenetranshumanismnature writingphysical reductionism
spellingShingle Reinhold Münster
The Anthropocene, Technology and Fictional Literature
Humanities
Anthropocene
transhumanism
nature writing
physical reductionism
title The Anthropocene, Technology and Fictional Literature
title_full The Anthropocene, Technology and Fictional Literature
title_fullStr The Anthropocene, Technology and Fictional Literature
title_full_unstemmed The Anthropocene, Technology and Fictional Literature
title_short The Anthropocene, Technology and Fictional Literature
title_sort anthropocene technology and fictional literature
topic Anthropocene
transhumanism
nature writing
physical reductionism
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/9/3/56
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