ABSTRACT
The Anthropocene, a proposed new geological epoch defined by human influence within the Earth system, has sparked widespread debates across the sciences, humanities, and public sphere. This chapter takes up the challenge of Anthropocene history through the lens of Victorian studies. Many of the geohistorical forces responsible for the Anthropocene—the shift to fossil fuels first and foremost among them—were also the prime movers of the Victorian age. Meanwhile, the central terms of the Anthropocene debate—indeed, the geological time scale itself—are of Victorian origin. Thus, while it is unprecedented by definition, the Anthropocene is also a recognizably Victorian concept. This chapter lays out a methodological toolkit for literary and cultural history in the Anthropocene, while also attempting to make sense of such uncanny incongruities.
