ABSTRACT
The Anthropocene—the proposed name for the current geological epoch—raises significant challenges for narrative. On the one hand, the “era of the human” presents a protonarrative structure in which humanity becomes the protagonist of geological history, triggering devastating consequences that are, in themselves, highly tellable. In other respects, however, the human–nonhuman tangle that underlies the Anthropocene and attendant phenomena (particularly climate change) resists narrative meaning-making. This chapter examines both sides of this complex relationship, arguing that an adequate narrativization of the Anthropocene requires formal experimentation and keen awareness of the limitations of storytelling.
