ABSTRACT
Engaging the idea of cosmos, this introduction develops a conceptual framework and reading strategy that aim to counter defeatism amidst a terrifying planetary crisis. Exploring contemporary Australian literature, I argue for the productiveness of a modern, transcultural and (dis)enchanted conception of cosmos—one that does not cast more-than-human agency as a pre-modern worldview, but as highly contemporary. The focus on ‘cosmos’ here goes beyond associations with the ‘environment’: instead of a passive nature to be exploited, ‘cosmos’ foregrounds ideas such as order, chaos, beauty, scale and justice. The chapter lays out the twofold purpose of cosmological readings. Firstly, it names a lens through which to read literature, illuminating specific ideas of entangled agency; co-evolutionary flourishing and ‘goodness’; holism and reciprocity; ethics and politics. Secondly, it designates a general function of storytelling in times of accelerating planetary crisis. This function is summarised by the proposed term ‘literary cosmology.’
