Anthropocene Affordances: Scale, Narrative Form, and the Human in US-American Literature

The current historical moment, often referred to as the Anthropocene, is defined by profound human influence on the planetary system. Lena Pfeifer examines how contemporary US-American literature negotiates the scalar and formal challenges posed by the Anthropocene. Connecting new formalist approaches with scale critique, she develops the concept of "Anthropocene affordances" as a new methodological framework for analyzing narrative responses to the recent ecological crisis. Through theoretical discussion and close readings, the study discusses how contemporary writers reconfigure conventional forms and narrative strategies to critically discuss the role of the human as a geological force.