The Horror of the Anthropocene

Dillon, SJ

View / Open Files

Published version (PDF, 1Mb)

Authors

Dillon, SJ

Publication Date

2018

Journal Title

C21 Literature: Journal of 21st-Century Writing

ISSN

2045-5224

Publisher

Open Library of Humanities

Volume

Issue

Number

Type

Article

This Version

VoR

Metadata

Show full item record

Citation

Dillon, S. (2018). The Horror of the Anthropocene. C21 Literature: Journal of 21st-Century Writing, 6 (1. 2) https://doi.org/10.16995/c21.38

Abstract

In this essay I explore the profound and specific fastening of horror to the Anthropocene by considering both scientific and philosophical responses to our contemporary moment. I then take Cormac McCarthy’s The Road as a case study of the Anthropocene horror story, analysed in relation to the four stages of horror as defined by John Clute. This close reading of the The Road reveals a problem with the horror of the Anthropocene: just like the road down which the man and boy travel, it takes us nowhere. I end with a critical engagement with Donna Haraway’s coinage of an alternative descriptor – the Chthulucene – arguing that it remains haunted by horror. I conclude that the challenge remains to think the affect of the horror of the Anthropocene whilst conceiving of stories that will move us beyond it.

Keywords

American literature, 1900-1999, McCarthy, Cormac(1933- ), 0000 0001 2125 9060, novel, <i>The Road</i>(2006), postapocalyptic world, horror, Anthropocene epoch, Clute, John(1940- ), Haraway, Donna J.(1944- )

Identifiers

External DOI: https://doi.org/10.16995/c21.38

This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/286604

Rights

Attribution 4.0 International

Licence URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Statistics

Total file downloads (since January 2020). For more information on metrics see the IRUS guide.

Except where otherwise noted, this item's licence is described as Attribution 4.0 International