Home > Research > Publications & Outputs > Digressions in Deep Time
View graph of relations

Digressions in Deep Time: Ecocritical Approaches to Literature and the Arts

Research output: Book/Report/ProceedingsBook

Forthcoming
Publication date30/06/2024
PublisherRowman & Littlefield
Number of pages324
ISBN (electronic)9781666948424
ISBN (print)9781666948417
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Publication series

NameEcocritical Theory and Practice
PublisherRowman and Littlefield

Abstract

“Deep time” is a term which attempts to capture temporal scales far beyond human comprehension. These are stretches of time epitomised by geological and cosmic scale processes, vast enough to make the entirety of human existence appear as little more than a footnote. The past few years have seen a boom in texts dedicated to the study of deep time, extending across a broad range of disciplines which fall markedly outside of its geological roots. These studies are unified by two ideas in particular: that deep time thinking and ecocriticism should be considered in conjunction, and that literature and the arts play a vital role in fostering a deep time awareness. Digressions in Deep Time is the first collection of essays which considers the multifarious representations of deep time across literature and the arts, assembling the work of a wide range of prominent scholars whose research frequently engages with temporality and ecocriticism. Featured contributions include work by the Pulitzer-prize winning author John McPhee, who popularised the term deep time in the late seventies, as well as chapters by Richard Irvine (author of An Anthropology of Deep Time), Benjamin Morgan (author of The Outward Mind) and Andrew Tate (author of Apocalyptic Fiction).