TY - JOUR

T1 - The Anthropocene monument

T2 - on relating geological and human time

AU - Szerszynski, Bronislaw

N1 - The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, European Journal of Social Theory, 20 (1), 2017, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2017 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the European Journal of Social Theory page: http://journals.sagepub.com/est on SAGE Journals Online: http://journals.sagepub.com/

PY - 2017/2/1

Y1 - 2017/2/1

N2 - In the Parthenon frieze, the time of mortals and the time of gods seem to merge. Dipesh Chakrabarty has argued that with the advent of the Anthropocene the times of human history and of the Earth are similarly coming together. Are humans entering the ‘monumental time’ of the Earth, to stand alongside the Olympian gods of the other geological forces? In this paper I first look at the cultural shifts leading to the modern idea of separate human and Earth histories. I examine the changing use of monuments to mediate between human and other temporalities. I explore the use of ‘stratigraphic sections’ as natural monuments to mark transitions between the major time units of Earth history, and the erection of intentional monuments nearby. I suggest that the Anthropocene, as a geological epoch-in-the-making, may challenge the whole system of monumental semiotics used to stabilise our way of thinking about deep time.

AB - In the Parthenon frieze, the time of mortals and the time of gods seem to merge. Dipesh Chakrabarty has argued that with the advent of the Anthropocene the times of human history and of the Earth are similarly coming together. Are humans entering the ‘monumental time’ of the Earth, to stand alongside the Olympian gods of the other geological forces? In this paper I first look at the cultural shifts leading to the modern idea of separate human and Earth histories. I examine the changing use of monuments to mediate between human and other temporalities. I explore the use of ‘stratigraphic sections’ as natural monuments to mark transitions between the major time units of Earth history, and the erection of intentional monuments nearby. I suggest that the Anthropocene, as a geological epoch-in-the-making, may challenge the whole system of monumental semiotics used to stabilise our way of thinking about deep time.

KW - Anthropocene

KW - geology

KW - stratigraphy

KW - monuments

KW - time

KW - cultural memory

U2 - 10.1177/1368431016666087

DO - 10.1177/1368431016666087

M3 - Journal article

VL - 20

SP - 111

EP - 131

JO - European Journal of Social Theory

JF - European Journal of Social Theory

SN - 1368-4310

IS - 1

ER -