Frontiers of a Shrinking World: Recent American Climate Fiction

Under the pressure of climate change and other global environmental crises, a new disciplinary coalition between historians, literary critics, social theorists, and artists has emerged in the twenty-first century under the banner of “environmental humanities. “This essay explores the disciplinary changes involved in this discursive and institutional shift, highlighting the elements of older environmentalism that have faded or been significantly changed by the newer paradigm and tracing the novel research lines emerging from climate studies. The possible generative conflicts within environmental humanities are reviewed.