Table Of ContentThe End of
the Anthropocene
Ecocritical Theory and Practice
Series Editor: Douglas A. Vakoch, METI
Advisory Board
Sinan Akilli, Cappadocia University, Turkey; Bruce Allen, Seisen University, Japan; Zélia
Bora, Federal University of Paraíba, Brazil; Izabel Brandão, Federal University of Alagoas,
Brazil; Byron Caminero-Santangelo, University of Kansas, USA; Chia-ju Chang, Brooklyn
College, The City College of New York, USA; H. Louise Davis, Miami University, USA;
Simão Farias Almeida, Federal University of Roraima, Brazil; George Handley, Brigham
Young University, USA; Steven Hartman, Mälardalen University, Sweden; Isabel Hoving,
Leiden University, The Netherlands; Idom Thomas Inyabri, University of Calabar, Nigeria;
Serenella Iovino, University of Turin, Italy; Daniela Kato, Kyoto Institute of Technology,
Japan; Petr Kopecký, University of Ostrava, Czech Republic; Julia Kuznetski, Tallinn Uni-
versity, Estonia; Bei Liu, Shandong Normal University, People’s Republic of China; Serpil
Oppermann, Cappadocia University, Turkey; John Ryan, University of New England, Aus-
tralia; Christian Schmitt-Kilb, University of Rostock, Germany; Joshua Schuster, Western
University, Canada; Heike Schwarz, University of Augsburg, Germany; Murali Sivaram-
akrishnan, Pondicherry University, India; Scott Slovic, University of Idaho, USA; Heather
Sullivan, Trinity University, USA; David Taylor, Stony Brook University, USA; J. Etienne
Terblanche, North-West University, South Africa; Cheng Xiangzhan, Shandong University,
China; Hubert Zapf, University of Augsburg, Germany
Ecocritical Theory and Practice highlights innovative scholarship at the interface of liter-
ary/cultural studies and the environment, seeking to foster an ongoing dialogue between
academics and environmental activists.
Recent Titles
The End of the Anthropocene: Ecocriticism, the Universal Ecosystem, and the
Astropocene by Michael J. Gormley
Trees in Literatures and the Arts: Humanarboreal Perspectives in the Anthropocene
edited by Carmelina Concilio and Daniela Fargione
Lupenga Mphande: Eco-critical Poet and Political Activist by Dike Okoro
Environmental Postcolonialism: A Literary Response edited by Shubhanku Kochar and
M. Anjum Khan
Reading Aridity in Western American Literature edited by Jada Ach and Gary Reger
Reading Cats and Dogs: Companion Animals in World Literature edited by Françoise
Besson, Zelia M. Bora, Marianne Marroum, and Scott Slovic
Turkish Ecocriticism: From Neolithic to Contemporary Timescapes edited by Sinan Akilli
and Serpil Oppermann
Avenging Nature: The Role of Nature in Modern and Contemporary Art and Literature
edited by Eduardo Valls Oyarzun, Rebeca Gualberto Valverde, Noelia Malla Garcia,
María Colom Jiménez, and Rebeca Cordero Sánchez
Migrant Ecologies: Zheng Xiaoqiong’s Women Migrant Workers by Zhou Xiaojing
Climate Consciousness and Environmental Activism in Composition: Writing to Save the
World edited by Joseph R. Lease
The End of
the Anthropocene
Ecocriticism, the Universal
Ecosystem, and the Astropocene
Michael J. Gormley
LEXINGTON BOOKS
Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
Published by Lexington Books
An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
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www .rowman .com
6 Tinworth Street, London SE11 5AL, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2021 by The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any
electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems,
without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote
passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Gormley, Michael J., 1986- author.
Title: The end of the anthropocene : ecocriticism, the universal ecosystem, and the
astropocene / Michael J. Gormley.
Description: Lanham : Lexington Books, [2021] | Series: Ecocritical theory and practice
| Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “In The End of the
Anthropocene, Michael J. Gormley examines late stage anthropocene literature and
the imagining of the astropocene. Focusing on science fiction literature, Gormley
frames a changing ecoethic for the end of the anthropocene”— Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021017907 (print) | LCCN 2021017908 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781498594059 (cloth) | ISBN 9781498594066 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Nature in literature. | Ecocriticism in literature. | Human ecology
in literature. | Human ecology and the humanities. | Science fiction—History and
criticism.
Classification: LCC PN48 .G56 2021 (print) | LCC PN48 (ebook) |
DDC 809/.9336—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn .loc .gov /2021017907
LC ebook record available at https://lccn .loc .gov /2021017908
∞ ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
For Jen and Maddie—
my darlin and my little darlin.
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
1 Ecocriticism and the Universal Ecosystem 1
2 Biotic World 37
3 A Body in the Universal Ecosystem 69
4 The Astropocene 99
5 Spatiotemporal Nature 131
Bibliography 173
Index 183
About the Author 193
vii
Acknowledgments
I see no finer place to start these acknowledgements than by thanking the
yearling squirrel in my backyard for being hilarious each morning when I am
looking out the door instead of at these pages. You bound around in some sort
of parkour and playfully harry your peers, sticks, and lawn furniture alike.
You are awesome.
I would also acknowledge the authors whose fiction I stitch together in
this book. Yes, I plucked what I needed, but I was certain to hold with the
underlying themes of the respective works, which are all fantastic. Bits that
I strategically leave out or gloss over are likely glaring to those who read
these stories, while hopefully remaining unbeknownst to those who have
not. Either way, what is here works toward what is not. If you have not yet
checked out the novels, prose, and whatever else I made use of, get after
them. They are unimpeachable. I would not write about something I do not
love and find deeply engaging. So, thanks to all the authors I take up in this
work. I am amazed to have found such interconnectivity between your writ-
ing. It must be truly human. I half-heartedly apologize to everyone for the
times I slipped into another writer’s syntax and cadence. I had fun at least.
Thanks Mom and Liss. You spent hours and miles freeing me up to conjure
so many words. And thanks Dad. I remember you telling me that I could do
whatever I want in this world. I believed you. Now, here this is. Ruth and
Bob, thank you so much for your help and interest. So many of these words
were written because you gave your time. Thanks to everyone else, too. This
book exists because of family.
Gregory W. Sargent, thanks brother. You have been the most critical help
I had in the execution of this book. You were the second person I told about
every stage, after only Jen. You helped me conjure the structure of this thing
just days after I was invited to propose it, and you were the first person to read
ix
