A New Realism for Perilous Times

Abstract: Betty Joseph's From Empire to Anthropocene and John Thieme's Anthropocene Realism are two recent books that tackle directly and indirectly whether the novel as a genre can represent climate change. Although different in execution, both books contest the claim that the novel is unsuited to perform its representative capabilities in the Anthropocene. Thieme maintains the genre's flexible limits, while Joseph examines the genre's openness to temporality and an expansive bundle of connections.