The Anthropocene and the Undead: Cultural Anxieties in the Contemporary Popular Imagination

The book "The Anthropocene and the Undead" explores the relationship between the concept of the undead and the increasingly erratic environment, tracing real and imagined trajectories of humanity into undead and undying futures.

Format: Hardback
Length: 276 pages
Publication date: 15 March 2022
Publisher: Lexington Books

The Anthropocene and the Undead delves into the intricate connection between our perception of an increasingly unstable environment and the concept of the undead. It reveals that these two phenomena are intricately intertwined, far beyond the mere presence of a zombie horde heralding the end of the world. As presented herein, a significant aspect of our understanding of the Anthropocene revolves around undead entities from the past that refuse to die, undead traumas that resurface and consume the world, and undead temporalities that persist indefinitely. This book features fifteen original essays by renowned cultural and anthropological experts, including Kyle William Bishop, Nils Bubandt, Johan Höglund, and Steffen Hantke, among others. These essays explore the nature of humanity's ongoing and complex relationship with the environment through the lens of the undead. By examining this concept, The Anthropocene and the Undead provides invaluable insights into adjacent concepts such as the Capitalocene, Necrocene, Disanthropocene, Post-anthropocene, and the Symbiocene. These concepts serve as a framework for tracing the real and imagined trajectories of our more-than-human selves into undead and undying futures. Through this comprehensive exploration, the book sheds light on the profound implications of our interactions with the environment and offers a thought-provoking perspective on the potential outcomes of our actions in shaping the future of our planet.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781793625823