Econarratology, the novel, and Anthropocene imagination

Abstract

Can fiction provide forms of expression that offer an alternative to the discourse of science regarding the Anthropocene? This question is interesting to examine, as the widely accepted science of the Anthropocene seems to have a limited effect on the various public audiences they attempt to reach. Methodologically: I use econarratology to investigate how literature can affect the reader’s understanding of the Anthropocene reality. More specifically, the article focuses on how Charlotte Weitze’s novel The Abominable (Den afskyelige, 2016) immerses us into a storyworld and thereby engages the reader in ways that are rarely possible outside the world of fiction. The article demonstrates how the world-creating power of The Abominable involves, among other things, a disruption of the reader’s storyworld.