Wozu Paläokritik? Spurensuchen zum Anthropozän

Presentation of Philipp Kohl: Ferne Enden. Tiefenzeit in Literatur und Wissenschaft vom Russischen Imperium bis zur Sowjetunion (Konstanz University Press 2025) [Distant Endings: Deep Time in Literature and Science from the Russian Empire to the Soviet Union]

The debate about the Anthropocene as an era of Earth’s history shaped by humans has brought increased attention to the concept of geological deep time in cultural studies. However,“deep time,” as described by historian of science Stephen Jay Gould, is only superficially related to the relatively new concept of the Anthropocene. “Deep time” refers to the idea, popular in the 19th century, of an immeasurably long prehistory of humankind. “Anthropocene,” on the other hand, refers to a very short period of time in geological terms—one that has only just begun.

In his book Ferne Enden: Tiefenzeit in Literatur und Wissenschaft vom Russischen Imperium bis zur Sowjetunion [Distant Endings: Deep Time in Literature and Science from the Russian Empire to the Soviet Union], Philipp Kohl asks what a literary history of deep time before the Anthropocene might look like. The book argues for paleocriticism as a means of poetically exploring the long periods of time that have been overlooked in both the Anthropocene discourse and the established paradigms of ecocriticism and ecology.

Philipp Kohl (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) will discuss his book with Susanne Strätling (Freie Universität Berlin). The evening will be moderated by Liola Mattheis and Georg Toepfer (both ZfL).

Fig. above: Photo of the anthropological exhibition in Moscow in 1879. Source: Komitet antropologičeskoj vystavki (ed.): Vidy antropologičeskoj vystavki v Moskve 1879 g. Moskva: Šerer, Nabgol’c i Ko. 1879, 22.