인류세와 문학연구의 과제

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<Abstract> Emergence of the Anthropocene and Ecocritical Studies Challenged Shin, Doo-ho (Kangwon Nation University) A new geological term, the ‘Anthropocene’ has recently been introduced to declare the arrival of a new epoch of geology that human activities have had a significant global impact on the Earth's ecosystems. Human activities, such as the use of fossil fuels, have led significant environmental changes on the Earth on a global scale. Green gas (carbon dioxide and methane) emissions have acidified the oceans and changed global climate. Facing such human-caused environmental devastation and transformation, the Anthropocene postulator, a Nobel laureate chemist Paul Crutzen, and successive advocators argue that we not only need to be conscious of human impact on the Earth but have to take an active stewardship toward our planet. This notion of the Anthropocene questions and challenges some fundamental assumptions upon which American nature writing and the mainstream ecocriticism have depended--nature/culture dualism, the negation of science-technological involvement in nature preservation, and the negligence of social responsibility for the general public. Being a future-oriented concept, the Anthropocene urges ecocritical studies and humanities in general to abandon such long-held attitudes and positions in order for them to come up with a more practical and matter-of-fact approach suitable for our changed environment. It also calls for 'the Third Culture' approach in which humanities and science collaborate through an open-minded inter-disciplinary attitudes for our sustainable earth planet.

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