Introduction: Victorian Ecology and the Anthropocene

Abstract

Ernst Haeckel’s formulation of the term ‘ecology’ occurred at a time when the ecology of the British environment — the material and social relations between humans, other organisms, and the wider natural world — was being transformed by the impact of industrial capitalism and imperialism. The introduction to this issue of 19 sketches out how the Victorian imagination responded to changing ideas about the relationship between the human and non-human worlds in the long nineteenth century. In doing so, it builds upon the recent turn to ecocritical approaches within Victorian studies, and the emergence of Anthropocene studies, an interdisciplinary field that seeks to theorize and historicize the ways that humans have influenced the geology and biology of the planet. The aim is to underline the relevance of the Victorian context to present-day concerns around anthropogenic pollution, fossil fuel reliance, and even climate change.