Love in the Anthropocene

Last updated on: September 17, 2015 at 8:03 am by Dan Wilkinson

Love in the Anthropocene 2015-09-17T08:03:11-06:00 Dan Wilkinson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“How will love arise in a world without nature as we have known it?” This is the central question of Love in the Anthropocene (OR Books, $18), a newly-released collection of two essays and five short stories jointly written by environmental philosopher Dale Jamieson and novelist Bonnie Nadzam.

Against the backdrop of a near-future earth that has been indelibly altered by humanity, Jamieson and Nadzam tell bittersweet stories of love: a father and daughter go on a fishing trip to an artificial park in which every tree, rock, stream, and fish are the product of technological design; two men rekindle a relationship while the city’s homeless are being deported to avoid rising sea levels; three female friends take a vacation from working at a refugee camp to enjoy the artificial pleasures of a domed city; a couple meets in a yoga class and carries on a virtual love affair; a blind date leads to an encounter with the world’s last living tiger.

Love in the Anthropocene has an agenda, but it is an agenda with more questions than answers. The authors address issues of environmental change “by telling stories and sharing meditations, not by issuing predictive declarations that are supposed to provide answers.” These carefully crafted vignettes, replete with moments of quiet beauty as well as deep unease, thoughtfully consider humanity’s effect on nature and nature’s effect on us.

At its heart, this is a book about what is real and about why we value that reality. What is the truth behind our words, our actions, our relationships, and our environment? What happens when our words mask hidden motivations and our emotions push us in conflicting directions? What are the ramifications of a reality composed of flawed imitations: genetically engineered food that doesn’t taste quite right, a stream bed that’s perfectly smooth, a skyline that’s a little too flawless? How do we relate to one another while living in an uncanny valley where nature is but a simulacrum of its former self?

Such problems may seem the stuff of speculative sci-fi, but in many real ways the future is already upon us. Love in the Anthropocene persuasively argues that we are already living in an epoch defined by humanity’s mark upon the planet and that we can no longer ignore the impact we are making on the natural world.

As I absorbed these stories I also wondered: what happens when technology continues to progress and the artificial becomes indistinguishable from the natural? Or when we eventually no longer remember what the “real” even was? Will we have lost something vitally important, because we are, at the very deepest level, inextricably linked to nature? Or will we continue to stumble through life and love as we always have, oblivious to the wider consequences of our actions and content to enjoy our — to borrow a phrase from the book — “narcissist’s playground”?

These are the sorts of questions that Love in the Anthropocene raises as it elegantly blurs the lines between literature, philosophy, and environmentalism. By exploring the liminal space between present and future, nature and technology, comfort and ennui, and beauty and pragmatism, Jamieson and Nadzam confront us with questions that don’t have easy answers — but I can think of few better ways of pondering such questions than by reading, and rereading, this book.

Find out more about Love in the Anthropocene →

Dan Wilkinson

Dan is the Executive Editor of the Unfundamentalist Christians blog. He is a writer, graphic designer and IT specialist. He lives in Montana, is married and has two cats.

Book Reviews

Previous Post

September 14, 2015

Dear Dispensationalist God

Next Post

September 20, 2015 I caused a bomb scare on a military installation and got in less trouble than Ahmed Mohamed

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Reviews Christian History Christian Issues Christian Spirituality Current Events Fundamentalism Islam John Shore LGBT Movie Reviews Poetry Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz