Erasure and the Environment Conference

Keynote Speaker: Prof. David Herd (University of Kent)

In our contemporary moment, erasure is everywhere. Material disappearances abound as rising seas swallow low-lying island nations, as drought extends far beyond traditional aridity zones, and as hurricanes and flash floods destroy towns with alarming regularity. Cultural losses follow as communities are forced to adapt or migrate, surrendering historic traditions and lifestyles to global warming in the name of survival. Loss, here, leads to loss, where precarity and statelessness open communities to hostility and depoliticization, as a confluence of migratory push factors render voices silent and bodies invisible. Elsewhere, we are told to live with “less” – less plastic, less meat, fewer journeys, no excess – even as capital and large corporations continue unbridled. Reduction and effacement are at the heart of the Anthropocene, both as acts and as narratives, and symbolise “change as loss” in varied and often problematic ways.

Join us for an in-person contemporary literature and environmental humanities conference at Loughborough University.

Download our abstracts and panel list here: Erasure Abstracts and Panel List