Out now: „Fossile Fiktionen”

Our postdoctoral researcher Antonia Villinger has edited the essay collection „Fossile Fiktionen. Kohle als Energiequelle in der Literatur von 1850 bis zur Gegenwart“.

The climate crisis and the demand for a sustainable energy transition are shaping socio-political discussions. Against this backdrop, the contributions from literary and cultural studies perspectives examine the representation of brown coal and hard coal in literature from 1850 to the present. Based on energy and environmental humanities, they examine the presentation of fossil fuels in different regions (Ruhr area, Lusatia, Silesia) and in various genres, such as the family magazine ‘Die Gartenlaube’, the magazine for the German bourgeoisie, and the magazine for the German working class, ‘Die Arbeiterzeitung’. Drawing on energy and environmental humanities, they examine the presentation of fossil fuels in different regions (the Ruhr, Lusatia, Silesia) and in various genres, such as the family magazine Die Gartenlaube, reportage, and science fiction literature. As an object of knowledge, coal triggers transformations, while at the same time undergoing changes itself. This becomes evident in texts by Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, Wolfgang Hilbig, Jules Verne, and others, as well as in geological, material, and aesthetic contexts related to coal. “Fossil Fictions” thus offers insight into the literary examination of fossil fuels and their cultural significance.

Antonia Villinger (ed.): Fossile Fiktionen. Kohle als Energiequelle in der Literatur von 1850 bis zur Gegenwart, Paderbon 2025. Further information: publisher’s website.