Renewing Humanism Against the Anthropocene: Towards a Theory of the Hysterical Sublime

Abstract:This article puts to question performative contradictions in theories developing a resistance to anthropocentrism in the context of rising interest in the Anthropocene narrative and Posthumanist theories seeking to evade human exceptionalism. By developing the aesthetic category of the hysterical sublime—a term first coined by Fredric Jameson in his early writing on postmodernism—this article challenges theoretical attempts to resist anthropocentrism and, instead, proposes a renewed conception of a universal and dialectical humanism as a methodological and ethical framework for grappling with contemporary crises such as climate change and the rise of digital automation.