TY - JOUR T1 - Notes for an econarratological theory of character JF - Frontiers of Narrative Studies Y1 - 2018 A1 - Caracciolo, Marco KW - Anthropocene KW - Contemporary fiction KW - Ecocriticism KW - narrative KW - Nonhuman AB - Scientists and scholars in multiple fields have been discussing the current geological epoch under the heading of the “Anthropocene” – an era marked by the planetary impact of human activities (Crutzen and Stoermer 2000). The epistemological shift brought about by this notion exposes the latent anthropocentrism of narrative practices, raising a challenge taken up by narrative theorists such as Erin James (2015) and Alexa Weik von Mossner (2017) in the context of an “econarratology.” In this article, I examine the prime suspect for anthropocentrism in narrative – namely, the notion of character as intrinsically human-like. My point of departure is A. J. Greimas’s (1976) actantial model of narrative, which I revisit and revise in light of work in the field of ecolinguistics (Goatly 1996). I thus explore five strategies through which narrative may integrate nonhuman characters that challenge both anthropocentrism and the subject-object binary that anthropocentrism entails. I exemplify these strategies by discussing contemporary novels that deal with the Anthropocenic entanglement of humanity and the nonhuman world. VL - 4 SN - 2509-4882 UR - https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/fns.2018.4.issue-s1/fns-2018-0037/fns-2018-0037.xml?format=INT IS - s1 ER -