Zt.Zzt in the Anthropocene
Arthropod Flesh, Solar-Strip Skin and Anthropocene Time in "The Old Drift"
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22011795 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Amit Baishya, Amit R Baishya (0000-0001-5146-5957, University of Oklahoma, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 41-57 |
| Publication date | 2022-10-29 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Ecozon European Journal of Literature Culture and Environment (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2171-9594 • E-ISSN: 2171-9594 |
| Publisher | Universidad de Alcala (PUBLISHER • ES) |
| DOI | 10.37536/ecozona.2022.13.2.4709 |
| OpenAlex | W4307868756 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 3 |
While Namwali Serpell’s novel The Old Drift can be read as a fictional account of colonial and post-colonial Zambian history, this article focuses on the text’s exploration of Anthropocene time—geobiochemical and planetary temporal scales that predate human histories, while also gesturing towards futures where Homo sapiens may be absent. This article focuses on deep temporality in the novel via the use of mosquito and Moskeetoze (mosquito-like microdrones) narrators. While mosquitoes facilitate encounters with the deep past and of entangled human-nonhuman histories, the Moskeetozes enable representations of the vicissitudes of the “Anthrobscene” (Parrikka) and the creative potentialities of improvised life that emerge in hazardscapes in the Global South. Additionally, The Old Drift gestures towards a speculative planetary future where mosquitoes and Moskeetozes integrate to evolve new forms of swarm intelligence and forms of life
Anthropocene · Archaeology · Astrobiology · Biology · Cave · Colonialism · Epistemology · Futures contract · Homo sapiens · Temporality · African studies and sociopolitical issues · History · Philosophy · Ecology
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |