The introduction situates the Anthropocene as a contested concept whose formal rejection by the International Commission on Stratigraphy in 2024 contrasts sharply with its widespread adoption across the humanities. It traces the term’s origins in Crutzen and Stoermer’s proposal, reviews competing “golden spikes,” and examines how debates over dating and definition have shaped cultural discourse. Beyond geology, the Anthropocene emerges as a multidisciplinary figure of thought, raising questions about planetary systems, individual responsibility, and ethical entanglement. The introduction highlights literature’s dual role as historical precursor and critical interlocutor, from Romantic environmental sensibilities and Moby-Dick’s proto-Anthropocene themes to contemporary climate fiction and speculative narratives. It also addresses representational challenges posed by scale and deep time, the politicization of terminology, and alternative framings such as Capitalocene and Chthulucene. Finally, it considers literature’s potential agency in confronting planetary crisis, surveying narrative strategies from apocalyptic imaginaries to realist depictions of “slow violence.” By mapping these debates and tensions, the introduction frames the Anthropocene as both a conceptual battlefield and a lens through which literature negotiates the interwoven histories of humans and Earth.