Introduction: literature and crises across historical scales

This chapter introduces "The Routledge Companion to Literature and Crises", focusing on the complex and multifaceted nature of crisis. It outlines how the volume explores crises as represented in literary texts across diverse contexts, including the environment, finance, migration and diaspora, war, human rights, values and identity, health, politics, terrorism, and technology. The chapter also emphasizes the diachronic dimension, highlighting how the volume examines both contemporary permacrisis and historical crises, analyzing their representation in literature across different periods and cultures.