The concept was first developed byAmitav Ghosh to classify literature about thepetroleum industry and the impact of oil on society.[3] He coined the term when reviewingAbdul Rahman Munif'sCities of Salt in 1992.[3][4] When describing the concept, he noticed an absence of literature exploring the role of "oil encounters" between countries that extract oil and those that consume.[4][5]Imre Szeman in a 2012 editorial introduction to a special edition of theAmerican Book Review proposed a slightly larger scope: all works that explore "the important role played by oil in contemporary society."[2][5]
Works of petrofiction proliferated in the 2000s and 2010s, along with a growing critical focus, as a result of concerns aboutclimate change andpeak oil.[6] Since its inauguration the term has been widely used inliterary criticism to explore fiction which evaluates society's dominance by a petroleum economy and a related culture shaped by petroleum.[4][7] Most critics were trying to find works that focused on the oil industry beforeCities of Salt.[8] This genre has been particularly important in non-Western literature, exploring how encounters with oil are entangled with other issues in the Global South.[1]
Some critics have connected the role of petrofiction to the emergence ofclimate fiction, in that both are evaluating and addressing the concerns brought on by theAnthropocene.[9]
^abcXinos, Ilana (Winter 2006). "Petro-capitalism, petrofiction, and Islamic discourse: The formation of an imagined community in Cities of Salt".Arab Studies Quarterly.28:1–12.
^Schneider-Mayerson, Matthew (2015).Peak Oil : apocalyptic environmentalism and libertarian political culture. Chicago.ISBN978-0-226-28526-9.OCLC897001614.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^LeMenager, Stephanie (2016).Living oil : petroleum culture in the American century (Oxford University Press paperback ed.). New York, NY.ISBN978-0-19-046197-3.OCLC927363764.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
