Geamnu1

Geamnu Alexandra Group 2 English-Russian

Literature and Science: 20th Century Paula Gossin

The bifurcation of literature and science as professional institutions began in the eighteenth century. For example, at Harvard literature and science were studied separately. From another point of view, modernists felt disgust and indifference regarding scientific reductionism and mechanization. Thus, in literary works were present just the experimental works that were difficult and inaccessible. Even though a deliberate use of scientific ideas was rare in post-modern literature, it has been a concomitant mainstreaming of science fiction. There were several waves in scientific influence in the twentieth century, especially in the field on literary criticism. For example: I.A. Richards, Russian formalism, New Criticism, psychoanalytic approaches and structuralism. C.P. Snow wrote about the sociopolitical repercussions of the perceived division between literature and science in The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution in which he expressed concern over the estrangement and hostility between the scientific and literary intelligentsia. He concluded that this relation was one of sociopolitical significance. In my opinion, there was a lack of communication between scientists and literary men and in consequence, Snow sees literature as being hostile to the future and concluded that scientists have the future in their bones. Some scholars argue that literature and science come from a common cultural source, which may result in a parallel development or in a mutual influence. Other scholars argue that in

Geamnu2 certain instances literature anticipates or even engenders scientific ideas. Science is regarded by LS scholars as permeable to broader cultural forces. When studies focus on specific literary works, they typically look at the influence or presence of science in ideas, themes, characters, form, or language. More recently, several scholars have advanced the idea that how one views literature and science in part depends upon how one understands literature. Furthermore, science is viewed as narrative, inspired by arguments that history is a narrative and that all cultural formations can be viewed as narratives (these are, according to White, structuralist and poststructuralist assertions). Having considered that, history is what we gain from documents. Some LS studies examine the connection between twentieth-century physics and the literary preoccupation with subjective viewpoints, unreliable narrators, nonlinear narratives and self-referentiality. For some scholars it was very important the mid-century shift away from strict positivism to constructivism or relativism. Influenced by philosophical and historical studies conducted in the 1960s and 1970s by Thomas S. Kuhn, Karl Popper, Michel Foucault and sociological studies by Bruno Latour, Barry Barnes and others, as well as recent feminist, deconstructivist, Marxist, and ethnographic perspectives. Many of these scientists argue that there is bias, error, subjectivity and even irrationality in scientific methods. An early account was Thomas Kuhns study of the various pressures that eventually persuade scientists to switch from one theoretical framework, or paradigm, to another. Kuhns notion of a paradigm shift and his distinction between normal science and revolutionary science were widely adopted as a model in LS studies and even in other fields. It is however important to note that in recent years, new forms of realism and more limited constructivist accounts have gained ground. The use of constructivist models can complicate the status of science and uncover its ideological and philosophical foundations. Among scientific concepts prior to the twentieth century, evolutionary theory has attracted most attention and also the impact of Darwins ideas. As for twentieth-century science,

Geamnu3 writers have been intrigued by relativity theory and quantum mechanics. But we should also consider that twentieth-century literary authors mostly refer to the discovery of DNA, genetic engineering, medical science, cybernetics and artificial intelligence, chaos theory, virtual reality and cyberspace. The growing use of electronic forums like Internet has led to a rethinking of copyright and intellectual property issues. In conclusion, I believe that literature and science have always been linked because a literary work has a scientific background. The study of literature aims the understanding of literary texts. But, to see literature in the context of history, you have to have knowledge of history and literature. To examine philosophical influences on literature requires an understanding of both philosophical and literary texts( Birgitt Flohr, The Relationship between Literature and Science). In this manner, literature and science help one another. Even thought we take into consideration Arnolds affirmation regarding the relative importance of literature and science in education, or Snows assertion that literature changes more slowly than science, one can notice that both science and literature are human activities and human constructions.

Geamnu4 Bibiography Gossin, Paula, Encyclopedia of Literature and Science, Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn., London, 2002, pp. 252-257 Class handout Flohr, Birgitt, The Relationship between Literature and Science in the Nineteenth Century. A Discussion of an Interdisciplinary Approach, p.1