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The Relationship between Literature and Science in John Banville’s Scientific Tetralogy

by Sidia Fiorato (Author)
©2007 Thesis IV, 216 Pages

Summary

Starting from the debate between the two cultures, the book analyzes the relationship between literature and science in the last years of the twentieth century in the light of scientific theories which universally underline both their indeterminacy and their lack of universal values (Relativity Theory, Quantum Mechanics, the Uncertainty Principle, Chaos Theory). Scientific theories are echoed in literary texts but also a reverse influence from literature to science has taken place. In his scientific tetralogy John Banville analyzes the figures of those scientists who contributed to a paradigm shift in the world view from the early modernity to the present. His interest is not exclusively focused on epistemology but rather on the creative mind of the scientist. Science appears to follow the same epiphanic creative process as literature in its understanding of, and theorizing upon, an enigmatic sort of reality.

Details

Pages
IV, 216
Publication Year
2007
ISBN (PDF)
9783653012873
ISBN (Softcover)
9783631558621
DOI
10.3726/978-3-653-01287-3
Language
English
Publication date
2012 (April)
Keywords
Banville, John Doctor Copernicus Naturwissenschaften (Motiv) Two Culture Debate Banville John
Published
Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Wien, 2007. IV, 211 pp.

Biographical notes

Sidia Fiorato (Author)

The Author: Sidia Fiorato works in the English Department of the University of Verona. Her fields of research are Literature and Science, Contemporary Literature, and Detective Fiction. She already published a monograph on Peter Ackroyd.

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Title: The Relationship between Literature and Science in John Banville’s Scientific Tetralogy