Language and Reality in 20th/21st-Century Science and
Literature
Instructor: Friedrich Ulfers
The course explores the possibility that there exists a common ground between the socalled two cultures of science and the humanities. It posits the hypothesis of a correlation
between postclassical science (e.g., quantum theory) and “postmodern” literature and
philosophy. Among the key notions examined are Heisenberg’s “uncertainly principle”
and the “undecidability” of deconstructive theory. The discussion of these notions, and
their implications in literary works, revolves around their effect on classical logic, the
referential function of language, and the traditional goal of a complete
explanation/description of reality. Readings include selections from the works of Borges,
Kundera, Pirsig, and Pynchon, among others, and from texts on modern scientific
theories.
Course Requirements:
Course requirements include a considerable amount of reading, a short midterm paper,
and for the final exam a choice of essays on assigned topics or a paper (approx. 20 pp.)
on a topic chosen from a given list or in consultation with the instructor.
Syllabus
Week 1:
Introduction and Orientation
Weeks 2-3: Theoretical Issues –
Towards the age of uncertainty: Science, Philosophy and literature during the 19th
Century
The assault on:
The Cartesian dichotomy between the thinking mind and the physical object
(subject/object)
The separation between observer and observed in classical physics
The distinction between observational terms and theoretical terms
The atomistic view of the world
The referential function of language
Determinism
Weeks 4-5:
20th Century Postclassical Science – The Age of Uncertainty:
Relativity Theory, Quantum Theory, Chaos Theory and their implications
Literary Readings (Weeks 2-13)
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Edgar Allen Poe, “The Purloined Letter”
Virginia Woolf, The Waves
Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Jorge Luis Borges, Labyrinths – Selected Stories and Other Writings
Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49
Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Week 14: Retrospective
Literary Texts – Required
Borges, Jorge Luis. Labyrinths – Selected Stories and Other Writings
Kundera Milan. The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Pirsig, Robert M. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Poe, Edgar Allen. “The Purloined Letter”
Pynchon, Thomas. The Crying of Lot 49
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein
Woolf, Virginia. The Waves
Scientific Texts
A short bibliography and excerpts will be distributed at the beginning of the seminar.