Heidi Emmerling
English 724
Jane Detweiler
November 24, 1998
Author:
Title:
Source:
Misia Landau
“Human Evolution as Narrative”
American Scientist, 72 (1984): 262-268.
Key Related Studies:
Culler, J. 1975. Structuralist Poetics. Cornell U. Press: Reading a text, like studying an organism, is a
way of discovering the principles of structure which operate not just for one text but for many.
Darwin, C. 1871. The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. London. John Murray.: Human
evolution began when our ancestors left the trees and adopted an upright posture.
Forster, E. Em. 1954. Aspects of the Novel. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. : Locates the origin of narrative
in the Paleolithic.
Goudge, T. A. 1961. The Ascent of Life, U of Toronto Press.: The greater number of events in the
temporal sequence, the more testable the narrative.
Gregory, W. K. 1916. Studies on the evolution of the Primates. Bull. AMNH 35:239-355: Terrestriality is
the first stage in the evolutionary process.
Herrnstein-Smith, B. 1981. Narative versions, narrative theories. In On narrative, ed. W. J. T. Mitchell,
pp. 209-32. U of Chicago Press.: WE have certain basic stories, or deep structures, for organizing our
experience.
Huxley, A. 1963. Literature and Science. New Haven, CT: Leete’s Island Books.: Discussed the
contribution of science to the literary conception of the nightingale singing all night.
Huxley, T. H. 1889, Agnosticism. Nineteenth Cent. 24: 169-94.: Human salvation lay in science.
Jones, F. W. 1916. Arboreal Man. London: Edward Arnold.: Bipedalism was the first important stage in
the evolutionary process.
Keith, A. 1923. Man’s posture: Its evolution and disorders. Brit Med. J. 1:451-54; 499-502; 545-48;
587-90; 624-26; 699-72.: Bipedalism is a primary event in evolution.
Margolin, U. 1978. Conclusion: Literary structuralism and hermeneutics in significant convergence. In
Interpretation of narrative, ed. M. J. Valdes and O. J. Miller, pp. 177-85. U of Toronto Press.: Despite
some important theoretical differences, the approaches of structuralism and hermeneutics converge in amny
basic goals and concepts.
Mink, L. O. 1978. Narrative form as a cognitive instrument. In The writing of history: Literary form and
historical understanding, ed. R. H. Canary and H. Kozicki, pp. 129-49. U of Wisconsin Press: Narrative is
a “primary and irreducible form of human comprehension.
Osborn, H. F. 1928. The plateau habitat of the pro-dawn man. Science 67: 570-71.: Designated
terrestriality as the first important stage in evolution.
Propp, Vladimir. 1925. Morphology of the Folktale. U of Texas Press.: Provides a method which allows
us to describe individual stories as variations on a basic narrative or deep structure
Scholes, R. 1981. Language, narrative, and anti-narrative. In On Narrative, ed. W. J. T. Mitchell, pp. 20008. U of Chicago Press.: “Our need for chronological and causal connection defines and limits all of us—
helps to make us what we are.
Smith, G. E. 1924. The Evolution of Man. Oxford U. Press.: Development of a large brain is a key event
in evolution.
Key arguments/questions guiding the study
1.
Can the humanities tell us anything about science?
2.
Can theories of literary criticism illuminate the study of human evolution?
Key theoretical or methodological assumptions grounding the study
1.
Many scientific theories are essentially narratives. The growth of a plant, the progress of a disease, the
formation of a beach, the evolution of an organism—any set of events that can be arranged in a
sequence and related can also be narrated.
2.
Scientists do not often recognize the extent to which they use narrative in their thinking and in
communicating their ideas.
3. The telling of stories is what makes us human.
Conclusions drawn on the basis of this study
1.
By specifying a temporal sequence of events, narratives can be used to predict what future
investigations will disclose about those events. The greater number of events in the temporal
sequence, the more testable the narrative.
2.
There is no way to present an evolutionary or historical account without involving narrative. We need
to treat narratives even more seriously than before. Rather than avoiding them, scientists might use
them as they are used in literature, as a means of discovery and experimentation. Treating scientific
theories as fictions may even be a way of arriving at new theories.
Summary of scholar’s approach
1.
Landau begins by reviewing the main literary approaches
A. Structuralism: defines a text as an autonomous object with a characteristic internal
dynamic and treats literary features such as plot, character, and theme much as a
systematist treats anatomical characters: as a means of description and classification
B. Hermeneutics: the hermeneutic reader subjectively interprets a text to find its
individual meaning
2. Next the author presents a structural description of narratives of human evolution confined to the work
of Keith, Smith, Jones, Osborn, and Gregory (see key related studies).
2.
After that, Landau parallels the narrative descriptions of evolution with the narratives of folktales
1.
2.
the initial situation: hero in safe existence/human evolution in state of equilibrium
hero is introduced: ugly duckling or Cinderella in humble origins/human ancestor is
helpless and defenseless
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
3.
change of situation: [I didn’t see a direct mention of a parallel folktale
here]/acquisition of large brain or upright posture
departure: [no direct mention of folktale]/leaving trees or bipedalism allows hero to
walk away
tests [no direct mention of folktale]/”tests” bring out special qualities of hero
(intelligence or upright posture)
appearance of donor: fairy godmother (?)/power of intelligence, discrimination,
plasticity, initiative
transformation: magical agent like cloaks, rings, or swords/tools, reason, moral
sense
test again: be home by midnight(?)/turn away from nature and towards men
hero’s final triumph: gets the prince (?)/achievement of humanity
Finally, Landau shows three narrative premises commonly found in scientific accounts of the past
A.
B.
C.
History can be seen as a meaningful totality
History can be seen as a series of critical moments and transitions.
History can be explained by arranging events into a sequence
Demonstration / Application
Discuss the narrative of dentistry
Strengths of Approach
1.
Discusses the benefits of narrative in a persuasive way.
2. Shows how theories of human evolution are stories.
Limitations of the approach
1. I often did not see the direct parallel between folktales and the story of evolution. I’m not sure the
folktale angle was the best method of showing narrative in the story of evolution since for me there seemed
to be gaps where the author did not directly show the parallel.
2. Many key studies were old.
3. It was not the author’s aim to establish narratological theories, nor to develop scientific logic