The Science of Literature: Essays on an Incalculable Difference

Helmut Müller-Sievers

Published by De Gruyter 2015

The Science of Literature

Essays on an Incalculable Difference

Helmut Müller-Sievers
Afterword by: David E. Wellbery

Volume 1 in the series Paradigms

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110324341

Overview
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About this book

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One of the most contentious questions in contemporary literary studies is whether there can ever be a science of literature that can lay claim to objectivity and universality, for example by concentrating on philological criticism, by appealing to cognitive science, or by exposing the underlying media of literary communication.

The present collection of essays seeks to open up this discussion by posing the question’s historical and systematic double: has there been a science of literature, i.e. a mode of presentation and practice of reference in science that owes its coherence to the discourse of literature? Detailed analyses of scientific, literary and philosophical texts show that from the late 18th to the late 19th century science and literature were bound to one another through an intricate web of mutual dependence and distinct yet incalculable difference. The Science of Literature suggests that this legacy continues to shape the relation between literary and scientific discourses inside and outside of academia.

Author / Editor information

Helmut Müller-Sievers, University of Colorado Boulder, USA.

Reviews

"Müller-Sievers zeigt anhand eines eindrucksvollen, breit gefächerten Wissensspektrums, wie die Formenerzeugung vonstattengeht. Literarische Zeugung erfolgt dabei nicht auf einem abgespaltenen fiktionalen Feld, sondern ist vielmehr selbst Teil der Wissensgeburten. [...] Die Texte dieser ausgesuchten Aufsatzsammlung weisen stets auf die Bewegung als eine alles bedingende Form von Lebendigkeit hin, welche in der literarischen Narration präsent ist. Die Bewegungsberührung überwindet dabei die Dichotomie des fiktionalen und faktualen Feldes zugunsten einer Science of Literature."
Sandy Scheffler in: literaturkritik.de 9(2015)

Supplementary Materials

Contents

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Table of Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Introduction: A Science of Literature? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1) Poetics of the Life Sciences
Formative Forces: Biological, Philosophical, and Linguistic Generativity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	15
Divining Relations: Forms of Generational Recognition around 1800 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	34
Tidings of the Earth: Towards a History of Romantic Erdkunde Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
On Nerve Fibers: Rhetoric and Brain Anatomy in Georg Büchner Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	69
2) The Science of Reading
Reading Off: On the Emergence of the Scientific Gaze Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	93
On the Margins of Derrida’s Terminology : Deconstruction, Dissemination, mise en abîme Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	107
What Does it Mean to Orient Oneself in Thinking? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	123
A Tremendous Chasm: Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy, and the Measure of Poetry Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	141
3) The Applied Science of Literature
Torque: Life and Motion in the 19th Century Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	165
A Doctrine of Transmissions: On the Classification of Machines Around 1800 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	176
The Novel Machine: Narration in the 19th Century Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	195
The Moment of Narration: Outlines for a Kinematic Study of Goethe’s Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
Afterword On Critical Enhancement David E. Wellbery Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	227
List of First Publications Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	241
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	257
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	259

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Scholars of Literary History, History of Science, and Cultural History
Pages
- Front matter: 6
- Main content: 270
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 5
Keywords: Literature; science; technology; history

eBook

Published: April 24, 2015
ISBN: 9783110324341

Hardcover

Published: April 17, 2015
ISBN: 9783110323948