"We will experiment, in this course, with two interrelated and reciprocal inquiries:
whether the biological concept of evolution is a useful one in understanding the phenomena of literature
and whether literature contributes to a deeper understanding of evolution.""Ever since Darwin, we live in a world of stories"?
Course as loopy inquiry, situated in time ...
Evolution as a process of discovery of what living organisms work
- no plan/intention, no objective to reach
- an exploration of what might be within some unknown (and changing) set of constraints, randomness essential
| Linear Science | Seriously Loopy Science |
|
Science as a process of discovery of how to make sense of things
- no plan/intention, no objective to reach, but may be influenced by plan/intention
- an exploration of what might be, randomness and story telling essential
On Beauty a descendent with variation of Howard's End
Howard's End a groping toward connection of unconscious (non-narrative) and conscious (narrative)
On Beauty a reaction, emphasizing the unconscious, trying to make it conscious/narrative
A better (more generative?) story: repeatedly interconnecting the unconscious non-narrative and the conscious narrative
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Literature as a process of discovery of possible stories
- no plan/intention, no objective to reach, but may be influenced by plan/intention and language
- an exploration of what can be conceived, within some unknown (and changing) set of constraints, randomness and science essential
Bottom line (for me, for now)
- Literature can indeed be usefully thought of in terms of evolution ... open-ended transactional inquiry
- Both science and evolution need to pay more attention to story telling and story sharing as a central element of their contemporary and future development
- Language is an important adjunct to but not the entirety of story telling/sharing
And on: The brain as a useful (generative?) framework for further exploration
- Stories without words - consciousness of the the non-narrative unconscious
- The role of language in making non-narrative stories manipulateable
- The non-narrative/narrative loop intrapersonally and interpersonally
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