Reassessing the Two-Culture Debate: Popular Science in Ian McEwan's The Child in Time and Enduring Love
TL;DR: McEwan's negotiation of the "two-culture" debate between literature and science in The Child in Time (1987) and Enduring Love (1997) is explored in this paper.
Abstract: This article explores Ian McEwan’s negotiation of the “two-culture” debate between literature and science in The Child in Time (1987) and Enduring Love (1997). My claim is that these novels update this debate by introducing ideas put forward in the field of contemporary popular science, while also placing popular science in conversation with literary postmodernism. In particular, I consider the degree of cultural authority his novels grant to science within the contemporary, recognizing both the priority given to scientific values as a basis for social knowledge and also their constructedness and therefore susceptibility to political appropriation.
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TL;DR: In his new preface E. O. Wilson reflects on how he came to write this book: how "The Insect Societies" led him to write "Sociobiology", and how the political and religious uproar that engulfed that book persuaded him to writing another book that would better explain the relevance of biology to the understanding of human behavior as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: View a collection of videos on Professor Wilson entitled "On the Relation of Science and the Humanities"In his new preface E. O. Wilson reflects on how he came to write this book: how "The Insect Societies" led him to write "Sociobiology," and how the political and religious uproar that engulfed that book persuaded him to write another book that would better explain the relevance of biology to the understanding of human behavior.
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01 Jan 2018
TL;DR: McCarthy as discussed by the authors argued that the influence of cognitive science on the contemporary British novel is expressed in a set of formal innovations that together form the basis of a model of an alternative to the computational and narrational models, grounded in the operations of consciousness and of extended, technological prostheses.
Abstract: In recent years, several related developments have altered our understanding of consciousness and the mind, including the increasing role of technology in the environment, advances in cognitive science, neuroscience and artificial intelligence, and the rise to cultural prominence of third culture texts, non-fiction which explains advances in science and technology to a non-specialist audience. Narrationism, a position grounded in cognitive science but that defines the conscious mind as a form of narrative has emerged as a result. Several authors of contemporary British fiction have responded to each of these shifts. However, what links the work of four of these authors – Tom McCarthy, Ian McEwan, Will Self and Ali Smith is not narrationism, but a rejection of it in favour of a close attention to consciousness. This thesis reads two novels each by these four authors, with a focus on the influence of ideas originating in cognitive science via third culture texts. The thesis argues that the influence of cognitive science on the contemporary British novel is expressed in a set of formal innovations that together form the basis of a model of an alternative to the computational and narrational models, grounded in the operations of consciousness and of extended, technological prostheses. Building on interdisciplinary research, it argues that the mind can be understood in terms of the operations of four distinct ‘technical systems’, each of which is derived from an aspect of cognitive science, linked with a of technology, and expressed in the novel through a particular formal innovation, each of which forms the basis of one chapter. The thesis begins by surveying the use of metaphors for the mind in its primary text, and ends by developing these metaphors, along with the four technical systems, into a new alternative
23 citations
01 Jan 2015
TL;DR: McLean as discussed by the authors argues that the novel of manners, while sometimes considered a moribund genre, presents itself as a genre relevant to contemporary criticism of social change from consensus politics to privatization both at governmental and domestic levels.
Abstract: A SINGLE MAN OF GOOD FORTUNE: POSTMODERN IDENTITIES AND CONSUMERISMIN THE NEW NOVEL OF MANNERS Bonnie McLean, B.A., M.A. Marquette University, 2015 In my dissertation, I argue that the novel of manners, while sometimes considered a moribund genre, presents itself as a genre relevant to contemporary criticism of social change from consensus politics to privatization both at governmental and domestic levels. I establish both key terms, cultural and theoretical trends, and define the novel of manners in context as a historical genre and a contemporary one. I further explore the novel of manners as a commentary on social and moral problems, particularly in tensions between social morality and individual morality that emerge when manners break down, a concept originally highlighted by Henry James. I interrogate the interplay between nostalgia, manners, and national identity, highlighting the recreation of moribund social and moral values as a means of exerting authority over the family unit and generating profit out of national heritage. Finally, I highlight the means by which literary texts cast consumerism as literal and figurative pornography that transforms the citizen into a consumer. I specifically examine the breakdown of manners through scenes of pornography and material consumption that illustrate moral depravity at the individual and national levels. The seven texts selected for my study in the new novels of manners—Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia (1990), Jeffery Eugenides’ The Marriage Plot (2011), Alan Hollinghurst’s The Line of Beauty (2004), Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day (1989), Ian McEwan’s The Child in Time (1987), Martin Amis’s Money (1984), and Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho (1991)—engage with neoliberalism and its social effects on individuals. Because citizens were redefined as consumers during the 1980s in both the United States and Britain, I contend that the novelists and novels in my study formulate a critique of social amorality in the same way Henry James’s literary criticism established in the novel of manners’ early study: in viewing the domestic as a politicized space, we can better understand the tensions between social morality and individual morality when the manners of a society break down in public or private spaces.
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01 Jan 1819
TL;DR: The Future of Happiness Digital Book as mentioned in this paper is a digital book about the future of happiness that has been created by Jean Campbell and is available for free download on the web page of this site.
Abstract: Required a fantastic e-book? the future of happiness by , the best one! Wan na get it? Find this exceptional e-book by right here currently. Download and install or check out online is readily available. Why we are the most effective site for downloading this the future of happiness Of course, you could select guide in numerous data kinds as well as media. Look for ppt, txt, pdf, word, rar, zip, and also kindle? Why not? Get them below, currently! Are you looking to uncover the future of happiness Digitalbook. Correct here it is possible to locate as well as download the future of happiness Book. We've got ebooks for every single topic the future of happiness accessible for download cost-free. Search the site also as find Jean Campbell eBook in layout. We also have a fantastic collection of information connected to this Digitalbook for you. As well because the best part is you could assessment as well as download for the future of happiness eBook Searching for a lot of marketed publication or reading resource worldwide? We provide them all in layout type as word, txt, kindle, pdf, zip, rar and ppt. among them is this professional the future of happiness that has been created by Still perplexed how to get it? Well, just review online or download by signing up in our site right here. Click them. GO TO THE TECHNICAL WRITING FOR AN EXPANDED TYPE OF THIS THE FUTURE OF HAPPINESS, ALONG WITH A CORRECTLY FORMATTED VERSION OF THE INSTANCE MANUAL PAGE ABOVE.
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TL;DR: The sociologists Ulrich Beck and Anthony Giddens theorise that we are living in a risk society, characterised by the increasing prevalence of low probability, high consequence threats to human health as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The sociologists Ulrich Beck and Anthony Giddens theorise that we are living in a risk society, characterised by the increasing prevalence of low probability—high consequence threats to human healt...
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01 Jan 1980
TL;DR: The Eye of Power: A Discussion with Maoists as mentioned in this paper discusses the politics of health in the Eighteenth Century, the history of sexuality, and the Confession of the Flesh.
Abstract: * On Popular Justice: A Discussion with Maoists * Prison Talk * Body/ Power * Questions on Georgraphy * Two Lectures * Truth and Power * Power and Strategies * The Eye of Power * The Politics of Health in the Eighteenth Century * The history of Sexuality * The Confession of the Flesh
15,638 citations
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01 Jan 1984
TL;DR: In this article, the status of science, technology, and the arts, the significance of technocracy, and how the flow of information is controlled in the Western world are discussed.
Abstract: Many definitions of postmodernism focus on its nature as the aftermath of the modern industrial age when technology developed. This book extends that analysis to postmodernism by looking at the status of science, technology, and the arts, the significance of technocracy, and the way the flow of information is controlled in the Western world.
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01 Jan 1977
TL;DR: A translation of selected writings from his most famous work offers welcome access to nine of his most significant contributions to psychoanalytic theory and technique, spanning thirty years of his inimitable intellectual career as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Brilliant and Innovative, Jacques Lacan's work has had a tremendous influence on contemporary discourse. Lacan lies at the epicenter of contemporary discourses about otherness, subjectivity, sexual difference, the drives, the law, and enjoyment. Yet his seemingly impenetrable writing style has kept many readers from venturing beyond page one. This new translation of selected writings from his most famous work offers welcome access to nine of his most significant contributions to psychoanalytic theory and technique, spanning thirty years of his inimitable intellectual career. Beginning with the formation of the ego in the mirror stage, these texts study the varied roles of meaning, speech, writing, aggression, transference, and desire in our lives.
2,270 citations