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The New Physics of Italo Calvino and Jorge Luis Borges

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The New Physics of Italo Calvino and Jorge Luis Borges City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 10-2014 All At One Point: The New Physics of Italo Calvino and Jorge Luis Borges Mark Thomas Rinaldi Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/373 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] ALL AT ONE POINT: THE NEW PHYSICS OF ITALO CALVINO AND JORGE LUIS BORGES Mark T. Rinaldi A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY IN COMPARATIVE LITERATURE IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY, THE CITY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK 2014 © Copyright by Mark T. Rinaldi, 2014. All rights reserved. ii This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Comparative Literature in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Dr. Giancarlo Lombardi, Chair of Examining Committte Dr. Giancarlo Lombardi, Executive Officer August 25, 2014 Dr. Giancarlo Lombardi Dr. Monica Calabritto Dr. Lía Schwartz Supervisory Committee THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii Abstract ALL AT ONE POINT: THE NEW PHYSICS OF ITALO CALVINO AND JORGE LUIS BORGES By: Mark T. Rinaldi Adviser: Dr. Giancarlo Lombardi This work of comparative literary criticism focuses on the presence of mathematical and scientific concepts and imagery in the works of Italo Calvino and Jorge Luis Borges, beginning with an historical overview of scientific philosophy and an introduction to the most significant scientific concepts of the last several centuries, before shifting to deep, scientifically-driven analyses of numerous individual fictions, and finally concluding with a meditation on the unexpectedly fictive aspects of science and mathematics. The close readings of these authors’ fictions are contextualized with thorough explanations of the potential literary implications of theories from physics, mathematics, neuroscience and chaos theory. While the mathematical studies highlight concepts such as “Zeno’s Paradox,” Cantorian set theory, and representations of numerical infinity, the discussions of physics isolate theoretical structures such as black holes, parallel universes and quantum-entangled particles for use in discussing the fictions of both authors. Underlying the main goals of this work is an equal focus on the existence of an “ideal intellectual” or, more broadly, an ideal liberal arts education that draws together concepts from diverse and seemingly-unrelated fields of knowledge with the intention of generating unexpected iv and novel ideas and connections. By demonstrating the numerous appearances of scientific and mathematical imagery in the works of Calvino and Borges, this work emphasizes the shared fictive basis of all human knowledge and strives to set science and fiction alongside each other as equals in the hope of preserving the richness and diversity of intellectual enterprises. v To Carter, the only one, my everything, my infinite To Giancarlo, for his patience, kindness and support To Marjorie, who taught me how to breathe To my mother, father and sister, for their sacrifices, humor and love vi Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………..iv Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………....vi Introduction: “The Two Cultures”………………………………………………………………...1 Part I, Chapter 1: The Legacy of Scientific Philosophy...……………………………………….42 Part I, Chapter 2: Foundational Physics…………………………………………………………56 Part II, Chapter 1: Transfinites and Infinites...…………………………………………………..93 Part II, Chapter 2: Quantum Strangeness……………………………………………………….133 Part II, Chapter 3: Self-symmetry, Post-humanity and Science-as-fiction……………………..177 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………209 vii Introduction – “The Two Cultures” In 1959, the British chemist and novelist C.P. Snow presented a controversial lecture entitled “The Two Cultures,” which condemned the gulf separating scientific disciplines and the humanities. From the start, Snow established himself as a member of both groups, or rather as an intellectual who dwelt in the center of this expanse. “By training I was a scientist: by vocation I was a writer. That was all.” (Snow 1) Citing the British educational system’s failing in over- emphasizing humanities studies at the expense of scientific advancement, Snow lamented the negative consequences of such a single-minded approach to knowledge: “This polarisation is sheer loss to us all. To us as people and to our society. It is at the same time practical and intellectual and creative loss, and I repeat that it is false to imagine that those three considerations are clearly separable.” (ibid. 11) Snow’s lecture went on to skewer the rigid physical scientist and the huffy Shakespearian alike, indicting both for their closed-mindedness and refusal to see the merits of any discipline outside of their own. Snow concluded his lecture with the postulation that the clashing point of two subjects, two disciplines, two cultures – of two galaxies, so far as that goes – ought to produce creative channels… Of course, that isn’t the way that science could be any good to art. It has got to be assimilated along with, and as part and parcel of, the whole of our mental experience, and used as naturally as the rest. (ibid. 16) This desire to merge not only the two “cultures” of science and art but all forms of human knowledge into one integrated, generative continuum is echoed in the writings of the Italian writer of fiction, Italo Calvino, and his Argentine inspiration and contemporary, Jorge Luis Borges. The study that will follow is an attempt to define and expand the existing body of research on the interdisciplinary approaches of both of these authors, with a particular focus on their employment of scientific and mathematical themes within their fictional and non-fictional 1 works. By drawing together a diverse group of studies of Calvino and Borges undertaken by scholars of both “cultures,” as well as establishing a strong foothold in the scientific and mathematical theories of their time (and ours), we can hope to explicitly define the role of interdisciplinarity in each of these authors’ literary and personal philosophies. In doing so, we will reshape the image of the ideal intellectual as one who is equally versed in scientific theories and literary traditions, rooted firmly in methodological rigor but empowered with the agility to creatively harvest inspiration from any form of human knowledge. Calvino’s Call to Interdisciplinarity Italo Giovanni Calvino Mameli was born in Santiago de las Vegas, Cuba, in 1923, to scientist parents. Soon after his birth, his family relocated to San Remo, Italy, which was Calvino’s father’s ancestral home and where his parents would cultivate and study a large variety of exotic fauna on a large estate. Calvino later recounted his childhood experiences in a piece entitled “Personal Portrait,” eventually published in a biographical collection entitled Hermit in Paris. “I am the son of scientists: my father was an agronomist, my mother a botanist; both were university professors.” (Calvino 13-14) It might have seemed reasonable to expect that Calvino would follow in his parents’ footsteps, but that was not to be the case. “After secondary school I made some attempts to follow the family’s scientific tradition, but my head was already full of literature and I gave up.” (ibid. 14) This departure from the family’s preferred occupation placed Calvino in a lonely position, especially since his only brother would go on to become a noted geologist. Calvino notes in Six Memos for the Next Millennium that “…in [his] family, a child could only read educational books, particularly those with some scientific basis.” (Calvino 35) The force of his family’s push to promote scientific studies is given some justification in another 2 discussion about his life, this time in Una pietra sopra, a self-curated collection of Calvino’s essays and media articles. Tra i miei familiari solo gli studi scientifici erano in onore; un mio zio materno era un chimico, professore universitario, sposato a una chimica; anzi ho avuto due zii chimici sposati a due zie chimiche […] io sono la pecora nera, l’unico letterato della famiglia. (Calvino XIV-XV)1 Despite being considered a “black sheep,” Calvino did not give up all scientific studies. In fact, as he mentions in Hermit in Paris, he did make an honest attempt to become a scientist before committing himself fully to literary pursuits. He elaborates on these experiences in “Behind the Success,” another essay taken from the same volume. …After getting my school-leaving certificate I made a choice which might have seemed, and perhaps was, determined by my family background, and enrolled in the Agriculture Faculty of Turin University where my father had taught up until a few years previously (he had retired by now) courses on ‘Tropical cultivation’ and ‘Tree-growing’. What I had in mind was that for me writing could be a side-line to a ‘serious’ profession: the latter would keep me in touch with reality and let me travel the world, like my father who had spent nearly twenty years of his life in Central America, and had lived through the Mexican Revolution. This attempt at realigning myself with a family tradition did not work,
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