DOCSLIB.ORG

Psychoanalysis of Technoscience

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Psychoanalysis of Technoscience Hub Zwart Psychoanalysis of Technoscience PDF-Muster LIT Verlag 28/01/19 Philosophy and Psychology in Dialogue Philosophie und Psychologie im Dialog edited by / herausgegeben von Prof. Dr. Hub Zwart (Erasmus University Rotterdam) Volume/Band 1 LIT PDF-Muster LIT Verlag 28/01/19 Hub Zwart PSYCHOANALYSIS OF TECHNOSCIENCE Symbolisation and imagination LIT PDF-Muster LIT Verlag 28/01/19 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. ISBN 978-3-643-91050-9 (pb) ISBN 978-3-643-96050-4 (PDF) A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. © LIT VERLAGGmbH&Co.KGWien, Zweigniederlassung Zürich 2019 Klosbachstr. 107 CH-8032 Zürich Tel. +41 (0) 44-251 75 05 E-Mail: [email protected] http://www.lit-verlag.ch Distribution: In the UK: Global Book Marketing, e-mail: [email protected] In North America: Independent Publishers Group, e-mail: [email protected] In Germany: LIT Verlag Fresnostr. 2, D-48159 Münster Tel. +49 (0) 2 51-620 32 22, Fax +49 (0) 2 51-922 60 99, e-mail: [email protected] e-books are available at www.litwebshop.de PDF-Muster LIT Verlag 28/01/19 Psychoanalysis of Technoscience 5 Series Preface: Philosophy and Psychology in Dialogue In 1879, Wilhelm Wundt founded the first laboratory for psychological research in Leipzig: the birth or “primal scene” of psychology as an independent research field. By transforming into an experimental discipline, psychology emancipated from philosophy and during the twentieth century (the era of behaviorism, cognitive psychology and neuroscience), the distance between psychology and philosophy significantly increased. While psychology evolved into an experimental research practice of immense proportions, conducted in laboratories worldwide, philosophy drifted into the margins of academic life. Currently, however, we experience a drive towards dialogue and convergence. Philosophy has taken an empirical turn and is becoming increasingly interested in the tools and methods of psychology as a social science, while both aim to be more than academic pursuits and aspire to address real-life challenges and urgent issues of human and social existence. 1900 was a decisive year (an annus mirabilis), for science as such, but also for the relationship between philosophy and psychology. Max Planck discovered that light and other forms of energy are discharged, emitted and absorbed in discrete packets which he called quanta. The work of Gregor Mendel was rediscovered: the start of what came to be known as the century of the gene, while the discovery of the electron by Joseph John Thomson in 1897 and of the virus by Martinus Beijerinck in 1898 was also part of the constellation. The quantum concept paved the way for elementary particle physics, anti-matter and the Large Hadron Collider at CERN (where the hunt for the inexorable Higgs- boson was launched), while the rediscovery of Mendel inaugurated the birth of genetics, thereby setting the scene for the rise of molecular biology and the sequencing of the human genome. In 1900, the landscape of philosophy and psychology was drastically reshaped as well. The publication of Husserl’s Logical Investigations marked the birth of phenomenology as a movement (both in philosophy and in psychology), while Sigmund Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams, formally published in 1900 as well (although it actually appeared in 1899), heralded the commencement of psychoanalysis: an intellectual event destined to have a tremendous impact, not only on psychotherapy, but on the humanities as well. Meanwhile, in St. Petersburg, Ivan Pavlov discovered the conditioned reflex. As indicated, however, during the decades to follow, philosophy and psychology diverted from one another. While philosophy split into “continental” author studies and “analytical” problem solving, psychology evolved into “human resource management”, as Jacques Lacan phrased it. Time has now come to reconsider their common ground. This series builds on the conviction that, to address the complex societal and cultural challenges we are facing today, philosophers and psychologists must work together. To understand the disruptive and transformative impact of science and technology in a globalising world, methods and concepts of both philosophy PDF-Muster LIT Verlag 28/01/19 6 Symbolisation and Imagination and psychology are necessary, as complementary (rather than as incompatible) approaches. More specifically, this series aims to contribute to a revitalisation of research traditions which evolved in the boundary zone between philosophy and psychology and still have a significant potential for contributing to a transdisciplinary diagnostic of the present, such as phenomenology and psychoanalysis. Whereas philosophy of science is shifting its focus increasingly to the “context of discovery” (where new technologies generate new forms of experience and affect the way in which knowledge is actually fabricated), an assessment of the socio-cultural meaning of new technologies requires a detailed consideration of their impact on the life-world. We need to re-open the dialogue between empirical and normative areas of research. A research field such as economics, for instance, is not only about patterns of behaviour and consumer choices, but also about responsibility and integrity. In the area of politics and governance, the clashes between global economic trends and local identities call for a coalition of social sciences and humanities approaches. And food production is not only about health and risks, but also about equity and identity, sustainability and global justice. Special interest will be given to efforts to use “genres of the imagination” in coming to terms with the challenges of the present. We are interested in scholarly publications which see novels, movies, poetry and theatre as imaginative laboratories, where emerging societal and technoscientific scenarios are probed, enacted and assessed. This monograph is the first publication in the series. It envisions a psychoanalysis of technoscience, not only by studying science directly, but also via “triangulation”, i.e. by comparing scientific breakthroughs with literary highlights, thus fleshing out a “comparative epistemology” with the help of three cases studies: the palaeoanthropology of Eugène Dubois, the conditioning experiments of Ivan Pavlov and the vicissitudes of virology as a major twentieth century research field. PDF-Muster LIT Verlag 28/01/19 Psychoanalysis of Technoscience 7 Table of Contents I. Psychoanalysis of technoscience: symbolisation, imagination, triangulation .. 9 Introduction: a diagnostic of contemporary technoscience ........................... 9 Why psychoanalysis? ................................................................................. 10 The anatomy of resistance .......................................................................... 12 Imaginative laboratories ............................................................................ 14 Carl Gustav Jung and Gaston Bachelard on science .................................. 16 Two forms of thinking ................................................................................ 17 Symbolisation and imagination .................................................................. 18 Post-Faustian science ................................................................................ 20 II. Archetypes of science: science and imagination ......................................... 25 Obscurum per obscurius: Jung’s psychology of science .............................. 25 Psychoanalysis and alchemy ...................................................................... 29 Archetypes of science ................................................................................. 30 The mandala and the prophet ..................................................................... 33 III. Iconoclasm and imagination: Bachelard’s philosophy of technoscience .... 35 Facta ficta ................................................................................................. 35 Scientific discourse and its imaginary double: two oeuvres......................... 39 The imaginary ............................................................................................ 42 Sublating the epistemological rupture ........................................................ 46 The resurgence of the Mother Earth archetype ........................................... 48 The sciences and their archetypes .............................................................. 51 IV. Lacan and science .................................................................................... 55 The matheme of desire ............................................................................... 55 The scientific revolution and the emancipation of the subject ...................... 56 The domestication of the object .................................................................. 59 Reforming the subject ................................................................................. 61 The dialectics of experimental research ...................................................... 62 The vicissitudes of university discourse ...................................................... 64 Symbolisation of the real: the four discourses............................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Antony Van Leeuwenhoek, the Father of Microscope
    Turkish Journal of Biochemistry – Türk Biyokimya Dergisi 2016; 41(1): 58–62 Education Sector Letter to the Editor – 93585 Emine Elif Vatanoğlu-Lutz*, Ahmet Doğan Ataman Medicine in philately: Antony Van Leeuwenhoek, the father of microscope Pullardaki tıp: Antony Van Leeuwenhoek, mikroskobun kaşifi DOI 10.1515/tjb-2016-0010 only one lens to look at blood, insects and many other Received September 16, 2015; accepted December 1, 2015 objects. He was first to describe cells and bacteria, seen through his very small microscopes with, for his time, The origin of the word microscope comes from two Greek extremely good lenses (Figure 1) [3]. words, “uikpos,” small and “okottew,” view. It has been After van Leeuwenhoek’s contribution,there were big known for over 2000 years that glass bends light. In the steps in the world of microscopes. Several technical inno- 2nd century BC, Claudius Ptolemy described a stick appear- vations made microscopes better and easier to handle, ing to bend in a pool of water, and accurately recorded the which led to microscopy becoming more and more popular angles to within half a degree. He then very accurately among scientists. An important discovery was that lenses calculated the refraction constant of water. During the combining two types of glass could reduce the chromatic 1st century,around year 100, glass had been invented and effect, with its disturbing halos resulting from differences the Romans were looking through the glass and testing in refraction of light (Figure 2) [4]. it. They experimented with different shapes of clear glass In 1830, Joseph Jackson Lister reduced the problem and one of their samples was thick in the middle and thin with spherical aberration by showing that several weak on the edges [1].
    [Show full text]
  • Where to Find 6 Million Minds
    Research Fortnight, 11 February 2015 view 23 roger highfield Where to find 6 million minds Over the decades, a disturbing image has often entered 2012-13. The sexes were nearly equally represented. my mind as I have whiled away the hours in meetings Slightly more than half of the museum’s visitors come about PUS and PES, aka the public understanding of, or from family groups, 36 per cent come from adult groups engagement with, science. This reverie involves a group and 13 per cent come from educational groups. In 2013- of beggars briefly materialising around a campfire to 14, more than half of the schools in London visited the squabble about how to spend a million pounds. museum; our aim is to make that two-thirds by 2018. Of course, the question is: how are they going to make Public engagement is enshrined in the research coun- all that money in the first place? By the same token, why cils’ royal charters—as it should be, because science, are researchers assuming that they have oodles of ‘sci- through technology, is the greatest force shaping cul- ence capital’ to spend, rather than wondering how they ture today. Paul Nurse’s review of the councils will no are going to engage with the big audiences that yield doubt consider how well they are fulfilling this aspect of such capital in the first place? their mission and whether they can do even more to use Around the PES campfire, many issues burn bright- museums to showcase their work. ly. The idea of a single public has given way to a The good news is that research councils are starting to heterogeneous mishmash of audiences.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cultural Ecology of Elisabeth Mann Borgese
    NARRATIVES OF NATURE AND CULTURE: THE CULTURAL ECOLOGY OF ELISABETH MANN BORGESE by Julia Poertner Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia March 2020 © Copyright by Julia Poertner, 2020 TO MY PARENTS. MEINEN ELTERN. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………………………... v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED ………………………………………………………….. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………………………………………………………………….. vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………… 1 1.1 Thesis ………………………………………………………………... 1 1.2 Methodology and Outline ………………………………………….. 27 1.3 State of Research ……....…………………………………………... 32 1.4 Background ……………………………………………………….... 36 CHAPTER 2: NARRATIVES OF NATURE AND CULTURE …………………………………... 54 2.1 Between a Mythological Past and a Scientific Future ……………………. 54 2.1.1 Biographical Background ………………………………………... 54 2.1.2 “Culture is Part of Nature in Any Case”: Cultural Evolution ……. 63 2.1.3 Ascent of Woman ………………………………….……………… 81 2.1.4 The Language Barrier: Beasts and Men …….…………………… 97 2.2 Dark Fiction: Futuristic Pessimism …………………………………….. 111 2.2.1 “To Whom It May Concern” ………………….………………… 121 2.2.2 “The Immortal Fish” ………………………………………….…. 123 2.2.3 “Delphi Revisited” ……………………………………….……… 127 2.2.4 “Birdpeople” …………………………………………….………. 130 CHAPTER 3: UTOPIAN OPTIMISM: THE OCEAN AS A LABORATORY FOR A NEW WORLD ORDER ……………………………………………….…………….……… 135 3.1 Historical Background …………………………………………………. 135 3.1.1 Competing Narratives: The Common Heritage of Mankind and Sustainable Development ……………………………………….. 135 3.1.2 Ocean Frontiers and Chairworm & Supershark ………………... 175 3.1.3 Arvid Pardo’s Tale of the Deep Sea …………………………….. 184 3.2 Elisabeth Mann Borgese’s Cultural Ecology ………………………….. 207 iii 3.2.1 Law: From the Deep Seabed via Ocean Space towards World Communities ……………………………………………………. 207 3.2.2 Economics ………………………………………………………. 244 3.2.3 Science and Education: The Need for Interdisciplinarity ……….
    [Show full text]
  • The Prophet of Climate Change James Lovelock Rolling Stone
    The Prophet of Climate Change: James Lovelock : Rolling Stone 4/14/10 6:53 AM Advertisement PRINTER FRIENDLY URL: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/16956300/the_prophet_of_climate_change_james_lovelock Rollingstone.com Back to The Prophet of Climate Change: James Lovelock The Prophet of Climate Change: James Lovelock One of the most eminent scientists of our time says that global warming is irreversible — and that more than 6 billion people will perish by the end of the century JEFF GOODELL Posted Nov 01, 2007 2:20 PM ADVERTISEMENT At the age of eighty-eight, after four children and a long and respected career as one of the twentieth century's most influential scientists, James Lovelock has come to an unsettling conclusion: The human race is doomed. "I wish I could be more hopeful," he tells me one sunny morning as we walk through a park in Oslo, where he is giving a talk at a university. Lovelock is a small man, unfailingly polite, with white hair and round, owlish glasses. His step is jaunty, his mind lively, his manner anything but gloomy. In fact, the coming of the Four Horsemen -- war, famine, pestilence and death -- seems to perk him up. "It will be a dark time," Lovelock admits. "But for those who survive, I suspect it will be rather exciting." In Lovelock's view, the scale of the catastrophe that awaits us will soon become obvious. By 2020, droughts and other extreme weather will be commonplace. By 2040, the Sahara will be moving into Europe, and Berlin will be as hot as Baghdad.
    [Show full text]
  • Leidenstudies Inislamandsociety
    After Orientalism Leiden Studies in Islam and Society Editors Léon Buskens (Leiden University) Petra M. Sijpesteijn (Leiden University) Editorial Board Maurits Berger (Leiden University) – R. Michael Feener (National University of Singapore) – Nico Kaptein (Leiden University) Jan Michiel Otto (Leiden University) – David S. Powers (Cornell University) volume 2 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/lsis After Orientalism Critical Perspectives on Western Agency and Eastern Re-appropriations Edited by François Pouillon Jean-Claude Vatin leiden | boston Cover illustration: Osman Hamdi Bey [1842–1910], A Persian carpet dealer or Street scene in Constantinople, 1888. Oil on canvas, 60×119,5 cm. Copyright: bpk / Nationalgalerie, smb / Bernd Kuhnert. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Colloque "L'orientalisme et après? - Méditations, appropriations, contestations" (2011 : Paris, France) After orientalism : critical perspectives on western agency and eastern re-appropriations / edited by Francois Pouillon, Jean-Claude Vatin. pages cm. – (Leiden studies in Islam and society ; v. 2) Original French title: Après l'orientalisme : l'Orient créé par l'Orient. Includes index. Translated from French. ISBN 978-90-04-28252-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) – ISBN 978-90-04-28253-7 (e-book) 1. Orientalism–Congresses. 2. East and West–Congresses. 3. Middle East–Civilization–Congresses. I. Pouillon, Francois. II. Vatin, Jean-Claude. III. Title. DS61.85.C6513 2011 303.48'2182105–dc23 2014034595 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, ipa, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface.
    [Show full text]
  • Liberation Ecology
    August 2016 Liberation Ecology An Interview with Leonardo Boff Theology can play a central role in defining the moral fiber of a society, including its commitment to poverty alleviation and stewardship of Earth. Allen White, Senior Fellow at Tellus Institute, talks with Leonardo Boff, a founder of liberation theology, about the origins of the movement and the vital connections between ecology and social justice. Half a century ago, you were among a small group of theologians who were instrumental in conceptualizing liberation theology. What spurred this synthesis of thought and action that challenged the orthodoxy of both Church and State? Liberation theology is not a discipline. It is a different way of practicing theology. It does not start from existing theological traditions and then focus on the poor and excluded populations of society. Its core is the struggle of the poor to free themselves from the conditions of poverty. Liberation theology does not seek to act for the poor via welfarism or paternalism. Instead, it seeks to act with the poor to tap their wisdom in changing their life and livelihood. How, then, do we act with them? By seeing the poor and oppressed through their own eyes, not with those of an outsider. We must discover and understand their values, such as solidarity and the joy of living, which to some extent have been lost by society’s privileged. Some of those who subscribe to liberation theology choose to live like the poor, sharing life in the slums and participating in residents’ organizations and projects. This method can be described as “see, judge, act, and celebrate.” Seeing the reality of the poor firsthand awakens an outsider to the inadequacy of his perceptions and doctrines for judging it and how to change it.
    [Show full text]
  • 28/9 N+Vs Layoutmx
    news and views mophilic Archaea? The explanation is three- transfer of smaller gene fragments between Daedalus fold and lies in the intense interest in the bio- species tends to be more common, raising chemistry of these unusual organisms, in the the question of why this seems not to have Talking to animals possibility that they represent the earliest happened for T. acidophilum. forms of life, and in the biotechnological One issue can be almost settled by the Last week Daedalus presented his mobile potential of their genes and gene products. details of this new genome sequence: whether ‘Ultraphone’ for silent speech. The user Thermoplasma acidophilum has one of T. acidophilum is an ancestor of eukaryotic whispers or mouths his message silently. the smallest of the archaeal genomes to have cells. Ruepp et al. compared T. acidophilum His voiced tone is replaced by an inaudible been sequenced so far. Even so, the speed at genes with those in bacterial and eukaryotic ultrasonic tone launched into his mouth. which Ruepp et al.1 sequenced the genome databases. The results show that, if anything, His tongue and palate modulate this into was remarkable. The full sequence of over the T. acidophilum genes are more similar to inaudible ultrasonic speech. A heterodyne 1.5 million base pairs was obtained from bacterial genes than to eukaryotic ones. Key circuit downshifts it back to an audio only 7,855 sequencing reactions — an effec- ‘marker’ genes found in eukaryotes (such as signal, which is transmitted. tive yield of 199 base pairs per reaction, genes encoding subunits of the nuclear pore Daedalus now has a biological use for compared with the 66 base pairs per reaction complex) are not found in the T.acidophilum the technique.
    [Show full text]
  • Conservation Update for Robert Hooke's Micrographia
    Slide 1 Conservation Update Robert Hooke’s Micrographia London:1667 Eliza Gilligan, Conservator for UVa Library [[email protected]] Hello, my name is Eliza Gilligan and I am the Conservator for University Library Collections at the University of Virginia. This slide show is a “re-broadcast” of a presentation I made at a library staff “Town Meeting” on September 16, 2011. I hope my notes to the slides fill in the gaps left by the transition from live presentation to this show, but if you have a question, please feel free to email me <[email protected]>. I’d like to share a little bit of information about the process of conservation treatment and also a little bit of information about what a unique opportunity conservation treatment provides in terms of examining the components of a book, using my recent treatment of Robert Hooke’s Micrographia as an example. Conservation of this title and many volumes from our circulating collections were made possible by a generous gift from Kathy Duffy, friend of the University Library Slide 2 What is Micrographia? The landmark publication that initiated the field of microscopy. The first edition was published in London in 1665. Robert Hooke described his use of a microscope for direct observation, provided text of his findings but most importantly, large illustrations to demonstrate his findings. The UVa Library copy is from the second issue printed in 1667. Eliza Gilligan, Conservator for UVa Library [[email protected]] This book was brought to my attention by a faculty member of the Rare Book School who uses it every year in her History of Illustration class.
    [Show full text]
  • SFRA Newsletter
    University of South Florida Scholar Commons Digital Collection - Science Fiction & Fantasy Digital Collection - Science Fiction & Fantasy Publications 6-1-2006 SFRA ewN sletter 276 Science Fiction Research Association Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/scifistud_pub Part of the Fiction Commons Scholar Commons Citation Science Fiction Research Association, "SFRA eN wsletter 276 " (2006). Digital Collection - Science Fiction & Fantasy Publications. Paper 91. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/scifistud_pub/91 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Digital Collection - Science Fiction & Fantasy at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Digital Collection - Science Fiction & Fantasy Publications by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. #~T. April/llay/June J006 • Editor: Christine Mains Hanaging Editor: Janice M. Boastad Nonfiction Reriews: Ed McKniaht Science Fiction Research Fiction Reriews: Association Philip Snyder SFRA Re~;e", The SFRAReview (ISSN 1068-395X) is published four times a year by the Science Fiction ResearchAs­ I .. "-HIS ISSUE: sodation (SFRA) and distributed to SFRA members. Individual issues are not for sale; however, starting with issue SFRA Business #256, all issues will be published to SFRA's website no less than 10 weeks Editor's Message 2 after paper publication. For information President's Message 2 about the SFRA and its benefits, see the Executive Meeting Minutes 3 description at the back of this issue. For a membership application, contact SFRA Business Meeting Minutes 4 Treasurer Donald M. Hassler or get one Treasurer's Report 7 from the SFRA website: <www.sfra.org>.
    [Show full text]
  • Bab Ii Analisis Dan Tinjauan Teori
    BAB II ANALISIS DAN TINJAUAN TEORI 2.1. Tinjauan Judul Perancangan 2.1.1. Perancangan Komik 2.1.1.1.Perkembangan Komik Karya perancangan ini bersifat sebagai eksplorasi awal di bidang pembuatan komik. Dalam karya ini juga membahas penggunaan teknik visual gabungan antara elemen 2D dan elemen 3D. 2.1.2. Gambar Ilustrasi 2.1.2.1.Perkembangan Ilustrasi Dalam karya ini digunakan teknik illustrasi yang mengandalkan garis (outline) dan kekuatan hitam-putih (contrast). 2.1.3. Tinjauan Science-fiction Fiksi ilmiah adalah sebuah genre yang luas tentang fiksi yang sering melibatkan spekulasi-spekulasi yang berdasar ilmupengetahuan dan teknologi jaman sekarang. Fiksi ilmiah dapat ditemukan di buku-buku, karya seni, televisi, film, games, teater, dan media-media lainnya. Dalam fiksi ilmiah terdapat berbagai macam tema dan sub-genre yang sangat sulit untuk didefinisikan. Berikut ini adalah daftar definisi menurut beberapa penerbit, editor, dan kritikus dari tahun ketahun sejak fiksi ilmiah menjadi bagian yang terpisah dari genre-genre lainnya. Menurut Hugo Gernsback.1920. “Dengan fiksi ilmiah saya maksud adalah tipe cerita seperti karangan Jules Verne, H.G. Wells dan Edgar Allan Poe, sebuah cerita yang digabungkan dengan fakta-fakta ilmiah dan visi-visi. Cerita-cerita menakjubkan tersebut tidak hanya marupukan bacaan yang sangat menarik, namun juga sangat instruktif. Cerita-cerita tersebut memberi pengetahua, dengan cara yang mudah diserap, pertualangan-pertualangan yang ada di cerita-cerita jaman sekarang bukanlah tidak mungkin dapat terrealisasi di masa akan datang… “(qtd. in Stableford, Clute dan Nicholls 311-314) 9 Universitas Kristen Petra 10 Menurut Robert A. Heinlein. 1947.” Spekulasi realistis mengenai kejadian-kejadian yang mungkin akan terjadi, didasarkan oleh pengetahuan yang mencukupi tentang dunia nyata, jaman lampau dan sekarang, dan pengertian yang dalam mengenai alam dan kepentingan metode ilmiah.
    [Show full text]
  • Language Under the Microscope: Science and Philology in English Fiction 1850-1914
    - 1 - Language under the Microscope: Science and Philology in English Fiction 1850-1914 Submitted by William Harrison Abberley to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English In September 2012 This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. Signature: ………………………………………………………….. - 2 - Abstract This study explores how Anglophone fiction from the mid-Victorian period to the outbreak of the First World War acted as an imaginative testing-ground for theories of the evolution of language. Debates about the past development and the future of language ranged beyond the scope of empirical data and into speculative narrative. Fiction offered to realize such narratives in detail, building imaginative worlds out of different theories of language evolution. In the process, it also often tested these theories, exposing their contradictions. The lack of clear boundaries between nature and culture in language studies of the period enabled fictions of language evolution to explore questions to which contemporary researchers have returned. To what extent is communication instinctive or conventional? How do social and biological factors interact in the production of meaning? The study traces two opposing tendencies of thought on language evolution, naming them language ‗progressivism‘ and ‗vitalism‘. Progressivism imagined speakers evolving away from involuntary, instinctive vocalizations to extert rational control over their discourse with mechanical precision.
    [Show full text]
  • Reverse Hallucinations in the Archipelago
    3 Reverse Hallucinations in the Archipelago intercalations 3 I The intercalations: paginated exhibition series is an experimental foray exploring the structure of the book as a potential curatorial space. As the reader-as-exhibition-viewer moves through the book-as-exhibition, she discovers that the erratic intercalations of the Anthropocene invite new forms of literacy, visuality, inquiry, and speculation that are, in the words of Clarice Lispector, less promiscuous than they are kaleidoscopic. intercalations is a project of SYNAPSE—The International Curators’ Network, published by K. Verlag and Haus der Kulturen der Welt intercalations: in conjunction with “The Anthropocene Project.” paginated exhibition series II III Reverse Hallucinations in the Archipelago unfolds an itinerant encounter with nineteenth-century European naturalists in the Malay world, where the theory of evolution by natural selection emerged alongside less celebrated concerns about mass extinction and climate change; by re-considering Reverse Hallucinations the reverse hallucinatory condition of colonial science in the tropics—how scientists learned to not see what was manifestly present—the reader- in the Archipelago as- exhibition-viewer may exhume from the remains of this will to knowledge an ethical conviction co-edited by of particular relevance for confronting forms of Anna-Sophie Springer neocolonization in the Anthropocene. & Etienne Turpin in association with Kirsten Einfeldt & Daniela Wolf intercalations 3 Preface by Kirsten Einfeldt & Daniela Wolf Orra White Hitchcock, Plate 27, “Strata near Valenciennes,” 1828–40, pen and ink drawing on linen, (1 of 61). Courtesy of Amherst College Digital Collections. Below a surface of three horizontal, uninterrupted layers, six types of sedimentation are seen moving their way up and down in a zigzag and pushing against a nearly horizontal section of differently composed layers situated on the left side of the image.
    [Show full text]