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The Bohr-Einstein Dialogue: a Rhetorical and Genre Analysis

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The Bohr-Einstein Dialogue: a Rhetorical and Genre Analysis THE BOHR-EINSTEIN DIALOGUE: A RHETORICAL AND GENRE ANALYSIS Rebecca Carruthers B.A. University of Waterloo 1999 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of English O Rebecca Carruthers 2004 Simon Fraser University January 2004 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced either in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: REBECCACARRUTHERS Degree: MASTERS IN ENGLISH Title of Thesis: THE BOHR-EINSTEIN DIALOGUE: A RHETORICAL AND GENRE ANALYSIS Examining Committee: Chair: CAROLE GERSON PROFESSOR RICHARD COE PROFESSOR DAVID MIRHADY ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, HUMANITIES JANET GILTROW PROFESSOR, ENGLISH, UBC Date Approved: JANUARY 29,2004 Partial Copyright Licence The author, whose copyright is declared on the title page of this work, has granted to Simon Fraser University the right to lend this thesis, project or extended essay to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request fiom the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. The author has further agreed that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by either the author or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without the author's written permission. The original Partial Copyright Licence attesting to these terms, and signed by this author, may be found in the original bound copy of this work, retained in the Simon Fraser University Archive. Bennett Library Simon Fraser University Burnaby, BC, Canada ABSTRACT As genre theories are applied to research sites across professional and academic settings, more researchers are identifying a need to develop reliable accounts of not only the relative stability of genres, but also the range of variation across generic texts. While researchers have long maintained that genres and their textual instantiations are not fixed, but rather stable-for-now configurations of formal features open to improvisation, renewal, and change, studies still tend to foreground a fair degree of stability within genres at the particular moments when investigations have occurred. In an effort to better understand the range of creative generic strategies open to users, the power they offer users, and the circumstances in which they work, the present study examines a case in which a genre user both conforms to the stable generic expectations of a given situation and creatively manipulates his generic resources to redirect the flow of discourse to his advantage. In particular, the present study examines the final phase of the Bohr-Einstein dialogue, in which Niels Bohr answers a challenge co-authored by Albert Einstein with a text that is, at once, generic enough to pass as a legitimate reply to Einstein and filled with unconventional generic forms borrowed from a neighbouring sphere of scientific activity. The borrowed generic forms in Bohr's reply are examined in terms of their role in providing Bohr with a coherent, innovative generic strategy through which he is able to reconfigure the perceived rhetorical situation at hand and prompt readers to rethink Einstein's challenge on Bohr's terms. While genre theorists warn that this kind of innovative generic strategy can confuse readers, the present study clearly demonstrates the power available to those able to marshal their generic resources to not only resyo~ldto a rhetorical situation, but take control of it. Bohr's success with this particular strategy, however, seems to have hinged on two things: a readership able to recognize and willing to accept Bohr's use of unconventional forms in his reply to Einstein; and Bohr's own reputation in the scientific community, which allowed him the leeway to play with the generic conventions of the community. TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval ........................................................................................................... ii ... Abstract ........................................................................................................... III Table of Contents............................................................................................. v ... List of Tables ................................................................................................. VIII List of Figures ............................................................................................. ix Chapter One: Introduction ........................................................... 1 Research in the Field .................................................................................. 3 Opportunities for Research ......................................................................... 5 Preceding Studies ............................................................................ 9 The Present Study ......................................................................... II Case Study: The Bohr-Einstein Dialogue...................................... 15 Chapter Overview ..................................................................................... 19 Chapter Two: Theories of Genre (and Situation) ..................... 21 Classical Genre Theories ......................................................................... 22 Isocrates's Approach to Genre ...................................................... 23 Aristotle's Genre Theory ................................................................ 25 Cicero's Genre Theory ................................................................... 30 Interim Genre Theories ............................................................................. 34 New Genre Theories ................................................................................ 37 Genre as Social Action ..................................................................38 Genre as Ecological Action ............................................................ 40 Genre as Strategy for Invoking Situation ....................................... 42 Chapter Three: The Bohr-Einstein Dialogue ............................49 The Dialogue in a Nutshell........................................................................ 50 The Fifth Solvay Conference (1 927) ......................................................... 56 Einstein's First Thought Experiment & Bohr's Reply ...................... 57 Einstein's Second Thought Experiment & Bohr's Reply................. 59 The Sixth Solvay Conference (1930) ........................................................62 Einstein's Photon Box Experiment & Bohr's Reply ........................ 64 The EPR Challenge and Bohr's Replylies (1935) .....................................70 The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) Paper .................................. 71 Bohr's Replylies to EPR .................................................................72 Bohr's Replylies to EPR: A Research Site ............................................... 77 Chapter Four: The EPR Paper and Bohr's Replylies ..............81 Bohr's Reply to EPR in Physical Review .................................................. 83 Modern Critiques of Bohr's Reply .................................................. 87 An Opportunity to Reexamine Bohr's Reply ................................... 89 Bohr's Reply: Unconventional in Physical Review ...................................9'l Repeated Interrogative Title ........................................................... 93 Summary-Heavy Style ................................................................... 95 Non-Mathematical Argument ....................................................... 100 Bohr's Reply: More Conventional in Nature ........................................... 103 Review Articles in Nature ............................................................. 105 Repeated Interrogative Title: Reconsidered................................ 108 Summary-Heavy Style: Reconsidered ........................................ 110 Non-Mathematical Argument: Reconsidered .............................. 115 Bohr's Reply: Elements of a Nature Article in Physical Review ............. 116 A Passable Theoretical Article ..................................................... 117 Allusions to a Review Article ........................................................ 120 A Reflection of the General Climate of Opinion ........................... 126 A Formal Victory .......................................................................... 129 Bohr's Letter in Nature: Generic Reinforcements .................................. 135 Chapter Five: Conclusion ........................................................ 139 Bohr's Reply: A Risky Move ... Anchored ............................................. 140 The Importance of Audience Recognition .................................... 142 The Importance of Audience Agreement ..................................... 143 The Importance of (Perceived) Authorial Intent ........................... 144 Bohr's Reply: A Balance of Conformity and Creativity ...........................147 Conforming to the Given GenrelSituation .................................... 149 Creatively Invoking a New Gemelsituation .................................. 152 Bohr's Generic Strategy: A Strategy of Power .......................................160 Implications for Genre Theory ...............................................................
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