From Fantasy to Imagination A Study of Italo Calvino’s Cosmicomics
A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of
Master of Philosophy in English Literature
by Noble Thomas 1730014
Under the Supervision of John Joseph Kennedy Professor
Department of English
CHRIST (Deemed to be University) BENGALURU, INDIA
December 2018
Approval of Dissertation
Dissertation entitled “From Fantasy to Imagination: A Study of Italo Calvino’s Cosmicomics” by
Noble Thomas, Reg. No. 1730014 is approved for the award of the degree of Master of
Philosophy in English Literature.
Supervisor: ______
Chairperson: ______
General Research Coordinator: ______
Date:
Place: Bengaluru
ii
DECLARATION
I, Noble Thomas, hereby declare that the dissertation, titled “From Fantasy to Imagination: A Study of Italo Calvino’s Cosmicomics” is a record of original research work undertaken by me for the award of the degree of Master of Philosophy in English Literature. I have completed this study under the supervision of Dr. John Joseph Kennedy, Professor and Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences and Co-Supervisor Dr. Bidyut Bhusan Jena, Assistant Professor at the Department of English.
I also declare that this dissertation has not been submitted for the award of any degree, diploma, associateship, fellowship or other title. I hereby confirm the originality of the work and that there is no plagiarism in any part of the dissertation.
Place: Bengaluru Date: Noble Thomas Reg No: 1730014 Department of English CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru
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CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the dissertation submitted by Noble Thomas (Reg. No. 1730014) titled “From Fantasy to Imagination: A Study of Italo Calvino’s Cosmicomics” is a record of research work done by him during the academic year 2017-2018 under my/our supervision in partial fulfillment for the award of Master of Philosophy in English Literature.
This dissertation has not been submitted for the award of any degree, diploma, associateship, fellowship or other title. I hereby confirm the originality of the work and that there is no plagiarism in any part of the dissertation.
Place: Bengaluru Date: Dr. John Joseph Kennedy Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru
Head of the Department Department of English CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru
iv Acknowledgement
I take this opportunity to acknowledge the valuable assistance I have received from various quarters during the preparation of my dissertation. First and foremost, I thank Almighty
God for the eternal providence and blessings showered upon me throughout this M.Phil course and the inspirational and enriching journey of building up of the dissertation.
I remember with gratitude, the help and guidance received during the course of my study from the management and the department of English, and special thanks to HOD, Dr. Adhaya
N.B. The guiding spirit behind this research is Dr. John Joseph Kennedy, Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, whose valuable suggestions inspired me to move ahead. I am grateful to the internal examiner as well as co-guide Dr. Bidyut Bhusan Jena, for his support and guidance in the preparation of the dissertation. He authoritatively guided me with the firm support of his scholarship.
I am much obliged to Dr. Kishore Selva Babu, coordinator of M.Phil programme for extending support to accomplish the research work on time. I would like to thank my classmates and friends as well. It has been enriching years, full of laughter, hard work and supportive optimism for one another.
v Abstract
The modern era is characterised by the rapid advancements in science and technology.
Science replaces the knowledge system traditionally represented by philosophy, religion and literature. The writers and critics of imaginative literature look at science as a source of information and knowledge and receive renewed interest to learn human condition and to seek the mystery of the universe. This paper evaluates the developments in contemporary cosmology and the worldview attached to it. It also takes into account the world of science fiction emerging today as an impact of the scientific and technological advancements. The difference between fantasy and imagination is brought out systematically and their presence in Italo Calvino’s
Cosmicomics is examined. It helps the paper to establish the fact that there is a move from the world of fantasy to the level of imaginations with the help of scientific developments of the contemporary times.
The paper finds in the Cosmicomics tales a movement from the mere use of fantasy to the analysis of data and reseraches in science. Therefore we are able to use our imagination capacity to read those tales. They are not merely fantasy anymore. We can imagine the narration using the scientific data available today, which is the same lying behind them. The increasing use of science in literature and literary creations will help people to enjoy reading and receive more real information regarding realities and say good bye to fantasy, that is behind many blind beliefs and evil practices.
Key Words: Imagination, Fantasy, Fiction, Science, Science Fiction, Worldview, Cosmology,
Cosmicomics, Cosmos
vi Contents
Approval of Dissertation ii Declaration iii Certificate iv Acknowledgements v Abstract vi Contents vii
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Science and Science fiction 3 1.2 The Importance of a Worldview 5 1.3 Developments in Modern Cosmology and the Emergence of a New Worldview 6 1.4 Research Objective 7 1.5 Research Questions 7 1.6 Method 7 1.7 Methodology 8 1.8 Limitation 8 1.9 Scope and Significance of the Study 9 1.10 Literature Review 9 1.10.1 Books 9 1.10.2 Articles 13 1.10.2.1 Italo Calvino and essays on Calvino 13 1.10.2.2 Literature and Science 18 1.10.2.3 Imagination 20 1.10.2.4 Cosmology 22 Works Cited 24
Chapter 2 Fantasy, Imagination and Fiction 25
2.1 Imagination and Fantasy 25 2.1.1 Etymology 25 2.1.2 ‘Imagination’ and ‘Fantasy’ in the dictionaries 26 2.1.3 Imagination in Various Disciplines 28 2.1.4 Fiction and Fantasy 32 2.1.5 Science Fiction and Fantasy 33 2.2 Science Fiction and Subgenres 34 2.2.1 Science Fiction 34 2.2.2 Subgenres of science fiction 36 2.2.2.1 Alternate history 37
vii 2.2.2.2 Apocalyptic science fiction 37 2.2.2.3 Cross-genre 37 2.2.2.4 Cyberpunk 38 2.2.2.5 First Contact 38 2.2.2.6 Hard science fiction 38 2.2.2.7 Light/humorous science fiction 39 2.2.2.8 Military science fiction 39 2.2.2.9 Near-future science fiction 39 2.2.2.10 Soft/sociological science fiction 39 2.2.2.11 Space opera, 39 2.2.2.12 Time travel 40 2.3 Italo Calvino and Science Fiction 40 2.4 Cosmicomics 42 Works Cited 45
Chapter 3 Evolution of Modern Cosmology 49
3.1 Worldviews: Traditional and Contemporary 49 3.1.1 Static view 50 3.1.2 Finished product view 50 3.1.3 The best universe in the beginning 50 3.1.4 Geocentrism 50 3.1.5 Celestial/terrestrial distinction 50 3.1.6 Change and immutability 51 3.1.7 Fixity of Species 51 3.1.8 Natural place and definite, predetermined purpose 51 3.1.9 Absoluteness of principles 51 3.1.10 Human-centered view 52 3.2 Modern Cosmology and New Insights 53 3.2.1 Our Cosmos 54 3.2.2 Theories of the Origin of the Cosmos 55 3.2.2.1 The Steady State Theory 56 3.2.2.2 The Big Bang Theory 57 3.2.2.2.1 Hubble Expansion 58 3.2.2.2.2 Big Bang Nucleosynthesis 59 3.2.2.2.3 Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMWBR) 60 3.3 The New Understanding of Cosmos 61 3.3.1 The Cosmic Oneness 62 3.3.2 Universe is Intrinsically Dynamic 63 3.3.3 The Future of the Universe 66 3.3.4 Many Worlds Interpretations (Multiverses) 67 3.3.5 Time Travel 68 3.3.6 Extra-terrestrial Life 70
viii 3.3.7 Concept of Multidimensional Space and Non-linear Time 71 Conclusion 73 Work Cited 75
Chapter 4 Italo Calvino and Cosmicomics 78
4.1 The Distance of the Moon 78 4.2 At Daybreak 80 4.3 A Sign in Space 82 4.4 All at One Point 84 4.5 Without Colours 86 4.6 Games Without End 88 4.7 The Aquatic Uncle 90 4.8 How Much Shall We Bet? 91 4.9 The Dinosaurs 93 4.10 The Form of Space 94 4.11 The Light Years 95 4.12 The Spiral 96 Conclusion 97 Work Cited 98
Chapter 5 Conclusion 100
5.1 Some Observations 104 5.2 Research Findings and its Social Relevance 105 5.3 Limitations of the Study 106 5.4 Further Scope 106 Work Cited 107
Bibliography 108
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Chapter 1
Introduction
The modern era is characterised by the rapid advancements in science and technology.
Science replaces the knowledge system traditionally represented by philosophy, religion and literature. The writers and critics of imaginative literature look at science as a source of information and knowledge and receive renewed interest to learn human condition and to seek the mystery of the universe. Many insights/ theories and discoveries of the modern science such as chaos theory, theory of relativity, cybernetics, quantum theory, theory of evolution etc., have contributed them with an immense amount of inspiration and provided them with new methods of thinking. Consequently, literature of the postmodern era also assimilates the content of the scientific progress as an integral part of its development.
Before the rise of modern science, religion and metaphysics played an important role for the thinkers. Rather than facts and figures religion and metaphysics received the attention of the thinkers and writers. Literature, at that time, was influenced largely by the worldviews propagated by religion and philosophy. They were largely based on popular beliefs. Such literature shed light on the life, values and systems of that age. They also encouraged the writers of that time to bring out their best compositions ever in literature.
It is with the emergence of the modern science, the writers begun to take resort to scientific thought to feed their imagination. Progress in the biological science in particular began to play an important role in the imagination, intellect and literature of the writers. This Thomas 2
development in the biological sciences commenced with the publication of On the Origin of
Species in 1859 by Charles Darwin. Darwin’s theory spoke about biological evolution through natural selection. Herbert Spencer, a sociologist applied this theory of Darwin in the biological and social systems and thereby the writers of the time also received a considerable influence.
That’s how the writers like Thomas Hardy, Emile Zola, George Eliot, and others used the insights of biological sciences in their literature.
Second Law of Thermodynamics formulated by Rudolf Clausius is another discovery with great impact on the writers. Though the theory was formulated in 1850, we find it only in the works of postmodern writers. But it has got wide popularity and acceptance in the academics.
The enduring effect of the second law of thermodynamics explicitly appears in the twentieth century literature. “The second law of Thermodynamics states that, the state of entropy of the entire universe, as an isolated system, will always increase over time” (Malley). The second law lead to the understanding of the concept of the entropy of the universe as an increasing chaos and this particular tendency was made use in the literature.
Universe according to Sir Isaac Newton was rational, ordered and mechanistic. But the faith in such a universe began to disappear with the advancements in the modern science. The postmodern literature eradicated the root of the Newtonian universe and they posited unpredictability and discontinuity as the features of the universe according to the renewed understanding. Science provided with a new worldview. It helped human reason and imagination to look at reality with an afresh attitude formulated by the new theories of science. Relativity theory of Einstein, uncertainty principle by Heisenberg, other quantum principles etc. helped the
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formulation of the special view of reality. This approach is well articulated in the works of many writers of the twentieth and twenty-first century. Apart from the above stated developments there are many other developments in science that are formulated in the last fifty years have also contributed to the postmodern literature.
The scope of the research includes the developments in modern science and the worldview created by it. It also takes into account the world of science fiction emerging today as an impact of the scientific and technological advancements. This is very relevant because, the society we live in today is shaped and guided by the forces of science and technology. Therefore, we must be very cautious about the influences made by the modern science in literature and thereby make sure whether modern literature is able to guide the new generation to a bright future giving them proper orientation.
1.1 Science and Science fiction
Science fiction (otherwise appeared as sci-fi or SF) is a narrative with supernatural or futuristic elements and comes under speculative fiction, which comprises multiple genres of science fiction like supernatural fiction, fantasy, science fantasy, horror, superhero fiction etc.
Sometimes, these multiple genres may appear in mingled form too. It deals mainly with imaginative concepts. Space travel, travelling faster than light, travel in time and time machine, other universes and the forms of life in them etc. are the themes discussed in them. All the potential possibilities of modern science and its insights are exploited by the writers and used it with an advantage of their imaginative faculty.
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It is difficult to define science fiction, as there are a number of subgenres in it and the themes they deal with are multiple. Hence, we have some opinions from famous writers in this field to be considered as definitions. Hugo Gernsback speaks about science fiction as a “charming romance intermingled with scientific fact and prophetic vision” (“Hugo Gernsback”). A science fiction writer, Robert A. Heinlein defines science fiction as, “realistic speculation about possible future events, based solidly on adequate knowledge of the real world, past and present, and on a thorough understanding of the nature and significance of the scientific mind” (Heinlein).
Science fiction is a rational way of writing literature. It deals with other possible worlds and different possible futures. It is related to fantasy but different from it. The imagination and their elements used in the science fiction are largely possible in course of time. Many of them have their settings not on earth but in outer space. They present the situations of the other worlds and sometimes of the subterranean earth. The characters are also special since they are androids or humanoid robots or aliens and mutants. There may be characters that result from human evolution. Technology presented is also highly futuristic. The technology of computers, machines, guns are all ultramodern. There will be teleportation machines. The possibilities of humanoid computers are highly discussed. There will be new scientific principles. We may feel that they contradict the existing physical laws. Travelling in time is a best example. We cannot comprehend this with the present laws of science. Certain characters exhibit paranormal abilities like mind control, telepathy and telekinesis.
Interplay between literature and science becomes quite visible in the world of science fiction. Literature, in its intuitive fantasy, speaks about many of the advancements science is yet
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to achieve. In the hard science fiction rigorous attention is paid to the accurate details in the natural sciences, especially chemistry, physics, and astrophysics. In the pages of hard science fiction we also see some accurate predictions of the future emerge; whereas, on the other hand science provide with literature always afresh concepts and possibilities. It inspires the imagination and intuition of the writers in this field.
1.2 The Importance of a Worldview
Worldview is the way a person sees and understands the world around him. He/she may be looking at the world with a collection of ideas and a set of beliefs. Therefore, it answers the ultimate human quest to know the essential queries of his existence like why are we here? Do we find a meaning in life? Is there a God? What is life? And what happens with death? There are different answers to this question and they may vary person to person. They may not make sense.
One’s worldview influences his/her decisions and attitudes towards life and society. The worldview will be reflected in the words and actions of each person. One who is so much proud of his/her culture will find it difficult to accept other cultures equally important and worthy. It may cause them to be brutal, cruel, and self-righteous. People who believe that all living things are connected will work hard in preserving their environment and there may be even movements under their leadership.
Worldviews are not static and immutable. They grow and become mature. The constant learning and formation of each one’s life contribute to their life with a better worldview in each course of time. Therefore, the best answers to our queries are yet to come.
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Every author has a worldview and he/she lives with it. Though they are subject to change, the influence it has on the literature of the time he/she writes is important. The worldview is reflected in each minute details of the literary product. The subject, language, themes, characters, their attitudes, situations, society, norms, religious believes etc. are highly influenced by the writer’s worldview.
1.3 Developments in Modern Cosmology and the Emergence of a New Worldview
20th century cosmology has become a science, a well-defined area of research within astronomy and physics. Modern cosmologists use physical laws as the tool for understanding seemingly a complete but mysterious universe. The strategy they employ is simple: they learn the laws of physics in the laboratories. Then the explanation of the universe follows from the observed universe on the basis of the laws they learned from the laboratories. The outcome of this effort is a model of the universe. The 20th century model of the universe is known as the Big
Bang Model. The Big Bang Theory is very successful in describing how the primeval fireball expanded and cooled and congregated in to form galaxies, stars and planets.
The Big Bang model of the universe has caused the formation of a new worldview with which the writers and thinkers of the contemporary era look at the world. The world of literature is going to be shaped and controlled by this worldview. The speciality of this worldview is that the use of imagination and intuition is at home with it. The time, space, vastness and other related concepts could be grasped only with the help of imagination and intuition. It is here science leave a space for literature to bridge the gap between fantasy and reality.
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1.4 Research Objective
The objective of the study is to examine the difference between fantasy and imagination and to find their presence in Italo Calvino’s Cosmicomics, in view of establishing the fact that there is a move from the world of fantasy to the level of imaginations with the help of scientific developments of the contemporary times.
1.5 Research Questions
• What is the current understanding of fantasy and Imagination? How is it distinguished in
different disciplines?
• How does the scientific development influence the human capacity of imagination? Or,
what is the impact of modern science on human imagination?
• How does the impact caused by modern science on human imagination affect the
literature and literary works?
• What is the content of science fiction today: fantasy or imagination?
1.6 Method
The method employed is textual analysis and interpretation of the first twelve short stories of The Complete Cosmicomics. In the textual analysis the contemporary cosmological insights and the evaluation of the short stories will be done in the framework of philosophy of science.
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1.7 Methodology
The concepts of philosophy of science will be employed to analyse the short stories in the
Cosmicomics. Philosophy of science is a sub-discipline of philosophy, which deals with the methods, foundations and implications of science. Philosophy of science interrogates into the scientific insights and asks the question how does it work? It also analyses the methods through which the scientific knowledge is constructed. Therefore, using the method of Philosophy of
Science will help the research to check how the scientific content is built up in the twelve short stories of Italo Calvino.
1.8 Limitation
The themes like developments in modern science and its relationship with literature are very broad and it may be studied from multiple perspectives. Therefore, the research will be limited to the developments in modern cosmology and the influence of its subsequent worldview on literature. To continue with the research more specifically, the research will concentrate on the study of Cosmicomics, a collection of twelve short stories by Italo Calvino. The significance of
Cosmicomics is that, in the book each story takes a scientific "fact" (we may feel that this science fact is false in contemporary understanding), and constructs an imaginative story around it. Each story except two in the collection narrates an event in the distant past and thereby it creates the feeling that the tale is dealing with a particular period in the history of the universe. The development in modern cosmology and the influence of the new worldview is quite visible in the
Cosmicomics.
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1.9 Scope and Significance of the Study
Scientific progress has got high impact on the literature of the contemporary era. This research will be an analysis of those influences by which literature introduces scientific themes to the laity and bring discussions upon them. It is an interdisciplinary study and science-literature relationship is rather a new topic for research. The presence of science and its theories in literature and the use of literature in science are themes that are being studied these recent decades. Hence, much more researches are to be carried out in this field. This small paper will be a contribution to the similar demands of the time. The research will contribute to the better understanding of science fiction and the use of fantasy and imagination in their use. It will prompt the use of scientific data for the analysis and explanation of reality in question. Fantasies will slowly disappear and only what is real will persist.
1.10 Literature Review
1.10.1 Books
The primary book upon which the research is based is The Complete Cosmicomics by Italo
Calvino. The collection of short stories by Italo Calvino, named Cosmicomiche (originally published in Italian and the first English translation came out in 1968 by William Weaver) was published in 1965. It is “a collection of minimalist fables concerning the origin of Earth, is narrated by a one-cell organism called Qfwfq, who lives in the first protozoan and in all later forms of evolution from mollusc to man” (Thomson, The Telegraph).
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The tales narrated in Cosmicomics seem to be like answers to the curious questions of a child. They are “ . . . myths imaginatively designed to illuminate our earliest origins” (Siegel, 43).
Calvino had thirty-four tales to publish in this category in two decades. Though there were only twelve stories in the first volume published in 1965 (Cosmicomics), it was only a beginning. The second collection followed in this regard was Ti con zero (‘T zero’, translated as Time and the
Hunter by William Weaver) published in 1967. It contained eleven new stories. A third collection, which was not available commercially, was published with the title La memoria del mondo e altre storie cosmicomiche in 1968 (world memory and other Cosmicomics stories). This third collection had twenty fictions of which twelve were from the previous two collections and eight were new pieces. In the research only the first set of twelve short stories named
Cosmicomics will be used. The twelve stories will be analysed in the background of the cosmological inventions of the time that is absent in the book.
Mapping Complexity: Literature and Science in the Works of Italo Calvino By Kerstin Pilz, is the study of the works of Italo Calvino. It shows us that the literature of Calvino contains science and scientific themes as inevitable part of it. Mapping Complexity is an interrogation into
Calvino’s works, especially his fictions and short stories themed science and it’s insights. It studies about Calvino and his special concerns in science and science related wisdom. How does he incorporate this scientific wisdom into his short stories? The book employs different kinds of approaches to learn Calvino. It is found easy to learn more about Calvino and his works in the light of comparative literature, postmodern and cultural studies. This work also is an important source of information since it addresses an important part of the research.
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Cosmos by Carl Sagan is a very famous book in which everything about modern cosmology is discussed. Cosmos covers a wide range of topics related to cosmology in its thirteen chapters. Sagan explains the evolution of the cosmos with the help of modern cosmological theories and he further takes us into the development of human culture and modern civilization.
This book is much helpful in learning cosmology and its history and development. Carl Sagan gives philosophical approach to the study of cosmos and which is much useful for me, since the research is depended upon the Philosophy of Science.
The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction gives an elaborate and integral overview of science fiction. It reveals the history and the development of this particular literary genre and it’s relationship with other disciplines. The Companion introduces the major works, writers, their contributions, different genres etc. and also the expected outcome and future of science fiction. It helps us to develop a critical approach to the study of science fiction by giving us certain frames, which we can use in the study of it. At the same time the companion also challenges us to develop other methods and frames that can be used in the study of science fiction today. The
Routledge companion will remain a true friend in the research in science fiction providing true and enough information on the sought matter.
Science Fiction: A Guide for the Perplexed, by Sherryl Vint also offers an integral approach to science fiction today. Being a teacher of science fiction in the university of
California, it was easy for Sherryl Vint to give academic narrations, which are authentic about science fiction and its derivations. All the important concepts in science fiction that a research scholar must know and understand are well established in the book. It is really helpful in research
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as it includes a lot of information regarding science fiction, which covers a major portion of the research.
Science Fiction: A Very Short Introduction is an Oxford short introduction to science fiction that contains everything that a pioneer in science fiction should know. It is very comprehensive but loaded with information. This will be a very useful handbook for me to refer to anything related to science fiction in my research.
Tomorrowland: Our journey from Science Fiction to Science Fact by Steven Kotler, is a collection of articles by Kotler, published in different online as well printed publications. These articles are dealing with technology and innovations in various fields of science and technology.
He divides the whole book into three parts: the future is here, the future out there and the future uncertain. These three sections deal with the past, present and future of the technological developments. The author tries to establish that the science fiction or the fantasies in science have eventually turned into facts or realities. Many of the technological advances are foreseen in fantasy. He presents in the essays how these technological innovations help us to live an advanced life as well interrogate the moral and ethical dilemmas that these developments may lead us into. The book will be an indirect aid in the research to learn how the science fiction becomes science fact in the recent developments of science. That may help this research in
Calvino to learn how the fantasies of the ancient world become true science today.
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1.10.2 Articles
1.10.2.1 Italo Calvino and essays on Calvino
“Italo Calvino's Cosmicomics: Qfwfq's Postmodern Autobiography” is an article written by Kristi Siegel which is an attempt to analyze the twelve short stories of Cosmicomics from a postmodern perspective. In postmodernism writers are tend to abandon the real worlds and concentrate more on possible or fictional world. They are not ready to find out answers to the questions pertaining to human existence. In the twelve short stories, what Calvino does is also the same thing. He speaks about a world that is more fictional than real. Though he begins with scientific hypothesis, it has very less contact with physics, but at the same time connected to metaphysics, which is a philosophical enquiry in to core of being.
Cosmicomics is considered as a fictional autobiography in which the writer projects himself as Qfwfg, the character in all the stories. We are not sure what kind of being Qfwfg is, but its consciousness is human and its world is postmodern. As the postmodern philosophy explains,
Qfwfg interprets the world in relation to himself. The article gives a complete postmodern analysis of the character Qfwfg in the Cosmicomics. The nature, tendencies, specialties, psychology etc. of the character is systematically analyzed. This article helps the research to understand more about the short stories from the perspective of postmodernism.
There is “An Interview with Italo Calvino” done by Gregory L. Lucente. This interview is on the development of Italo Calvino’s fiction in the background of his then published works, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler (1979) and Palomar (1983). Mr. Gregory at Calvino’s residence
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in Rome did the interview. The questions raised by the interviewer were concentrated on literary self-consciousness, structuralism, censorship, criticism, themes discussed in the two narrations and the socio-cultural and literary impacts of them. A good well discussion on If on a Winter’s
Night a Traveller takes place in the interview. This novel being the most famous one by the author, the discussion sheds light to the views of the author about his own literary career and way or writing. Towards the end of the interview, the complexity as well as the clarity, the nature of his stuff was referred to. The answer is really inspiring for a lover of literature. This interview reveals more about Calvino himself since these are directly from his mouth. It becomes easy to know the author and his works when he himself speaks certain things about his own works.
“Italo Calvino: In Memoriam” is a posthumous note written by Teresa de Lauretis. Author uses high words or praises to speak about the world famous writer, Calvino. The death of the writer is compared to the death of a sun. She writes that, we are left with a kind of darkness. The light we were enjoying so far is disappeared suddenly. A kind of confusion and chaos prevails.
The short note by Lauretis gives a biography of Calvino, the making of the writer in him and the literary career is critically analyzed. Teresa gives a good study of Calvino, his times, biography and literary career. Thus this memorial note is being prepared with much deliberation and published immediately after the demise of Calvino, is credible enough to gather information on his life and works.
John Morse writes “On Italo Calvino”. This essay is an analysis of Calvino’s If on a
Winter’s Night a Traveller published in the year 1979. Essay states in the beginning sentence that it is a novel written about novel itself and the main character is a not the writer but a reader.
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There are few observations the writer put forward: the novel is a simple one, hence it is easy to read. Secondly, the book is not about writing but about reading. Then, it doesn’t deal with any kind of complex literary theories; rather, help the reader to have an easy and comfortable reading experience.
The essay analyses the twelve chapters of the book and gives a detailed analysis of the role of the reader in it. The characters are analyzed the themes are discussed and it summarizes the entire narration into few beautifully written paragraphs. It is all about reading a book. Everything in the process of reading a book is narrated; touching, smelling, sensing, feeling etc. are narrated and the essay summarizes them. This essay will provide with detailed information on Calvino’s one of the famous novels and will be useful in analyzing his literature in the preliminary chapters of my thesis.
A review of the book “Italo Calvino: A Journey toward Postmodernism” by Constance
Markey is available. Domenico Maceri does the review and it sheds light into the content of the book. According to the review, the author, who knew Calvino personally, could present the development of Calvino from his early neo realistic outlook to the present one which is modern.
The first chapter of this book gives an overview of the entire work. There is a presentation of
Calvino’s life through his works as well a comparison with other literary giants of that time. The review states that this work will be an introduction for a novice to the literary world of Italo
Calvino.
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This review is very short and hence could give only a comprehensive view on Calvino. It doesn’t say how journey towards postmodernism happen with Calvino. Yet the review inspired me to collect the original work and read. The original work will be able to contribute to my research abundantly, since I approach my paper from a postmodern perspective.
Constance Markey’s Doctoral Thesis is on “The Role of the Narrator in Italo Calvino’s
Fiction”. As the title indicates, the thesis deals with the role of narrator in his fiction. She has gone through almost all the works of Calvino to study about the narrator in his fictions. She is hopeful that the study will help her explore more about the author’s artistry as well as his skeptical reflections, through the analysis of his narrator. She finds in her research that the narrator is not just an observer, but a modern/ postmodern man. Evolution and the quality of the narrator are studied in the first two chapters accordingly. The comic and the tragic is met in
Calvino’s narrator. Since this doctoral thesis doesn’t include the short stories in Cosmicomics, it will do only a partial help to the research by giving some insights into the nature of Calvino’s narrator.
“What We Desire, We Shall Never Have: Calvino, Žižek, and Ovid” is an article written by
Robert Rushing. This essay is a psychoanalytic approach to Calvino’s narrations. Rushing states in the beginning of the essay that there hasn’t been much of such criticism on Calvino. He points out to a problem in Cosmicomics that there is a loss of woman character. Women are absent in his history of the universe that he narrates through his short stories named Cosmicomics. Author believes that his observation can be proved with the help of Zizek’s definition of fantasy and explanation of the “act” and Freud’s explanation of repetition compulsion. The argument he put
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forward can be summarized as follows: “Calvino’s Cosmicomic stories suggest that the compulsive repetition of the loss of woman is a fantasy in the strictly Zizekian sense, a fantasy that the male protagonist repeats compulsively in order not to face his own self-destructive turn, the possibility of an “Act”” (47). This essay will be helpful to read and understand the short stories, Cosmicomics, from a psychoanalytic perspective. This is an essay directly handling the short stories that I concentrate more for my research. I hope it will be helpful in understanding the stories integrally.
In the essay, “From Estrangement to Commitment: Italo Calvino's "Cosmicomics" and "T
Zero"”, Francis Cromphout studies two series of short stories, namely, Cosmicomics and T-Zero by Calvino. Calvino himself has told once that his short stories don’t belong to the genre of science fiction. But by nature it is considered in this genre. Cromphout wants to clarify why they are considered as science fiction. He, with the help of Darko Suvin and others find the features applicable for a science fiction, present in the works of Calvino. The essay is a scholarly approach to Calvino’s short stories to study them in the background of science fiction. This article will definitely contribute to the analysis of the Cosmicomics in the research.
Davide Messina attempts in his essay “Qfwfq as Kafka? Possible-Worlds Interpretations” to evaluate the Cosmicomics stories in the light of possible worlds semantics. Calvino was not ready to have any sort of concern for semantics in his work. He even avoided the reading of books regarding it. The fictional character Qfwfq is studied with the help of different literary theories. The article analyzes the stories and the worlds presented by it with the help of Kafka and try to draw the conclusion that the Cosmicomics parabola is a parable on the hybridization of
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our written world. That the stories ask the readers to go beyond what they read. It is a very helpful essay to understand more about the Cosmicomics stories. It provides a framework to approach them and inspires to create one’s own. Repeated reading of the essay develops an intuitive vision to the Cosmicomics stories.
1.10.2.2 Literature and Science
“Aldous Huxley Reconciles Science and Literature” is a piece of news regarding novelist
Aldous Huxley’s essay on “Literature and Science”. It gives a small introduction to Huxley’s thoughts regarding literature and science. It can be read as part of the reading done for research to understand more about the relationship between literature and science.
“From Plato to Philip K. Dick: Teaching Classics Through Science Fiction” by Jennifer
A. Rea is a course description. According to it the course is given on incorporating classical literature and modern science fiction. They help the students who are interested in science fiction to help understand classical literature too and to find what they both have in common. For that students will be advised to read both classical texts and modern science fiction. The course gives them an introduction to science fiction, which helps them to understand this particular genre and to go deep in their reading. Course covers four weeks programme and it is given in detail. This essay gives an introduction to the world of science fiction, as it briefly explain an entire course on science fiction in the university of Florida.
James J. Bono writes the articles “Making Knowledge: History, Literature, and the
Poetics of Science”. There is a growth in the field of science and literature. There is a powerful
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influence of science on literature. As well we find the use of literary-linguistic practices as a foundational part of scientific wisdom. This scenario compels us to have a deliberate attention on both these fields, namely history of science and literature and science itself. The essay presents them as interdependent. An analysis of both those fields will be more helpful in understanding the world and its realities in a better way. The essay reveals more about the relationship between science and literature and their contribution to the field of contemporary knowledge.
“Literature and the History of Science” is an article written by Rüdiger Campe. It is a small essay on the relationship between literature and science. Author finds this relationship growing deeper in the recent years and they remain complementary and mutually nourishing. He speaks in the background of the publication of some major works in this field by authors like
Thomas Kuhn, Hans Blumenberg etc. The growing interest in the interdisciplinary approach to science and literature emerged as part of the culture and this is dealt more elaborately as a philosophical approach. The essay will strengthen the views on the importance of an interdisciplinary approach and its contemporary relevance.
Pauline Rosenau beautiful essay is named “Modern and Post-Modern Science: Some
Contrasts”. This scholarly essay studies the development of science in the postmodern era. The author understands the postmodern culture in its diversity. There are a number of approaches in postmodernism. It is a philosophy and at the same time a culture of plurality. Therefore in the first pages of the essay we get the approach of science, skeptical post modernists and affirmative postmodernists to different world realities and principles both of science and scientific research.
The essay elaborately explains the modern and postmodern methods in science, epistemology,
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reasoning and research. The essay provides enough knowledge on postmodern culture and philosophy and its approaches to knowledge.
“Science Fiction and Imagination” is an article written by David Ketterer, Eric S. Rabkin and Raffaella Baccolini. Authors of the essay and its response deal with science fiction, imagination and the world of literature. The essay gives insights into the nature and method of science fiction and its development parallel to the growth in modern science. Essay is sound enough to strengthen the argument in the research in favor of the relationship between science and literature.
“The Genre of Science Fiction” by Virginia F. Bereit is a well studied and briefly presented essay on the genre of science fiction. This essay gives first hand knowledge needed for a novice in the field. It gives definition, divisions, style, characters, different features etc. to learn more about this particular genre. I hope that this essay will provide me with a detailed introduction to science fiction.
1.10.2.3 Imagination
“From Imagination to Creativity” is the second chapter of the book From Imagination to
Innovation. The chapter deals with imagination in detail. Imagination is presented as a necessary element for all the innovations and progress. There are many theories regarding imagination: how does it originate/ created, how to keep it going and growing etc. Imagination helps to improve the quality and standard of life. There are twelve propositions presented in the paper to help us to understand imagination more. Imagination is thinking outside the box based on critical theory
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and thinking. Author tries to prove that how does imagination with the aid of creativity produce innovation. Essay is much helpful to know more about imagination, it’s importance and working and how does it lead to innovations with the help of creativity.
Arthur D Efland writes the article, “Imagination in Cognition: the purpose of the arts”.
What is the role of imagination in the process of cognition? Does imagination a part of it?
Imagination used to be excluded from the realm of cognition. It was not considered to be an influential element. Author tries to prove the other way. He says that imagination is important to generate knowledge, develop understanding and foster education. He strengthens his argument with the help of studies from philosophy and psychology. He is critical about many approaches in philosophy and theories of psychology that kept imagination away from the process of cognitions. He presents cognitive structures, which can be better completed with the help of imagination. Essay is helpful in understanding the importance of imagination in the process of cognition and acquiring knowledge.
“Imagination: the Missing Mystery of Philosophy?”, is an article written by Michael
Beaney. In the first chapter of the book Imagination and Creativity Beaney presents imagination as a missing mystery in philosophy. he tries to define imagination using ideas from ancient time onwards. The kinds of different imaginative experiences and the meaning of imagination are well explained. He finds a distinction between imagination and fantasy and gives arguments for discussion. Another important part contained in this chapter is the twelve conceptions that the author gives about imagination. That too follows some points for discussion. Though the whole chapter is not available online the present part I have and went through gives a lot of information
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about imagination. It is a good work which can do help in understanding imagination in the right way.
Murray Hunter writes the article, “Imagination May be More Important than Knowledge: the Eight Types of Imagination We Use”. Imagination is considered to be more important than knowledge itself. It has a vital role in constructing our reality, the essay arguments. Eight types of imagination are explained in the essay. All these eight type of imagination and their functioning form more important part of human life than the knowledge he acquires throughout his life. This essay definitely will be useful in my research to learn more about imagination itself and how does it work in the genre of science fiction.
In the article, “Art and Imagination: A Study in the Philosophy of Mind” Roger Scruton, writes in the background of empiricist philosophy of mind to deal with a systematic account of aesthetic experience. The author sorts help from different philosophers and psychologists to prove his side. Therefore the work is a scholarly approach to aesthetics. Though the whole book is not needed for the present research, the introduction and chapters 7,8 and 9 that directly address imagination and its role in aesthetics will be useful.
1.10.2.4 Cosmology
The essay “Cosmology and Magic” is written by Mario Bunge. This essay is the study of modern cosmology dealing with cosmological theories and development. It speaks about the steady state theory and other theoretical developments of the 1960s and 70s. There is an attempt by the author to relate the scientific development to that of fiction and magic. The conclusion is
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drawn to that direction. This essay is written some decades back hence, can’t be considered as an advanced study. It doesn’t say what cosmology deal today. The contemporary developments in the field is lacking in the essay. Still, it contributes to know about the development of the discipline to an extent.
“Cosmology and Science Fiction” is written by Stanislaw Lem and Franz Rottensteiner, is a remark on the book Cosmology Now, which is an edited work. It was given to the journal
Science Fiction Studies for a review but the editor found it so shallow for an ordinary review.
Therefore it was given a very detailed reading before coming up with these remarks. It gives an overall outlook of the book as well a summary of the cosmology of that time from a critical point of view. Since this essay is also of few decades back, it could provide only partial information regarding contemporary cosmology.
The books and articles presented in the review will be the basis of the research that I do.
We do not find in any of the presented books or article the scientific approach to science fiction to check whether they are fantasy or imagination. There are examples and inspiration in the works analyzed but they do provide a wide opportunity for the research I have proposed.
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Works Cited
Malley, Konstantin and Ravneet Singh. “Second Law of Thermodynamics”, Chemistry
Libretexts, 5 November 2016. https://chem.libretexts.org/Textbook_Maps/Physical_and_
Theoretical_Chemistry_Textbook_Maps/Supplemental_Modules_(Physical_and_Theoretic
al_Chemistry)/Thermodynamics/The_Four_Laws_of_Thermodynamics/Second_Law_of_T
hermodynamics, accessed 2 December 2018.
“Hugo Gernsback”. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, 31 August 2018. http://www.sf-
encyclopedia.com/entry/gernsback_hugo, accessed 12 November 2018.
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Chapter 2
Fantasy, Imagination and Fiction
2.1 Imagination and Fantasy
These are two terms used in our daily conversation with not much distinction. But a close analysis will reveal the difference in meaning they have. To the question, are they the same, answer is, no. Fantasy is part of imagination; but imagination is not always fantasy. Though they may look like close synonyms, there is essential difference between these terms and they denote totally different concepts. Let us check the etymology, meanings given by different dictionaries and some definitions of these terms to substantiate the argument that there is an essential difference between imagination and fantasy.
2.1.1 Etymology
Phantasia is an ancient Greek term, which means ‘to make visible’ (Brenner). We see the use of this Greek word in the works of Plato and Aristotle, the great philosophers of the ancient
Greece. They used this term to indicate ‘the power of apprehending’ or ‘experiencing phantasmata’. Phantasmata is ‘appearance’ or ‘an occurrence of something appearing to be such- and-such’. Aristotle has used this term to mean ‘mental image’ (Beaney 6). When these words came into the language of the Romans, i.e. Latin, phantasia was translated as imaginatio and phantasma as imago. Phantasia was also in use in Latin in the transliterated form. Later in the seventeenth century as Latin lost its importance and English came to be a popular language used
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all over the world, the transliterated word phantasia became ‘fantasy’ and imaginatio became
‘imagination’. But there was no distinction between these two words. They used both terms synonymously. The distinction comes only later. Though originated from the same Greek root phantasia both imagination and fantasy have different connotations in the contemporary usage.
2.1.2 ‘Imagination’ and ‘Fantasy’ in the dictionaries
There are minor variations in the explanations given to them in different dictionaries.
Collins’ dictionary defines imagination as it “ . . . is the ability that you have to form pictures or ideas in your mind of things that are new and exciting, or things that you have not experienced”
(“imagination” Collins) and fantasy as “ . . . a pleasant situation or event that you want to happen, especially one that is unlikely to happen” (“fantasy” Collins). For Oxford dictionary imagination is “the faculty or action of forming new ideas, or images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses” (“imagination” Oxford) and fantasy is “the faculty or activity or imagining impossible or improbable things” (“fantasy” Oxford). Merriam-Webster dictionary says fantasy is
“obsolete” and elaborates as “hallucination” (“fantasy” Merriam-Webster); whereas imagination is “the act or power of forming a mental image or something not present to the senses or never before wholly perceived in reality” (“imagination” Merriam-Webster).
All the above quoted dictionaries, both print and online, define fantasy and imagination with visible differences. There was a time when both these words were used synonymously. But the present dictionaries give a clear distinction as we have seen above. Fantasy is something unlikely to happen, imagining something impossible or improbable, it is obsolete or a
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hallucination. It has a relation with imagination. We can say that fantasy is a product of imagination. But it is far from reality. It is imagination of something that is impossible or improbable, hence it can be considered as a hallucination. Hallucinations don’t have any connection with reality. In Dissertations Moral and Critical of 1783 James Beatite wrote,
“according to the common use of words, imagination and fancy are not perfectly synonymous.
They are, indeed, names for the same faculty; but the former seems to be applied to the more solemn, and the latter to the more trivial, exertions of it” (qtd.in Beaney 6).
Imagination on the other hand, is the ability to form new ideas, images or concepts of external objects, which are not present to the senses. It is the mental ability of a human person to form in their thoughts things that they are not experiencing at present. A person can imagine many things: he may imagine that he is on a drive with his wife. He does it every week. He may imagine that he owns a luxurious villa on the beach. This is possible but not going to really happen. He may imagine that he is flying to moon, touches it and come back. It is impossible hence subject to imagination. This is called fantasy. It is in this context we can distinguish the difference between imagination and fantasy. This is why Brenner says, “fantasy has more connotations of unreality or delusion than imagination” (5).
Dictionary Imagination Fantasy Oxford Dictionary of English “Faculty or action of forming “The faculty or activity of new ideas, or images or imagining impossible or concepts of external objects improbable things” not present to the senses.” (Stevenson 632). (Stevenson 873)
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Collins Concise Dictionary & “The faculty or action of “A far-fetched idea; Thesaurus producing mental images of imagination unrestricted by what is not present or in reality; a daydream; etc.” one’s experience.” (Gilmour (Gilmour 338) 467) Chambers 21st Century “The ability to form, or the “A pleasant daydream; Dictionary process of forming, mental something longed for, but images of things, people, unlikely to happen; a events, etc that one has not mistaken notion etc.” seen or of which one has no (Robinson 472) direct perception of knowledge.” (Robinson 673)
Cambridge Advanced “The ability to form pictures “A pleasant situation that you Learner’s Dictionary in the mind; something that enjoy thinking about, but you thins exists or is true, which is unlikely to happen, although infact it is not real or the activity of thinking or true.” (Walter 717) itself.” (Walter 511)
Longman Dictionary of “The ability to form pictures “An exciting and unusual Contemporary English or ideas in your mind.” (Fox experience or situation you 810) imagine happening to you, but which will probably never happen.” (Fox 570)
2.1.3 Imagination in Various Disciplines
Imagination was a theme of discussion even in the Hellenistic philosophy. Plato was not favorable to the power of imagination. Because he considered those who used imagination are
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under the control of muses. In the seventeenth century we see Rene Descartes also giving directions against, as said by Jones, “the blundering constructions of the imagination” (qtd.in
Efland 27). Being a rationalist Descartes opposed the use of imagination. But the empiricists like
John Lock too did not favor imagination. It is in eighteenth century the mental faculty of imagination got an appreciation by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant as the “productive faculty of cognition” (qtd.in Efland 27). Imagination has a place in the contemporary epistemological view called “experiential realism” (Efland 28).
Positivism, in the recent centuries, criticized artistic imagination due to its deprivation of the rational content. But it was not possible to test its reliability too. “Philosophers of the 20th century like Ernst Cassirer suggested that the recollection of the past events and the anticipation of the future events have used some symbolic processes” (Cassierer 75). These symbolic processes demand imagination for their fulfillment. “Symbolic memory is the process by which man not only repeats his past experience but also reconstructs his experience. Imagination becomes a necessary element of true recollection” (Cassierer 75). According to another philosopher called John Dewey, imagination is “the generous blending of interests at the point where the mind comes in contact with the world, when old and familiar things are made new in experience” (qtd.in Efland 28). Even though imagination was a closed chapter for philosophers and psychologists for a long period in the last century (Beaney 2 & Efland 28).
Oxford Dictionary of Psychology defines imagination as “the act or process of imagery, especially of generating mental images of stimuli that are not being or have never been experienced in perception . . .” (Colman 366). Penguin Dictionary of Psychology gives more
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clarity in its description of imagination as, “the process of recombining memories of past experiences and previously formed images into novel constructions” (Reber et al. 371). Here the dictionary gives stress to the experienced past moments that formed images which are recombined for novelty. As the definition continues it emphasizes the point by saying,
“imagination is treated as creative and constructive, it may be primarily wishful or largely reality- bound, and it may involve future plans and projections or mental reviews of the past.” (Reber
371).
Fantasy is considered as a product of imagination in psychology, that they consider it as a conscious creation and like a daydream that the human person creates. Psychoanalysis also gives answer to the question why do they make fantasies: it is “to procure an imaginary satisfaction that is erotic, aggressive, self-flattering or self-aggrandizing in nature” (Perron 550).
Samuel Taylor Coleridge beautifully deals with fantasy and imagination in his famous work of 1817, Biographia Literaria. Fancy for him, is a logical way of organizing sensory material without really synthesizing it, whereas, imagination is a spontaneous and original act of creation. Coleridge describes imagination in its primary and secondary forms. In primary imagination the impressions of the outer world is received in all its details. “It is a spontaneous act of the mind; the human mind receives impressions and sensations from the outside world, unconsciously and involuntarily, imposes some sort of order on those impressions, reduces them to shape and size, so that the mind is able to form a clear image of the outside world” (“S T
Colleridge: Imagination and Fantasy”). Thus a coherent and logical perception of the reality becomes possible for everyone.
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The primary imagination is universal and everyone possesses it. The secondary imagination is the typical quality of an artist. Secondary imagination works behind all the artistic creation and literary works. “It is more active and conscious and it requires an effort of the will, volition and conscious effort” (“S T Coleridge: Imagination and Fantasy”). Primary imagination supplies the raw material and the secondary imagination works on it. Sensations and impressions are the raw materials provided by the primary imagination. “By an effort of the will and the intellect the secondary imagination selects and orders the raw material and re-shapes and re- models it into objects of beauty. It is ‘esemplastic’, i.e. “a shaping and modifying power”” (“S T
Coleridge: Imagination and Fantasy”).
Secondary imagination inspires the writers and poets and by which, the opposites are harmonized and reconciled. It is a “magical and synthetic power” for Coleridge. “This unifying power is best seen in the fact that it synthesizes or fuses the various faculties of the soul – perception, intellect, will, emotion – and fuses the internal with the external, the subjective with the objective, the human mind with external nature, the spiritual with the physical” (“S T
Coleridge: Imagination and Fantasy”). Through the secondary imagination, which is a unifying power according to Coleridge, the poet creates the beauty in the nature and. By the synthesizing activity of the secondary imagination helps the poet to find ‘the identity’ in man and in nature.
The primary and secondary imaginations are not different in kind but in degree. “The secondary imagination is more active, more a result of volition, more conscious and more voluntary than the primary one. The primary imagination is universal while the secondary is a peculiar privilege enjoyed by the artist” (Colleridge). Anyway we reach to the conclusion that
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imagination and fantasy are different in nature.
2.1.4 Fiction and Fantasy
Fiction and fantasy may seem to be of same nature. We may be tempted to believe them as the same, but are not. They are two words meaning of which derive from the principle of non- truth. It is really difficult to mark a line of distinction between both these words since they are interconnected. If we separate them to say that they are different, their meanings may become blurred. Therefore, scholars speak about these words using their characteristic features and thereby proving the distinction existing between them.
The first difference between fantasy and fiction is seen in the concepts discussed by them.
Concepts like princesses, princes, fiery dragons, gigantic wizards and the like, appears in fantasy.
When the concepts of cyborgs, aliens, futuristic machines and the like, are found we consider it as part of fiction. “Regarding the personas dragons and wizards, these elements are considered to be archetypes. They live in a unique archetypal landscape that is mostly influenced by culture
(usually European culture). With aliens and cyborgs, these elements are pictured in a landscape that has undergone great technological, as well as, social change. Thus, they are personas that are different from what presently exists” (Rameshwaram).
Fiction and fantasy are differed in the way they are perceived. We know that both are unknown concepts. But, in fiction we try to understand the unknown, because, it helps us to bring changes to the contemporary living situations. However, “in fantasy the unknown element is to be cherished, because it is strange by nature” (Rameshwaram).
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Fantasy and fiction can also differ in thier spacial arrangements and settings. To say, dragons and wizards are of the ancient time and they belong to a world that is not scientific. They are part of the past. Because of these characteristics, they are considered as fantasies. But with fiction, “the concepts are often applied in the future, as in advanced technologies and other life forms in space” (Rameshwaram).
Fantasy and other types of fiction like science fiction, differs mainly by the fact
“that fantasy usually involves a mystical base, i.e. magical, mythical or supernatural, imagined worlds, while science fiction makes use of an analytical, scientific discourse and focuses on technology” (Vale).
2.1.5 Science Fiction and Fantasy
We have already seen that there is a vital difference in understanding fiction and fantasy.
Here we come to analyze the possible differences between science fiction and fantasy. There can be a general tendency to overlook the difference existing between them and to say that science fiction is a product of fantasy. In other words, people tend to believe that fantasy play the primary role in framing sci-fi stories.
What is science fiction? It is difficult to answer this question if we haven’t thought about it. What is the concept behind Star Wars? Is it a science fiction? The reader comes to the conclusion that the Star Wars are science fiction because they find elements of a science fiction it. It is a true fact that Star Wars is science fiction. But is it really science fiction? A closer analysis will prove it the other way.
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Let’s us consider “science fiction” as two words and try to know the meaning of both words separately. Science is understood as the systematized knowledge derived from observation, study, experiments etc. Thus science assures that things are real because they exist and are observable. They are observable as well as repeatable. “A fluke or random event isn’t considered scientific fact unless it can be repeated, simulated and observed by trained scientists whose scrutinizing gaze can confirm that it does, in fact, exist” (Robinson). The word “fiction” can be understood as any literary work with imaginary characters and events. Cambridge Dictionary defines it as “the type of book or story that is written about imaginary characters and events and not based on real people and facts” (“fiction” Cambridge). Therefore, let’s conclude very well that the Star Wars is fictitious. On the other hand “science fiction is fiction (imaginary characters and events) bound by the observable and repeatable laws of science” (Robinson). The laws of science change time to time, and therefore science fiction will always have new stories narrating science that do not exist.
2.2 Science Fiction and Subgenres
2.2.1 Science Fiction
What is science fiction? Is it possible to define science fiction? Does it give a clear picture with the literary work when it is addressed ‘science fiction’? There are many questions left unanswered even at the end of detailed researches on science fiction. That is not because science fiction is vague or shallow, but because of it’s hybrid nature. Therefore a clear definition itself is lacking. Yet we attempt to understand science fiction from different perspectives. Oxford’s A
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Short Introduction to Science Fiction gives the following narration while defining it: “science fiction has proved notoriously difficult to define. It has variously been explained as a combination of romance, science and prophecy (Hugo Gernsback), ‘realistic speculation about future events’ (Robert Heinlein), and a genre based on an imagined alternative to the reader’s environment (Darko Suvin). It has been called a form of fantastic fiction and an historical literature” (Seed 1).
The term ‘science fiction’ was popularized by Hugo Gernsback through his magazines
Amazing Stories (first published in 1926) and Science Wonder Stories (first published in 1929)
(Vint, 3). Though there are traces of science fiction in history it began to appear as a separate genre from 1970’s onwards. The consequences of the science and it’s discoveries were the theme discussed in this genre. The question asked by the science fiction writers is that, “what if a world existed in which this or that were true?” (Gilks, Science Fiction).
It is not necessary that one must be expert in the branches of science to deal with this genre of fiction. Science fiction, being like any other fiction, is about people and examines human condition from a totally different perspective, may be an ‘alien’ perspective. But even then the alien may be represented through human perceptions so that an empathy between the reader and the character to be formed.
The question ‘what if’ must resonate always in the mind of a science fiction writer. He should ask this question to everything he encounters, and to every concept he receives from his readings. One has to be widely read in both fiction and non-fiction and in news, articles and
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magazines covering a wide variety of topics not exclusively science and technology. Television programmes also must inspire this question inside (Gilks).
There are various accounts available regarding the origin and development of science fiction. The origin of the genre of science fiction is debated for decades. Literature is available with the argument that the genre was introduced and inaugurated by US pulp magazine editor
Hugo Gernsback in 1926. At the same time, there are others who trace the origin back to writers from classical antiquity and to the first century AD, such as Euripides, Cicero, Plutarch,
Diogenes, and Lucian. Another argument suggests Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein or the Modern
Prometheus (1818) as the ever first science fiction text. There are supporters for the fiction of
Edgar Allan Poe in the 1830s and 1840s, Jules Verne from the 1860s and H.G. Wells from the
1890s. Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, Arthur C. Clarke, H.G. Wells, Ray Bradbury, Frank
Herbert, Robert A. Heinlein, George Orwell, Jules Verne, Kurt Vonnegut, Aldous Huxley, Larry
Niven etc. are some of the great giants of science fiction all over the globe.
As it is difficult to trace the exact origin of the genre, it is also confusing to define it in the proper sense of the term. Though we have attempted a definition above, the understanding of the subgenre of sci-fi will make it clearer.
2.2.2 Subgenres of science fiction
Since science itself has a number of branches and also different writers concentrate on their field of interest in science itself, we have a number of subgenres for sci-fi too. “ . . . our understanding of science sf must necessarily be multiple, and further that this heterogeneity
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describes not merely the genre as it exists in the twenty-first century, but also the range of texts that have been retroactively incorporated into histories of the genre . . .” (Vint, 12). An overview of the different subgenres evolved through the ages in the history of sci-fi will lead us to a better understanding of it.
2.2.2.1 Alternate history
Alternate history is the branch of non-realistic literature that presents history turned out differently. It seeks the possibility of a an alternative narration for the historical truth. This branch is otherwise called as alternate universe, allohistory, uchronia and parahistory (Hellekson, 453 and also Gilks, The Subgenres).
2.2.2.2 Apocalyptic science fiction
“The end” is the focus of the apocalyptic sci-fi. It is considered to be the dominant platform of visions of apocalypse and catastrophe. Lucifer’s Hammer by Niven and Pournelle narrates the instance of a comet wiping out the society to be rebuilt later; a nuclear holocaust destroys humanity in Nevil Shute’s On the Beach (Cf. Mousoutzanis, 458 and also Gilks, The subgenres).
2.2.2.3 Cross-genre
These are the “stories defy easy distinctions between science fiction and other genres, such as fantasy. These novels may also blend science fiction and romance, mystery, suspense, and even Westerns” (Gilks, The Subgenres).
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2.2.2.4 Cyberpunk
“cyberpunk is set in a high-tech, often bleak, mechanistic and futuristic universe of computers, hackers, and computer/human hybrids. The subgenre was pioneered by Bruce Sterling and William Gibson, who coined the term "cyberspace" in Neuromancer. Humans may have built-in computer jacks or software” ("wetware"), and spend “considerable time "living" in a virtual environment, as in The Matrix” (Gilks, The Subgenres).
2.2.2.5 First Contact
This subgenre explores “the initial meeting between humans and aliens, ranging from horrific tales of invasions to stories of benign visitors bearing the secrets of advanced technologies and world peace. The meeting may occur on Earth, in space, or on another planet”
(Gilks, The Subgenres).
2.2.2.6 Hard science fiction
Hard sci-fi “seeks to avoid contradicting the contemporary state of scientific knowledge, something never completely realized. It relies on mathematics which is inaccessible to most readers” (Samuelson, 494). “Plausible science and technology are central to the plot. If the story is set on a lunar colony, for example, issues of technology may be of greater concern than a character's personal life. To write effectively in this subgenre, an author must generally have a good grasp of the scientific principles involved” (Gilks, The Subgenres).
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2.2.2.7 Light/humorous science fiction
It exists within a subgenres. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams is an example.
2.2.2.8 Military science fiction
Military science fiction is about wars and combat in space or in another planets. It is done against some kind of modified humans or aliens.
2.2.2.9 Near-future science fiction
Near future science fiction “takes place in the present day or in the next few decades.
Elements of the setting should be familiar to the reader, and the technology may be current or in development. Stories about nanotechnology or genetics, such as Greg Bear's Blood Music, often fall into this category” (Gilks, The Subgenres).
2.2.2.10 Soft/sociological science fiction
This subgenre is “character-driven, with emphasis on social change, personal psychology and interactions, etc. While technology may play a role, the emphasis is not so much on how that technology works, but how it affects individuals or social groups” (Gilks, The Subgenres).
2.2.2.11 Space opera,
Space opera is “like Western "horse operas," often involves good guys "shooting it up"
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with bad guys (who may be aliens, robots, or other humans) in the depths of space or on a distant planet. Space operas (of which Star Wars is a classic example) don't worry about scientific implausibilities; technical explanations tend to be vague” ("You see, Bob, if you fold space just so...").
2.2.2.12 Time travel
Time travel was popularized by H.G. Wells by his Time Machine in 1888. In this subgenre “Characters travel to the past or future, or are visited by travelers from either end of the spectrum” (Gilks, The Subgenres). A variant of this subgenre is the "alternate universes" in which the changes in the time creates new universes.
There are many more subgenres that could be added to this list. But it is restricted since these are enough to understand the variety of science fiction appear every year. Among all these subgenres my concentration will be on science fiction based on cosmological studies such as first contact, space opera, time travel etc. Before entering into the details of such fictions let us have a look into the evolution of modern cosmology. It is the evolution of the modern cosmology that led to the development of science fiction of the above mentioned subgenres.
2.3 Italo Calvino and Science Fiction
Italo Calvino was born in Cuba to Italian parents Mario and Eva Mameli on 15 October
1923. After his birth in 1925 the family returned to Italy and settled permanently in Sanremo on the Ligurian Coast. Calvino lived in different places in relation to his studies and career. “ . . .
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Calvino grew up near Genoa and then lived in Turin, Paris and lastly Rome” (Lauretis, 97).
Calvino is known to be an Italian journalist and writer of short stories and novels. From his career
Calvino is described also as “ . . . an intellectual, a critic and a creative writer . . .” (Lauretis, 97).
His literary life begun with his first novel The Path to the Nest of Spiders came out in
1947. The Ancestor’s Trilogy otherwise knows as Italian Trilogy (The Cloven Viscount (1952),
The Baron in the Trees (1957), The Nonexistent Knight (1959)) and the collection and transcription of his Italian folktales (1956) came out in 1950’s. It is said that “The novels that are collectively referred to as the Italian Trilogy reveal Calvino’s shift from the neorealistic to the fantastic” (Tinkler, 68). Calvino used to work on more than one piece at a time. For example,
“while he was writing his influential work If on a winter’s night a traveler he was he was also crafting Mr. Palomar, a work that would not be published for another eight years” (Tinkler, 59).
The short story series Difficult Loves were written during 1940s and 1950s. The Difficult
Loves can be divided into four sections as: ““Riviera Stories,” “Wartime Stories,” “Postwar stories” and “Stories of Love and Loneliness” (Tinkler, 67). The first three sections were written between 1945 and 1949 and the last section in 1950s. Next one is a novella named Marcovaldo or The Seasons in the City, a novella came out in 1963. From 1965 onwards the series of
Cosmicomics (1965) and t-zero (1967) appeared. The Castle of Crossed Destinies, which came out in 1969, also could be divided into two parts as, The Castle of Crossed Destinies and The
Tavern of Crossed Destinies, each section containing eight stories. “The Watcher” (1963),
“Smog” (1958) and “The Argentine Ant” (1952) are the three novellas contained in The Watcher and the Other Stories published in 1971.
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Invisible Cities came out in 1972 is a masterpiece of Calvino and the winner of Reltrinelli
Prize. Calvino’s best-known work If on a winter’s night a traveler came out in 1979. It is a “ . . . novel written about itself. Its main character is a reader who sets out in the first chapter to read
Italo Calvino’s new novel, If on a winter’s night a traveler” (Morse, 111). “If On a Winter’s
Night a Traveller (1979) is composed of 10 half-finished novels, each dizzyingly contained within another like a Chinese box” (Thomson, The Telegraph). Mr. Palomar is another novel published in 1983. “It is a book about observing and imagining the world” (Tinkler, 84). Under the Jaguar Sun (1988) and Numbers in the Dark and the Other Stories (1995) are collections of his earlier and unpublished short stories collected and published by Calvino’s wife Esther
Calvino after his death in 1985 due to cerebral hemorrhage. It is reported that as he dies at the age of 61, he had a plan “to write 14 more books” (Thomson, The Telegraph).
Calvino was a master of allegorical fantasy and he was Italy’s leading contemporary novelist. The New York Times writes about Calvino as follows: “Mr. Calvino was attracted to folk tales, knights and chivalry, social allegories and legends for our time: Fabulous and comic memory chips, slightly askew, seemed to be imbedded in his unprogrammed mind. His characters defied the malaise of daily life in the modern world” (Mitgang, The New York Times).
2.4 Cosmicomics
As we have already seen the collection of short stories named Cosmicomiche (originally published in Italian and the first English translation came out in 1968 by William Weaver) was published in 1965. It is “a collection of minimalist fables concerning the origin of Earth, is
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narrated by a one-cell organism called Qfwfq, who lives in the first protozoan and in all later forms of evolution from mollusc to man” (Thomson, The Telegraph).
The tales narrated in Cosmicomics seem to be like answers to the curious questions of a child. They are “ . . . myths imaginatively designed to illuminate our earliest origins” (Siegel, 43).
Calvino had thirty four tales to publish in this category in two decades. Though there were only twelve stories in the first volume published in 1965 (Cosmicomics), it was only a beginning. The second collection followed in this regard was Ti con zero (‘T zero’, translated as Time and the
Hunter by William Weaver) published in 1967. It contained elevan new stories. A third collection, which was not available commercially, was published with the title La memoria del mondo e altre storie cosmicomiche in 1968 (world memory and other cosmicomic stories). This third collection had twenty fictions of which twelve were from the previous two collections and eight were new pieces.
In the above mentioned three collections, Cosmicomics and T zero could be understood as having a common nature or constituting a single literary project. They have four significant elements in common: “(1) they feature Qfwfq, also as narrator; (2) they employ SF models; (3) they recurrently display a similar structural pattern; and (4) they are informed by a binary code, with the characters fulfilling a symbolic function” (Cromphout, 162). Here in this study I will be concentrating only on Cosmicomics i.e. the first collection published in 1965 containing 12 stories.
There is a question why did Calvino write Cosmicomics stories? It is because Calvino felt
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exhausted with the realistic fiction that he was reading and writing at that time. He felt a need to turn elsewhere for inspiration and it was science (McLaughlin, ix). He was “inspired by the working of the universe” (Mitgang, The New York Times). It was a period in history where we see in international community a growing interest in explorations in “space, . . . genetic engineering, communication technologies and theories of meaning (linguistics and semiotics)”
(Lauretis, 98). Calvino was also under the influence of time that he made use of the contemporary scientific inventions especially studies on cosmos to nurture his fiction.
Calvino, in his Cosmicomics stories tries to combine the ancient cosmogenic myths with the latest theories of the scientific cosmology. The subject matter of his stories are divided in to four main strands: a) The moon; b) The sun, stars and galaxies; c) The earth; d) Evolution and time (McLaughlin). Therefore, it requires an understanding of the modern cosmological theories to continue with the research to find out the elements of fantasy, imagination and science fiction in Calvino’s Cosmicomics.
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Beaney, Michael. Imagination and Creativity. The Open University: UK, 2005.
Brenner, Anna. “Fantasy.” Winter 2003: The University of Chicago, 25 July 2018.
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"T Zero" (De l'éstrangeté à l'engagement: "Cosmicomics" et "Temps zéro" d'Italo
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1985. 21 December 2017 Thomas 47 novelist-dead-at-61.html?pagewanted=all>. Morse, John. “On Italo Calvino.” Chicago Review, Vol. 33, No. 2 (1982), pp. 111-114 . JSTOR. 19 October 2017 < http://www.jstor.org/stable/25305131>. Perron, Roger. “Fantasy”. International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis. Thomson – Gale: USA, 2005. Rameshwaram, Kumar. “Difference between Fiction and Fantasy”, Quora, Dec. 1, 2017, https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-fiction-and-fantasy. Accessed 29 July 2018. Reber, Arthur S., Allen, Rhianon & Reber, Emily S. (eds.). Penguin Dictionary of Psychology. Penguin Group: England, 2009. Robinson, Jeremy. “The Difference between Science Fiction and Fantasy: What every Screen- writer Needs to Know”, Script Writer, December 18,2017, http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-genre/science-fiction- fantasy/the-difference-between-science-fiction-and-fantasy-what-every-screenwriter- needs-to-know. Accessed 04 August 2018. Robinson, Mairi & Davidson, George (eds.). Chambers 21st Century Dictionary. Allied Publishers Private Limited: New Delhi, 2008. Seed, David. Science Fiction: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford, 2011. Siegel, Kristi, “Italo Calvino’s Cosmicomics: Qfwfg’s Postmodern Autobiography.” Italica, Vol. 68, No. 1, Perspectives on the Novecento (Spring, 1991), pp. 43-59. JSTOR. 19 September 2017 “S. T. Coleridge: Imagination and Fancy - CSS Forums.” CSS Forums RSS, Thomas 48 www.cssforum.com.pk/css-optional-subjects/group-v/english-literature/403-s-t-coleridge- imagination-fancy.html. Accessed 29 July 2018. “Steady-State Theory.” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 2017. Encyclpedia Britannica. 18 December 2017 Stevenson, Angus (ed.). Oxford Dictionary of English. Oxford University Press: NY, 2010. Tinkler, Alan. “Italo Calvino.” Review of Contemporary Fiction, Spring 2002; 22, 1; Research Library. . . . Thomson, Ian. “Italo Calvino: a celebration of the fairy king.” The Telegraph 19 September 2015. 21 December 2017 the-fairy-king/> Vale, Stella. “What is the Relationship Between Fantasy & Fiction?”, Pen & the Pad. https://penandthepad.com/relationship-between-fantasy-fiction-3145.html, accessed 10 August 2018. Vint, Sherryl. Science Fiction: A Guide for the perplexed. London: Bloomsburry, 2014. Walter, Elizabeth., Woodford, Kate., Good, Melissa. et al (eds). Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Cambridge University Press: UK, 2010. Thomas 49 Chapter 3 Evolution of Modern Cosmology Worldviews are important since it plays an important role in forming the knowledge system, shaping the meaning system, determining the value system and controlling the expectation levels etc. A worldview that an institution possesses is unappealing and ineffective it is irrelevant to people. The worldview up to the period of developments in modern science dates back to the static worldview of Aristotle and Aquinas with its implications. Modern Science on the other hand presents a dynamic worldview with its many implications. The astrophysicists, biologists and others have joined their hands to explore that we are living in a world that is inherently evolutionary, intrinsically dynamic, always in ‘process’, hence, incomplete and almost inexhaustible in its potential for change (Kozhamthadam) 3.1 Worldviews: Traditional and Contemporary Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, lived in the 3rd century BC, developed a very powerful worldview, which dominated the western world for over 2000 years. St Thomas Aquinas, who lived in the 13th century was an ardent seeker of truth and a philosopher-theologian, was influenced strongly by Aristotle and his worldview. It is along with Aristotle’s influence that Aquinas left his personal imprint on whatever he wrote and taught. Let us see some characteristics of the Aristotalian-Thomistic worldview: Thomas 50 3.1.1 Static view Like Aristotle, St. Thomas also believed in a universe with boundaries. Within the boundaries some dynamic activities and changes could take place, but the whole universe itself remained static with definite boundaries. 3.1.2 Finished product view The different items in the universe came as finished products. The book of Genesis, for instance, gives a good illustration of this point. 3.1.3 The best universe in the beginning The universe we live in is the best one, but may not be the perfect one. 3.1.4 Geocentrism According to the cosmology of that day, it subscribed to geocentrism. The earth was the center of the universe and remained stationary, while all other bodies went around the earth. 3.1.5 Celestial/terrestrial distinction Following the long-standing tradition of Plato and Aristotle, this view made a sharp division between the celestial and the terrestrial worlds. The celestial was far superior to the terrestrial. In fact, the celestial was the real world, whereas the terrestrial was the inferior/shadow world. Thomas 51 3.1.6 Change and immutability Change is a mark of imperfection and inferiority, immutability a mark of perfection and superiority: change was looked upon as a mark of imperfection and inferiority. Since the celestial world was perfect, no change was allowed in this world. Naturally, immutability became a mark of superiority. 3.1.7 Fixity of Species This view believed in the fixity of species, and so it was not possible for beings belonging to one species to change into another. The nature of essence of things also remained unchanged, e.g., human nature was fixed. 3.1.8 Natural place and definite, predetermined purpose In this static universe with definite boundaries everything had its fixed natural place and its preordained purpose or goal. Thus this view held that the natural place of the earthy thing was the center of the universe, i.e., the center of the earth. Everything had its own set purpose or goal, e.g., sex was only for procreation. Every natural body acted to attain its goal. 3.1.9 Absoluteness of principles The universe existed and operated in accordance with certain principles that were considered absolute and non-negotiable. Often they were taken to be self-evident and undeniable, e.g., the earth was stationary and did not move. Thomas 52 3.1.10 Human-centered view The centrality of humans was another tenet of this view. This was to be expected since the earth was the center of the universe and humans were the roof and crown of this earth. Everything in the universe had been created and ordained for the well being of humans. The traditional static worldview presents a simple, systematic, orderly, well-demarcated universe, where everything has its preordained place and predetermined function or purpose. It is an unchanging, determinate, definite and predictable universe, in which God has done all the work. Humans are welcome to enjoy it, provided they, like the prodigal son, are ready to repent and return to the loving and forgiving father. Here perfection is achieved by going back to the original pristine state. On the other hand, the dynamic worldview provided by modern science presents an imperfect, but perfectible, unfinished, but on the way to getting finished universe, where there is no complete certainty nor complete predictability, where humans are called upon to collaborate with God through hard work and research to bring the world to perfection. The pleroma and final fulfillment are guaranteed; but humans have to wait patiently, and struggle hard to make it happen. Let us take a look into the development of modern cosmology that helped the traditional worldview to be refined and updated. Thomas 53 3.2 Modern Cosmology and New Insights Cosmology is the study of the evolution, current state, and future of the universe. The study of the universe is found from the beginning of the intellectual journey of human being. All the human cultures existed have proofs for their investigations in this regard. But even now we are not sure about many questions humanity have sought so far. “How old is the universe? How large is the universe? What is the fate of the universe? We have been asking these questions for thousands of years with little success, until very recently” (Sagan). We live in a very interesting time for cosmological study. Technology has finally started to catch up with our questions. “The connection between one’s personal existence and the destiny or design of the universe is impossible to avoid. Cosmology unloosed itself from the older philosophy of nature genre only fifty years ago, in establishing itself as a science” (Allen 57-58). That means, we are able to answer these questions only few decades of time. Cosmology is one of the sciences where we cannot “repeat, tweak, or even attempt to change variables in a controlled way, we can only merely observe. The experiment was started long ago. Instead, using the laws of physics we attempt to make models that have attributes matching those we can observe in the universe” (“Modern Cosmology”). Therefore, almost any invention of cosmology depends on a model; and all our models are starting to match the observable universe quite well. It is interesting to note that these models point to the unity of the universe existed from the very beginning. Allen quotes McMullin in his essay: Thomas 54 When the spectra of distant stars, or the velocities of distant galaxies, continue to be interpretable by schemas derived from terrestrial processes, confidence quite properly grows in the assumption that these schemas are not just conventions imposed for convention’s sake or because our minds cannot operate otherwise, but that all parts of the universe are united in a web of physical process which is accessible through coherent and ever-widening theoretical constructs created and continually modified by us. (Allen 58) 3.2.1 Our Cosmos Understanding the cosmos was a business of the philosophers for a long time in history. A good time was spent on the contemplation of cosmological problems. Surely, those contemplations have contributed immensely to the current knowledge of the cosmos, possessed by science. What is the cosmos understood by the science? Having a basic awareness of the current knowledge about the cosmos will help us to go further with the theories behind it. The size and the age of the cosmos are beyond human comprehension. It requires a high amount of imagination to get introduced to the above said aspects of the cosmos. “The cosmos is rich beyond measure-in elegant facts, in exquisite interrelationships, in the subtle machinery of awe” (Sagan 2). Therefore, the dimensions of the cosmos cannot be described with the ordinary units or measurements. The distance in the cosmos therefore is measured with the speed of the light, that is 300,000 kilometer per second. It takes eight minutes for the light to reach earth from sun. That means, sun is eight light minutes away from the earth. “In a year, it crosses nearly ten trillion kilometers, about six trillion miles, of intervening space. That unit of length, the distance Thomas 55 light goes in a year, is called a light year. It measures not time but distance—enormous distances” (Sagan 2-3). There are billions upon billions of stars in a galaxy. It is composed of gas, dust and stars. “Within a galaxy are stars and worlds and, it may be, a proliferation of living things and intelligent beings and spacefaring civilizations” (Sagan 3). Some galaxies are wandering solitary; most of them inhabit communal clusters and moving in the great cosmic darkness. There are nearly hundred billion (1011) galaxies in the universe and each one has an average hundred billion stars. Apart from stars there are perhaps as many planets as the stars in each galaxy. It is in such an overpowering number alone we can speak about the cosmos in which our planet is a part. 3.2.2 Theories of the Origin of the Cosmos Philosophies and the cosmologies of the religious traditions have attempted to solve the problem related with the beginning of the cosmos. They all believed its best in a world started at a finite and not in a very distant time; and also they believed in an essentially static and an unchanging universe. There was an attempt by the theologians of the Catholic Church even to trace back the exact year of the beginning of the universe, calculating the years in narration in the Holy Bible. Finally, the question regarding the beginning of the universe was brought to science. “Hubble’s observation suggested that there was a time called the big bang when the universe was infinitesimally small and, therefore, infinitely dense. If there were events earlier than this time, then they could not affect what happens at the present time” (Hawking 10). Thomas 56 There are several theories in contemporary cosmology that discuss the evolution of the cosmos. Most popular among them are the theories of Steady State Universe and Big Bang Universe. Neither of them is capable enough to teach the universe perfectly. They are continuously revised and new concepts and insights are added to them. 3.2.2.1 The Steady State Theory The steady state theory proposes that “the universe will always be and has always been. Old stars die to simply have new ones born in their place. The universe remains, and has always has maintained an equilibrium” (Sagan). Online encyclopedia Britannica explains it as “a view that the universe is always expanding but maintaining a constant average density, with matter being continuously created to form new stars and galaxies at the same rate that old ones become unobservable as a consequence of their increasing distance and velocity of recession. A steady-state universe has no beginning or end in time, and from any point within it the view on the grand scale—i.e., the average density and arrangement of galaxies—is the same. Galaxies of all possible ages are intermingled” (“Steady State Theory”). “This theory was proposed in 1948 by two refugees from Nazi-occupied Austria, Hermann Bondi and Thomas Gold, together with Briton Fred Hoyle, who worked with them on the development of radar during the war. Universe from this perspective look roughly the same at all times as well as at all points of space” (Hawking 26-27). Steady-state theory is not accepted by many scientists today, since it was disproved by Fred Hoyle himself, who is one of its promoter. Fred Hoyle did it because he “found that stars Thomas 57 alone could not have produced the amount of helium observed in the universe today. This amount of helium is perfectly explained by a high density creation event. Also, nearby galaxies are not found in stages of early formation, as the steady state theory predicts” (Heeren 122). 3.2.2.2 The Big Bang Theory The Big Bang theory proposes that the universe is expanding. “This theory is the most leading scientific contender for the origin of the universe today” (Pamplany, Theological Mysteries 64). The theory states that galaxies are moving further from each other and the energy density of the universe is falling. “A logical consequence of the Big Bang theory is an eventual heat death of the universe where photons will continually redshift to longer and longer wavelengths and matter with grow to sparse to form any structure as we know it today. Since it is expanding now if we go back in time the universe would have to have been a very dense, hot place” (Pamplany, Theological Mysteries 66). It is necessary to understand the truth that “big bang created the universe; hence, it is not something happened within the universe. There was no time and no space before big bang” (Hawking, “The Beginning of Time”). The cosmos of which we are part emerged from a singularity, when time was zero. An enormous explosion happened in the universe when the time was zero (t=0). “All the matter in the universe including stars and galaxies were concentrated into a very confined region and that situation can be understood as the primordial matter soup. This matter soup cooled down, forming nuclei, then atoms and finally galaxies, stars and planets. This expansion is still going on today, except that the universe is much older today” (Pamplany, Thomas 58 Cosmos 57). Today astrophysicists are able to describe with precision the phenomenon of big bang up to three minutes. “They can trace the origin of the big bang to say, 0.0001 seconds after its beginning and describe the situation satisfactorily. When they want to investigate the situation of the big bang close to Zero seconds, it becomes more difficult and finally almost impossible” (Pandikattu 227). There are three pillars of modern cosmology, or more formerly the Big Bang theory: Hubble expansion, Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, Cosmic Micro Wave Background Radiation (CMWBR). 3.2.2.2.1 Hubble Expansion It is during 1920 our scientists noticed that the universe is expanding. Edmund Hubble, the astronomer, proposed the expansion law in 1929. He used a 100-inch telescope on Mount Wilson to prove this expansion. “According to Hubble’s observation every galaxy that we observe is moving away from us. The value of the expansion rate is marked as the ‘Hubble Constant’” (Pamplany, Cosmos 71-72). Edmund Hubble spent his time in research to prove the existence of other galaxies and cataloging their distances and observing their spectra. The expectation of the people, including scientists was that, “the galaxies are moving around quite randomly, and so expected to find as many spectra which were blue-shifted as ones which were red-shifted” (Sagan). But, to the surprise of Hubble, “all the galaxies appeared red-shifted. That means, the galaxies are moving away from us” (Hawking 16). Hubble published it in 1929: Thomas 59 Even the size of the galaxy’s red-shift was not random, but was directly proportional to the galaxy’s distance from us. Or, in other words, the farther a galaxy was, the faster it was moving away. And that meant that the universe could not be static, as everyone previously thought, but was in fact expanding. The distance between the different galaxies was growing all the time. (Hawking, The Theory of Everything 17-18) This discovery was one of the great intellectual revolutions of the twentieth century. It was impossible for the world to do away with their belief in the static world. But the revelations by Hubble and the following researches could easily handle the issue and replace it with a worldview that is not static. 3.2.2.2.2 Big Bang Nucleosynthesis After one second of the big bang the temperature of the universe was 1010 K. it is in this temperature the nucleosynthesis begin. The nucleus of hydrogen, helium and lithium were formed. Nuclei of these light elements were formed by nuclear fusion reactions during first few minutes of time (Pamplany, Cosmos 60-61). The first three minutes of the origin of the universe was crucial. In these three minutes formed the primordial nuclei of the matter constituting the universe. The nuclei produced in the first three minutes were many. They are all made up of about 75% of hydrogen and 24% of helium. Gaumé writes about the initial stage of the formation of matter in an essay: Small amounts of deuterium, tritium, lithium and beryllium were also produced, but hardly any of the other atoms that make up our bodies and the matter around us: carbon, nitrogen, Thomas 60 oxygen, sil icon, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, iron, etc. All these were formed in the cosmic ovens of the first generation of stars. (Gaumé) The nucleus of the hydrogen, helium and lithium are formed at first. Then the production of small compound nuclei happened, such as helium, deuterium and lithium. It occurred as a result of the nuclear fusion reactions during the first few minutes of time. This lasted only for three minutes and the phase of nucleosynthesis ended at a temperature of one billion degrees Kelvin. Fred Adams and Greg Laughlin explains the process of nucleosynthesis: Primordial nucleosynthesis was thus a kind of cosmic race. The starting gun went off when the universe was about one second old, when the temperature first became low enough for nuclei to survive. Then the process of nucleosynthesis and the production of elements began. The race ended approximately three minute later when the expanding universe became too cool to drive nuclear fusion reactions. (qtd. in Pamplany, Theological Mysteries 67-68) 3.2.2.2.3 Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMWBR) The universe cooled down when it began to expand after the big bang. “The universe became a huge soup full of electrons, positrons, light nuclei and radiation” (Hawking 14). Atoms could dissociate themselves as they were created due to the high temperature of the environment. “It took around three hundred thousand years for the temperature to come low so that the atoms may not dissociate. Atoms are electrically neutral. They stopped interacting with radiation, and as a result the universe went from being opaque to being transparent. We find radiation, since then, Thomas 61 has been drifting” (Sagan). Though doesn’t interact with matter radiation carry the imprint of the density it had in the beginning. “When we observe the small anisotropies in the thermal distribution of primordial radiation, we directly see the overall structure of the universe when it was only 300,000 years old. Today's universe is 13,200 million years old” (Gaumé). The background of radiation pervades the entire universe. It is observed as expanding and therefore concluded, as it was smaller, denser and hotter in earlier times. During this phase radiation was present and when the universe expanded and cooled radiation also stretched out to lower energy and cease to interact. Some of this radiation is left over and is present in the universe in the form of microwaves. This microwave radiation provides us with the information of a very distant past (Pamplany, Cosmos 72-73). 3.3 The New Understanding of Cosmos Apart from and/or along with big bang we have a number of concepts that contribute to a new understanding of the cosmos in which we survive. These theories or concepts will provide us with a broader vision of the cosmos and will surely pave basis to many of the fictional/imaginary characters in science fiction and other related literature. It will also be equally helpful in understanding the situations and the contexts of many new generation literature science fiction that are creations or imaginations of the author. Thomas 62 3.3.1 The Cosmic Oneness “Cosmology, aided by the other sciences – including astronomy, physics, chemistry, and the biological sciences – has informed us that we live in a universe which is relational, hierarchically structured, formationally and functionally integral and evolving” (Stoeger 62). Everything in the universe is in a process of evolving. This is true about the universe in which we live. It was in an extremely hot state some 12 to 15 years ago. Then it gradually expanded and cooled. With the expansion and the cooling down of the hot universe other realities of the universe also could emerge with it, namely, stars, galaxies, clusters of galaxies and super clusters. Hydrogen, helium and little bit of lithium were the original simple chemical composition of the universe and slowly they were enriched with 89 other natural elements. These elements are the building blocks of millions of complex molecules, some of which are essential for life. Life emerged in the universe some four billion years ago and began evolve into the present stage which is highly organized and intelligent. Life evolved into the culture-producing beings capable of understanding the reality of which they are a part, and raised ultimate questions of meaning. The universe thus formed is relational and hierarchically structured, “that every entity and process is intrinsically related to every other entity or process in highly differentiated ways, and that each entity or process in highly differentiated ways, and that each entity is constituted by more fundamental entities organized through complex relationships” (Stoeger 63). Each entity or organism is connected with others and thus form a larger system or a complex entity. It happens Thomas 63 at all levels of reality. The quarks are the building blocks of protons and neutrons, and these in turn, along with leptons form atoms. Atoms are the basis of molecules and macromolecules. “Once vast systems of such interacting macromolecules are initiated, instructed, information- intensive evolution dominates and life becomes possible, first cellular and then multi-cellular organisms-and eventually neurologically and cerebrally sophisticated animals, wich social organization and eventually intelligence and culture” (Stoeger 64). The concept of quantum entanglement will spread more light in the direction of understanding the cosmic oneness. Quantum entanglement is “a strange feature of quantum mechanics, through which two object’s properties become intertwined. Measuring the properties of one object immediately reveals the state of the other, even though the duo may be separated by a large distance” (Conover). "Things get really interesting when two electrons become entangled," said Ronald Hanson from the University of Delft. "They are perfectly correlated, when you observe one, the other one will always be opposite. That effect is instantaneous, even if the other electron is in a rocket at the other end of the galaxy" (Starr). This concept and the recent inventions related to it stress the presence of an entanglement in the physical world. It will defenitely be an impact factor in thinking of the cosmic onness. 3.3.2 Universe is Intrinsically Dynamic As opposed to the age old beliefs, contemporary science is getting more and more convinced that our universe is intrinsically dynamic and constantly changing. The dynamic character of the universe is a common insight provided by both quantum physics and theory of Thomas 64 relativity. “Physics says that not only the reality is a unity, but this unified web is intrinsically dynamic too” (Pamplany, Cosmos 50). With the development of science it was proven that the world around us is very much dynamic and endowed with continuous activity. According to quantum physics what leads us to the idea of a dynamic universe is the wave nature of the electron. It can be proved with an example: suppose we are confining a subatomic particle to a small region of space. The immediate reaction of the particle is that it moves around its confinement with high velocity. “The smaller the region of confinement, the faster will be the velocity of the particle. This is a typical quantum fact. The tendency of the particles to react to confinement with motion implies a fundamental “restlessness” of matter, which is characteristic of the subatomic world” (Pamplany, Cosmos 50). They dynamic character of the universe is equally visible in the astronomical researches too. The planets, stars in the galaxies and the satellites are in constant motion. The galaxies themselves are moving restless; they are expanding and moving away from each other. We can surely conclude that, our universe is an inherently restless and a constantly changing universe. The biological evolution also points towards the dynamic nature of the universe. “The theory of evolution . . ., has become a widely accepted scientific theory to account for the origin and development of both the inanimate and animate world. This theory takes the dynamic character of the universe as fundamental” (Pamplany and Kzhamthadam 96). Even the state of vacuum is extremely active in the universe. The “empty space” is not empty at ll. It is in this empty space the quantum fluctuations happen. Thomas 65 In an article written by Tuomo Suntola of Physics Foundation Society of Finland, the features of the dynamic universe are summarized: 1. The Dynamic Universe starts from the whole and devolves down to the local. It is primarily an analysis of the energy resources available for the manifestation of physical processes and structures in space. 2. The Dynamic Universe means major change in the paradigm and a definite cancellation of the cornerstones of both the special and the general theory of relativity: the relativity principle, the equivalence principle and the constancy of the velocity of light. 3. The Dynamic Universe means a major, inevitable reorientation to the picture of reality . . . The DU recognizes the structure of whole space and the observer’s motion, not only in the planetary system and the Milky Way but also with the whole three-dimensional space in the fourth dimension. Recognition of the structure of space makes it possible to study the whole of space as an energy system, and link the dynamics in space to the dynamics of whole space. 4. The dynamic Universe model relies on only a few postulates that apply in all areas of physics. The predictions of the DU for most physical phenomena are essentially the same as those in contemporary physics. Yet they are based on very different theory structures and imply a profound change in the picture of reality. (Suntola) Thomas 66 3.3.3 The Future of the Universe There are certain questions regarding the end of the universe: “whether the universe will collapse in a big crunch or continue expanding forever hinges on knowing the density of the universe. Density is defined as mass divided by volume. One can measure the density of the universe by observing the local group of galaxies and assuming that the universe is all the same” (Pamplany, Cosmos 74). One can also calculate the density required such that the universe will eventually stop expanding. That density is called the critical density, and the Greek letter Omega gives the ratio of the observed density to the critical density. “If Omega is less than one the universe will continue expanding until it is so large that it dies a cold death. This kind of universe is called open universe. If Omega equals one that universe will eventually stop expanding but will not collapse. In this case the universe will also die a cold static death. This kind of universe is called flat universe. But if omega is greater than one, then the universe is doomed to collapse under its own gravitational mass, and will die a hot fierily death in a big crunch. This kind of universe is called closed universe” (Pamplany, Cosmos 75). So far science has not reached a conclusion regarding what kind of an end is awaiting the universe. Therefore, we can speak of some possibilities. Universe can have a heat death. It is a kind of death in which all the activities of the universe come to an absolute stop. There is the discussion of heat death among the scientists from the mid 19th century onwards, as the second law of thermodynamics was understood. If the universe were closed, then the gravity would win its battle with the expansion and usher in an Thomas 67 inevitable collapse. Such a re-collapsing universe would end its life in a fiery denouncement known as the big crunch. An open universe expands forever in which the mass density is low, so the gravitational field is too weak to halt the expansion. In an ever-expanding universe galaxies are destined to run down and stars are destined to burn out. They will never be reborn. Gravity will not have any hold on the expansion and the space will deepen immeasurably. “All matter will become utterly cold, attaining a temperature of absolute zero. All forces will face and disappear until a state is reached where nothing will ever change again. Space is infinite and a cold, black, immutable future is inevitably destined to be attained throughout space” (Pamplany, Cosmology 83). 3.3.4 Many Worlds Interpretations (Multiverses) “The Many-Worlds Interpretation of quantum mechanics holds that there are many worlds which exist in parallel at the same space and time as our own” (“Many World’s Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics”). There is the problem of measurement at the root of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum physics. The observed system does not exist as an endlessly proliferating number of possibilities. Therefore some type of detection device by observing system is required to collapse the wave function of the observed system into a physical reality. This is the problem of Copenhagen interpretation. Thomas 68 The theory proposed by Hugh Everette and John Wheeler solves this problem in the simplest way possible. “It claims that the wave function is a real thing, all of the possibilities that it represents are real, and they all happen. The orthodox interpretation of quantum physics is that only one of the possibilities can actualize and the rest vanish. The Everette-Wheeler theory says that they all actualize, but in different worlds that co-exist with ours” (Pamplany, Cosmology 842-43). The proponents of intelligent design had an argument that certain biological structures are too functionally complex to have occurred by chance. The same logic was employed to the cosmos by some cosmologists. According to them, “physical and biological conditions that were necessary for the existence of life and consciousness are so improbable in themselves that this must be only one of many universes” (Gorham 171). There are many objections too to the Many Worlds interpretations due to the misinterpretation arose from various theories. There was confusion even in the terminology used in presenting the idea (“Many World’s Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics”). 3.3.5 Time Travel Space and time are interwoven. We have to look back to time to look into space. Light travels 300,000 km in second, and it is very fast. At the same time space is empty and the stars are found far apart. “It is unimaginable to calculate the distances in the cosmos. For example, it takes 30,000 light years to reach from the sun to the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Suppose we look at a quasar some eight billion light years away, the fact is that we are seeing it as it was eight Thomas 69 billion light years ago” (Pamplany, 35). That means, “the more distant the galxy, the earlier in its history we are observing it” (Sagan 212). There are certain rules and commandments of the nature that we can travel at high speeds but restricted at some points. Everything in the universe is permitted to move/travel close to the speed of light. They are allowed to reach 99.9 percent close to the speed of the light, but the last decimal point is unattainable. “For the world to be logically consistent, there must be a cosmic speed limit” (Sagan 214-215). Using the above said principle and the different methods proposed by general theory of relativity scientists as well as fiction writers began to think of time travel. There is always the question raised that whether anything in the universe can move in the speed of light? What if a human could attain the speed of light to travel? A better example is narrated by Bryan J. Méndez to speak about time travel: Imagine that two stationary observers are on Earth, lets name them Jennifer and Jan. Then imagine a moving observer, Bob, is aboard a space ship flying away from Earth. Any time period on Bob's ship will be measured by Jennifer and Jan to be longer than Bob will measure it. This effect grows larger as Bob's velocity increases. This is known as time dilation. The dilation grows until a critical velocity is reached, the velocity of light. At the speed of light any event that occurs on Bob's ship will appear to take forever to Jennifer and Jan. If Bob's velocity exceeds c the time dilation factor becomes imaginary and Bob would actually be moving backward in time. However, there are other constraints that limit Bob Thomas 70 from reaching c. As v increases mass also increases by the relation . So Bob's mass would become infinite at c. Also it would take an infinite amount of energy to accelerate Bob to c. So Bob, and any other particle with mass, may get arbitrarily close to c but may never reach or exceed it. There is one loophole in the equations that does allow things to be traveling faster than c. If such a particle existed it would have to have been created moving faster than c and it could never travel at c or slower. Such theoretical particles are called tachyons and would travel backward in time. But Bob is not a tachyon so there's no hope there. But Bob has indeed become a time traveler. Suppose that Bob reached a speed of .99c at some point and maintained it for 5 years and then decelerated, which is not so easy to do since Bob has a gigantic momentum. Bob then decides that he is just way too far from home so he heads back to Earth to visit Jennifer and Jan. Again he reaches .99c and maintains it for 5 years. 10 long years have passed for Bob on that space ship but he looks forward to seeing his friends Jennifer and Jan. When he sees them he finds that they are very old women now. 70 years have passed on Earth since Bob's departure. Bob has made a trip to the future. Can Bob get back to the time he left? We'll find out in good time. (Méndez) 3.3.6 Extra-terrestrial Life The curious question regarding life out of our planet had existed always and became strong with the development of cosmological studies of the century. Pamplany quotes Thomas 71 Metrodorus, an epicurean philosopher of 3rd/4th century that, “to consider the earth the only populated world in infinite space is as absurd as to assert that in an entire field shown with millet, only one grain will grow” (Pamplany 110). Later developed a belief that all the planets in the universe were populated by more or less intelligent beings. But the chance of such a possibility became very low in the 20th century. There are different projects by the scientists to investigate this problem in every detail: SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence), SERENDIP (Search for Extraterrestrial Radio Emissions from nearby Developed Intelligent Populations), META (Mega Channel Extraterrestrial Array) are examples. The extraterrestrials are called so because we don’t have any trace of them to call any other name. SETI being an initiation of NASA tries to verify the extraterrestrial by observation. SETI proposes certain reasonable working hypotheses, draws conclusions from them, and then attempts to verify them through observation or experiment, before proceeding further. The possibility of life on other galaxies is, though hypothetical, high. Many scientists are of good hope that one day they may receive some messages from beings in other planets. 3.3.7 Concept of Multidimensional Space and Non-linear Time Lienear time is understood as that which is moving from the past into the future in a straight line. It is a sequence that moves in one direction. We are not able to see, visit or make any changes in the past because we move in the linear time. Whereas the concept of nonlinear time works just opposite. It is possible if someone can slow down the time or make a time travel to the past. It can also be understood as someone standing above the timeline and view the past, Thomas 72 present and future simultaneously. Kennedy quotes Tom Minderle’s explanation of the concept of non-linear time: 1. It isn’t just one line, but a whole web of lines, all interconnected and branching with different pasts leading to different presents and different futures. 2. You can choose which alternate present to enter into. The future and past are not different than the left and right end of a table, which exist simultaneously. But whichever end you look at is the end you see. (Kennedy) There are only three dimensions observable for human beings. But as the theory of relativity was introduced by Einstein time also came to be considered a dimension, which is the fourth one. Attempts to explain relativity and quantum theory try to govern reality in a smaller scale. As part of those investigations several suggestions came up with the concept of multi- dimensional space; that is there can be additional physical dimensions too, that the humans cannot perceive. The concept of multi-dimensional space is so mind-boggling that even the physicists who study it do not fully understand it. Though the scientists discover many of the universe’s secrets, they don’t reach anywhere. In quantum mechanics the smallest particles of matter and the interactions of them are studied. Their behavior is quite different than that of the observable realities. Rankin quotes the physicist John Wheeler: “If you are not completely confused by quantum mechanics, you do not understand it” (Rankin). The concept of multi-dimensional space is helpful in explaining the strange behavior of the above-mentioned elementary particles. Thomas 73 Physicists of the recent centuries tried their best to reconcile the idea of Einstein with those of quantum physics. Only such a theory can explain many of the unknown secrets of the universe, including poorly understood forces like gravity. “One of the leading contenders for this theory is known variously as superstring theory, super symmetry, or M-theory. This theory, while explaining many aspects of quantum mechanics, can only be correct if reality has 10, 11, or as many as 26 dimensions” (Rankin). He writes elaborately: The extra dimensions of this multi-dimensional space would exist beyond the ability of humans to observe them. Some scientists suggest they are folded or curled into the observable three dimensions in such a way that they cannot be seen by ordinary methods. Scientists hope their effects can be documented by watching how elementary particles behave when they collide. Many experiments in the world’s particle accelerator laboratories, such as CERN in Europe, are conducted to search for this evidence. Other theories claim to reconcile relativity and quantum mechanics without requiring the existence of multi-dimensional space; which theory are correct remains to be seen. Conclusion Cosmological studies of 20th and 21st centuries have given us a different worldview from that of the early years. The entire picture of the cosmos is being revealed before us. We are not in a position to say that we have got a complete hold on the reality of the universe yet. But still the cosmological revelations given by modern science is relevant for us to know our universe better. Why cosmological studies of the modern science are important in dealing with today’s Thomas 74 science fiction? Science fiction, to a great extent, deals with the mysteries of the universe. It is important to note that in the in the Very Short Introduction to Science Fiction published by Oxford begins with ‘voyages into space’ (Seed, 6). The first line of the first chapter says, “one of the first images we associate with science fiction is the spaceship; one of the first plot lines we expect is the journey into space . . .” (Seed, 6). There are number of fictions created in the outset of scientific cosmology. Such science fictions have borrowed much from cosmological theories and findings of the contemporary science like astrophysics and astronomy. Italo Calvino’s Short story series named Cosmicomics also can be read in the background of the developments of cosmology of his time, that is the second half of the 20th century. Thomas 75 Work Cited Allen, Paul. “Scientific Rationality, Value and the Unity of Worldviews.” Science, Technology and Values: Science-Religion Dialogue in a Multi-religious World edited by Job Kozhamthadam, ASSR, Pune, 2003, pp 49-64. Conover, Emily. “Spooky Quantum Entanglement Goes Big in New Experiments”. Science News: Magazine of the Society for Science and the Public, April 25, 2018. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/spooky-quantum-entanglement-goes-big-new- experiments, accessed 3 August 2018. Gaumé, Luis Álvarez. “Riddles in Fundamental Physics”, Leonardo, Vol. 41, No. 3 (2008), pp. 244-251, 217, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20206588. Accessed 17 November 2017. Gorham, Geoffrey. Philosophy of Science. One World: Oxford, 2009. Heeren, Fred. Show Me God: What the Message from Space is Telling us about God. Day Star Pulications: Olathe, KS, 2004. Hawking, Stephen. “The Beginning of Time”, http://www.hawking.org.uk/the-beginning-of- time.html, accessed 12 September 2018. Hawking, Stephen. The Theory of Everything. Jaico: Mumbai, 2009. Kennedy, Wendy. “What is Linear Time Vs. Nonlinear Time?” Big Picture Questions.com, 26 October 2013. http://bigpicturequestions.com/what-is-linear-time-vs-nonlinear-time/, accessed 16 August 2018. Kozhmathdam, Job. “Evangelization in a world of science: challenges and opportunities”. Lecture, Science and Religion Forum, Wayanad, 27 May 2017. Pamplany, Augustine. Cosmos, Bios, Theos. Aluva: Institute of Science and Religion, 2005. Thomas 76 Pamplany, Augustine. Theological Mysteries in Scientific Perspective. Banglore: Asian Trading Corporation, 2005. Pamplany, Augustine and Job Kozhamthadam. East-West Interface of Reality: A Scientific and Intuitive inquiry into the nature of Reality. ASSR: Pune, 2003. Pandikattu, Kuruvila. Ever Approachable, Never Attainable: Science –Religion Dialogue in India. Janam & CreatiVentures: Pune, 2015. “Many World’s Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics”. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 17 January 2014. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qm-manyworlds/, accessed 12 August 2018. Méndez, Bryan J. “Time Travel: There’s No Time Like Yesterday.” http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/bmendez/html/time.html, accessed 14 August 2018. Sagan, Carl. Cosmos. Ballantine Books Trade Paperbacks: New York, 2013. Seed, David. Science Fiction: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford, 2011. Starr, Michelle. “Physicists Prove Einstein’s ‘spooky’ Quantum Entanglement.” Cnet, November 19, 2015. https://www.cnet.com/news/physicists-prove-einsteins-spooky-quantum- entanglement/, accessed 12 August 2018. “Steady-State Theory.” Encyclopedia Britannica Online, 18 December 2017, https://www.britannica.com/topic/steady-state-theory, accessed 12 September 2018. Stoeger, William R. “Developments in Contemporary Cosmology.” Contemporary Science and Religion in Dialogue: Challenges and Opportunities edited by Job Kozhamthadam, ASSR, Pune, 2002, pp. 46-80. Suntola, Tuomo. “The Dynamic Universe – Space as a Spherically Closed Energy System.” Thomas 77 International Journal of Astrophysics and Space Science, Special Issue: Quantum Vacuum, Fundamental Arena of the Universe: Models, Applications and Perspectives, Vol. 2, No. 6-1, 2014, pp. 66-85, http://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijass.s.2014020601.18.pdf. Accessed 12 August, 2018. Rankin, Alan. “What is Multi-Dimensional Space?” WiseGEEK, 24 September 2018. https://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-multi-dimensional-space.htm, accessed 26 September 2018. Thomas 78 Chapter 4 Italo Calvino and Cosmicomics The previous chapter dealt with the contemporary cosmological theories and inventions which are necessary for the better grasp of the fiction related to it. Calvino’s Cosmicomics tales are all have a beginning statement, which directly addresses a cosmological theory or event. The tale following the beginning statement deals with the theme presented in the statement elaborately. Let us consider the tales of Cosmicomics one by one so that it is easy for us to evaluate the content of science, fantasy and imagination in these tales. 4.1 The Distance of the Moon The beginning statement of the first tale is about the moon and it has reference to the lunar tides. It goes like this: “At one time, according to Sir George H. Darwin, the moon was very close to the Earth. Then the tides gradually pushed her far away: the tides that the moon herself causes in the Earth’s waters, where the Earth slowly loses energy” (Calvino 3). The beginning statement contains the elements of science and fantasy alike. We find an inextricable link between science and fantasy in this line. Though the element of fantasy is found, we are able to think about the closeness of the moon to the earth in the past with the help of Edwin Hubble’s observation. He observed that the galaxies are moving away from one another, the celestial bodies were closer in the past (Armstrong). Hubble’s this observation of 1920’s helps us to imagine a situation where moon was closer to the earth. The reference about the moon tides is also scientific in content. Thomas 79 The protagonist of the story is Qfwfq and the story is a recollection of the foregone past where Qfwfq and his companions rowed out on the sea every month and climbed up to the moon. The moon was so close to the earth on those days and it was easy for them to climb on the moon using a ladder. They climbed up the moon to collect the moon milk, which is a cream-cheese-like substance composed of a number of variety of ingredients, namely, “Vegetal juices, tadpoles, bitumen, lentils, honey, starch crystals, sturgeon eggs, molds (and) pllens” (Calvino 6). We find a little bit of romance also between Qfwfq’s deaf cousin and Mrs. Vhd Vhd, who is the wife of the captain of their boat. But Qfwfq also had a crush for Mrs. Vhd Vhd, which was unknown to her. The story discusses in it’s second half, the last visit of the moon to the earth. They didn’t know that the moon is going to be away forever. Somehow Qfwfq and Mrs. Vhd Vhd could not return to the earth after their last trip to moon. They remained on the moon for one month and by that time Qfwfq realized that he loves the life on earth than Mrs. Vhd Vhd. What are the elements of imagination in the tale? The enormous moon and it’s movements and the characters are imaginary in the tale. Whereas there are references about the orbit of the moon, which is elliptical and moon tides as scientific facts. Moon coming closer to the earth, the boat and the ladder used to climb to moon and the landing on the moon, the moon milk, the transportation of the moon milk to the earth etc. are elements of fantasy, which is according to the definition given in the first chapter, the activity of imagining impossible or improbable things. Thomas 80 Philosophical reflections on earth and love are also seen in the tale. Qfwfq says about love: “torn from its earthly soil, my love now knew only the heart-rending nostalgia for what it lacked: a where, a surrounding, a before, an after” (Calvino 16). 4.2 At Daybreak “At Daybreak” narrates the life before the matter in the universe condenses. We read it in the beginning statement: The planets of the solar system, G.P. Kupier explains, began to solidify in the darkness, through the condensation of a fluid shapeless nebula. All was cold and dark. Later the sun began to become more concentrated until it was reduced almost to its present dimensions, and in this process the temperature rose and rose, to thousands of degrees, and the sun started emitting radiations in space. (Calvino 20) Qfwfq is the protagonist and G’d(w)^n, Granny Bb’b, father and mother, Rwzfs, Mr. Hnw, aunt and uncle are the other characters of the story. They all were living in the darkness and the cold. They slowly realizes that the sun is increasing in mass and it emits light and heat. Qfwfq tries to say the story of the first rays of light in the solar system. He was living with his relatives in a proto-planet and was lying under the surface of the condensing matter, having nothing to do. It is the father who points out the change that happens in the universe. Slowly they all realize the formation of the sun and as the darkness again comes Qfwfq says it’s the beginning of the new phase of the universe. The concluding paragraph says it too: “The darkness came back. . . the earth had merely made one of its turns. It was night. Everything was just beginning” (Calvino Thomas 81 31). The tale speaks about the life before the condensation of the matter in the solar system. It is the fantasy of the writer that he presents the life of those characters even before the formation of the matter and planets in the solar system. But Calvino could systematically include the formation of the planets without contradicting the scientific view behind it: So the better part was done: the heart of the nebula, contracting, had developed warmth and light, and now there was sun. all the rest went on revolving nearby, divided and clotted into various pieces, Mercury, Venus, the Earth, and others farther on, and whoever was on them, stayed where he was. And, above all, it was deathly hot. (Calvino 29) The scientific belief regarding the formation of the solar system corresponds to the narration of Calvino. It was a large rotating cloud of matter that existed beforehand. That was the solar nebula. There was strong gravitational pull existed inside the cloud and each bit of matter was attracted to the other one. This phenomenon caused the condensation of matter towards the center of the cloud. The kinetic energy received from the strong pull was converted to the thermal energy as they hit the dense clump of matter (“At Daybreak”). Fantasy, imagination and science are well knit in the narration of this particular story. Whether a life before the formation of the solar system is possible is a question to which the fantasy of the writer has to respond. But the very situation becomes imaginable with the help of the scientific thesis available to us today. Calvino do not reject or contradict the possibility of the formation of the solar system, put forward by the science of this century, in the tale. Thomas 82 4.3 A Sign in Space “Situated in the external zone of the Milky Way, the sun takes about two hundred million years to make a complete revolution of the galaxy” (Calvino 32) is the beginning statement of this tale. The two hundred million years taken by the sun to revolve around the Milky Way is the basis of the tale. Qfwfq leaves a sign in the space and he finds the same sign in the space after hundreds of millions of years. We don’t know what does the sign means. How is it created is more important that what does it mean. Qfwfq says that it is not a sign made by hands or using any tools, because, there was no hands or even no tools at that time. There are readers who consider the sign as Qfwfq himself. It is the existence of Qfwfq in the space. He should wait hundreds of millions of years to see the sign again in the Milky Way. It points towards the uniqueness of the being in the universe. He never recreated the sign again, rather created many half-hearted signs instead (Ressler). The most important part of the tale is its concluding statement where we find what is important with regard to the contemporary thought and science: In the universe now there was no longer a container and a thing contained, but only a general thickness of signs superimposed and coagulated, occupying the whole volume of space; it was constantly being dotted, minutely, a network of lines and scratches and reliefs and engravings; the universe was scrawled over on all sides, along all its dimensions. There was no longer any way to establish a point of reference: the Galaxy went on turning but I could no longer count the revolutions, any point could be the point Thomas 83 of departure, any sign heaped up with the others could be mine, but discovering it would have served no purpose, because it was clear that, independent of signs, space didn’t exist and perhaps had never existed. (Calvino 41-42) The scientific relevance of the above passage is important to note. It conveys the theme of space and abstraction. Calvino writes that there is no longer a container nor a thing contained. It could be better understood in the background of “vacuum”, a concept in quantum physics. “Vacuum” is the space devoid of matter. This kind of concepts in quantum physics is visible all through the tale. Calvino writes about the space. In the above given description we see the protagonist observes the changes happening around him in the space. It gets altered, but nothing is found lost. It is an indication to the first law of thermodynamics, which states that energy inside a vacuum can exist and change, but it cannot be destroyed (“Cosmicomics – A Sign in Space”). There is the description of the narrator that he perceives changes around him. There are changes that alter, and build on what already exists there. The situation can be better expressed as “nothing goes away, but it does change” (“Cosmicomics – A Sign in Space”). “A Sign in Space” is written on the idea that the galaxy is revolving. The very concept becomes a story in which a being (Qfwfq) is included, and the being is desperate to leave a unique sign of his existence in the universe. This concept is connected to postmodernism also: “that the sign is not the thing it signifies, nor can claim to fully or properly describe a thing or an idea with a word or other symbol” (“Cosmicomics”). Thomas 84 Though fantasy is found all through the tale a sincere reader cannot deny the presence of strong scientific understanding in it. The references regarding the revolutions of the planets, functions of the solar system, the endless fields of space, the calculations in light years, Milky Way, the constellations, the space etc. are terms and concepts purely connected to science. We may feel that the writer uses his scientific knowledge to tell us stories of the universe. He is teaching us about the universe through simple tales. 4.4 All at One Point “Though the calculations begun by Edwin P. Hubble on the galaxies’ velocity of recession, we can establish the moment when all the universe’s matter was concentrated in a single point, before it began to expand in space” (Calvino 43) is the beginning statement of the fourth tale ‘All at One Point’. Hubble is the man behind the observation that the galaxies are moving away from each other. With the help of this observation he calculated that there could be a time when all the matter in the cosmos existed in one single point. This situation pertains to the time before Big Bang. Qfwfq states that, “Naturally we were all there . . . Where else could we have been? Nobody knew then that there could be space. Or time either: what use did we have for time, packed in there like sardines?” (Calvino 43). He speaks well of the situation before Big Bang. There is no space. The astrophysical researches makes it very clear that if we go backward in time, we will encounter a beginning moment of the universe. This beginning is the time when, “everything hits everything else, all the mass in the universe is compressed into a state of infinite Thomas 85 density, infinite pressure, and infinite temperature” (Pamplany, Cosmos 58). Qfwfq describes this situation in his own words: “every point of each of us coincided with every point of each of the other in a single point, which was where we all were” (Calvino 43). Qfwfq makes philosophical deliberation on the situation of being in the singular point, which is before Big Bang. He explains everything so systematically that nothing he says is contradicting the theory of Big Bang of our time. The protagonist is fictitious, narration is imaginary, but the facts are purely scientific. We must not fail to read the philosophical approach Qfwfq makes towards the life before Big bang. It is so funny that he remarks about Mrs. Ph(i)Nko, that she went to bed with her friend, and Qfwfq says, “if there’s a bed, it takes up the whole point, so it isn’t a question of going to bed, but of being there, because anybody in the point is also in the bed” (Calvino 46). He says in another context that, “And all of this, which was true of me, was true also for each of the others” (Calvino 47). The situation of initial singularity cannot be presented in a simpler manner than this. The singular point was not a larger space where all the matter was compressed into one point; rather, the space itself was concentrated into it. There was “nothing” – not even space outside this initial singularity. Here we remember the principle of the theory of relativity that the space and the time are interconnected. Therefore, it is impossible to speak of a time before Big Bang. It is in the Big Bang time also begins. The tale is rich with scientific content. The protagonist of the story Qfwfq narrates the situation in the initial singularity, which was before the Big Bang. There is nothing contradicting Thomas 86 the scientific position. The narration makes the pre Big Bang condition of the universe easy to grasp and understand. 4.5 Without Colours ‘Without Colours’ speaks of the earth in its initial moments. There was no atmosphere for the earth and everything was the same shade of gray. It was with the atmosphere of the earth the colours also appeared. Qfwfq describes the situation before the earth has an atmosphere that it was monotonous. There were not many people; no sound was heard without the atmosphere; meteors used to strike the earth; and also it was difficult to distinguish objects and things without the colour. The beginning statement speaks of the science behind the tale. It is about the earth before having the atmosphere: Before forming its atmosphere and its oceans, the Earth must have resembled a grey ball revolving in space. As the moon does now; where the ultraviolet rays radiated by the sun arrive directly, all colours are destroyed, which is why the cliffs of the lunar surface, instead of being coloured like Earth’s, are of a dead, uniform grey. If the Earth displays a varicoloured countenance, it is thanks to the atmosphere, which filters that murderous light. (Calvino 49) The atmosphere in the earth was developing slowly and Qfwfq was encountering the changes happening around. As the atmosphere develops colours begin to enter into the world. Thomas 87 Meanwhile we find Qfwfq is in love with Ayl, a runner. He finds her on the ground sleeping and waits by her side to awake. But Ayl could not distinguish him from the circumstanced since there was no colour that differentiated him from the surroundings. They run together, interact and move together. Both Qfwfq and Ayl are in a process of discovering themselves, or they are finding their means to identify themselves in a fast changing world. He communicates in primitive speech and gesture, and everything went in vain. He misses her somewhere in between. It was to his surprise that he found everything on earth gets colours and he can hear his own sound. The astonishment is put to words: “I ran all over the earth, I saw again the things I had once known grey, and I was still amazed at discovering fire was red, ice white, the sky pale blue, the earth brown, that rubies were ruby-coloured, and topazes the colour of topaz and emeralds emerald” (Covino 57). The tale speaks about the formation of the earth in the beginning. Qfwfq was witnessing everything. “At that time the strata of the planet were laboriously trying to establish an equilibrium through a series of earthquakes” (Calvino 55). It was understood through the shaking of the earth every now and then. Observing them, Qfwfq were playing and they could see the outcroppings of rock emerges from the chasms formed through earthquakes. They also witnessed the fluid clouds and boiling jets spurt up from the crevasses of the earth caused by the shakes. It was in those moments the gassy layer was begun to form. He says, “I noticed that a gassy layer had spread over the Earth’s crust, like a low fog slowly rising. A moment before it had reached our ankles, and now we were in it up to our knees, then to our hips...” (Calvino 55) Thomas 88 It is interesting to note the explanations given by Qfwfq regarding the formation of the strata of the earth through the earthquakes and the formation of the atmosphere around it. Calvino describes the beginnings of the earth and it’s slow process of becoming the present one. The characters are fictitious but what they observe is scientific in content. 4.6 Games Without End ‘Games Without End’ narrates the games played by Qfwfq and his friend Pfwfp during the formation of galaxies. The concept emerges from the steady state theory. The beginning statement of the story goes like this: When the galaxies become more remote, the rarefaction of the universe is compensated for by the formation of further galaxies composed of newly created matter. To maintain a stable median density of the universe it is sufficient to create a hydrogen atom every two hundred and fifty million years for forty cubic centimeters of expanding space. (This steady-sate theory, as it is known, has been opposed to the other hypothesis, that the universe was born at a precise moment as the result of a gigantic explosion). (Calvino 61) The British scientists Sir Hermann Bondi, Thomas Gold and Sir Fred Hoyle proposed the Steady-state theory in 1948. It was a hypothesis to explain the existence of the universe. Hoyle developed if further to solve the problems in connection with the alternative Big Bang hypothesis. The theory proposed that, “the universe is always expanding but maintaining a constant average density, with matter being continuously created to form new stars and galaxies at the same rate that old ones become unobservable as a consequence of their increasing distance Thomas 89 and velocity of recession” (“Steady-state theory”). But proofs of microwave background radiation, which was in observation from 1950’s onwards, discarded Steady-state hypothesis in support of the Big Bang model. The tale is an expansion of the Steady-state view of the existence of the universe. We find Qfwfq and Pfwfp play with hydrogen atoms. They were aware about the hydrogen atoms, the new ones being created, the curvature of the space, the magnetic fields, the fields of gravity. There are indications to the formation of other atoms. They relate everything to their game. “We were careful not to throw them too hard, because when two hydrogen atoms are knocked together, click! A deuterium atom might be formed, or even a helium atom . . .” (Calvino 62). The game played by Qfwfq and Pfwfp is not merely a casual game; it’s a cosmic game. Calvino actually narrates the game of the atoms happening in the universe in relation to the existence of the universe. Towards the end of the tale what we see is the formation of new galaxies happening through the play of the atoms. As the atoms were flung into the space they were not scattered but “thickened together into a kind of light cloud, and the cloud swelled and swelled, and inside it some incandescent condensations were formed, and they whirled and whirled and at a certain point became a spiral of constellations never seen before . . .” (Calvino 65) The never-ending but sometimes new forms of games cause the universe to exist. The content of the story corresponds exactly to the Steady-state theory of 20th century. Though the model is discarded later, the tale explains it in that simplicity and with wit that any student of Thomas 90 literature can absorb the concept of the theory. Still we find the elements of fantasy as well as science mingling in the narrations of Calvino. 4.7 The Aquatic Uncle The tale is about N’ba N’ga, an uncle who hesitates to come from the sea to live on the land. Qfwfq recalls the time when they started their life on the land. The period of life in the water was ended and they all reached on the earth. But this particular uncle was hesitating to come to the land. It was a shame for the family members to see the uncle who is not ready to live a “civilized” life on the land. The background of the tale is reflecting in the beginning statement: “The first vertebrates who, in the Carboniferous period, abandoned aquatic life for terrestrial descended from the osseous, pulmonate fish whose fins were capable of rotation beneath their bodies and thus could be used as paws on the Earth” (Calvino 69). We read in the Scientific American online journal, about the evolution happened to the vertebrates in the sea as follows: Somewhere around 430 million years ago, plants and colonized the bare earth, creating a land rich in food and resources, while fish evolved from ancestral vertebrates in the sea. It was another 30 million years before those prehistoric fish crawled out of the water and began the evolutionary lineage we sit atop today. (Wilcox) It is a fact that the first creatures were fish that could turn their fins to paws in the land, during evolution. Slowly fishes reached on the land they could change and adapt to the Thomas 91 circumstances. They could get all the possible changes that help them to continue their life on the land. It is in this context Qfwfq and his family felt ashamed of their great uncle N’ba N’ga. Qfwfq was in love with Lll and she belonged to a family who started their life on the land years ago. Their family was considered more civilized. Therefore, it was a shame for Qfwfq to introduce his uncle to Lll. But as it happened on a day, surprisingly Lll fell in fond of him. She liked to visit the uncle again and again and to learn to live in the water. Qfwfq tried his best to dissuade her from learning to live in the sea, since it is a going back. She rejected his counsel and argued for her stand. Later Qfwfq had to leave her to N’ba N’ga that he couldn’t dissuade her from her interest to live in the sea. We may be stuck with the problem Qfwfq faces in his life. Is it possible for some species to go back to its origin? Do the transformations bring us conditions for better living? Or do we all have a craving to continue the life we had previously? Qfwfq is philosophical in this regard: “I went on my way, in the midst of the world’s transformations, being transformed by myself” (Calvino 81). The discourses happening in the tale is about a period in the history of the cosmos, especially of the earth and in the evolution of the species. 4.8 How Much Shall We Bet? All the formations in the universe happen through the natural interactions of the matter. This is true according to the cybernetics. The beginning statement says; Thomas 92 The logic of cybernetics, applied to the history of the universe, is in the process of demonstrating how the galaxies, the solar system, the earth, cellular life could not help but be born. According to cybernetics, the universe is formed by a series of feedbacks, positive and negative, at first through the force of gravity that concentrates masses of hydrogen in the primitive cloud, then through nuclear force and centrifugal force which are balanced with the first. From the moment that the process is set in motion, it can only follow the logic of this chain. (Calvino 83) ‘How Much Shall We Bet?’ describes the incidents in the universe before it gets into the present form. We see two persons talking, gambling and betting who will win. They bet on the things that happen in the universe. It is simply ridiculous that they go on betting but they cannot win anything for them, since nothing in the universe is formed/created so far. Qfwfq and Dean (k)yK are the two characters in the tale. Qfwfq presents himself as more intelligent and Dean as clumsy. Qfwfq make remarks and suggests the possible things to happen, through his systematic observations. They bet on such things. Qfwfq wins usually, though he may go wrong at time. Dean, when fails, was not ready to accept that and get into useless arguments. The things upon which Qfwfq and Dean bet is important to note since they are the scientific view of the 20th century regarding the formation of the material universe. Formation of the atoms, the condensation of proto-stars in the proto-galaxies, formation of elements etc. were the subjects of their bets. These are all interests of the science. We see a very good interpretation of these situations in the tale where both the characters make deliberations regarding them and reach to the conclusion. Thomas 93 4.9 The Dinosaurs ‘The Dinosaurs’ is the story of the Dinosaurs extinct millions of years ago. There is no consensus among the scientists regarding the causes behind the extinction. It remains a scientific mystery. The beginning statement goes like this: The causes of the rapid extinction of the Dinosaur remain mysterious; the species had evolved and grown throughout the Triassic and the Jurassic, and for 150 million years the Dinosaur had been the undisputed master of the continents. Perhaps the species was unable to adapt to the great changes of climate and vegetation which took place in the Cretaceous period. By its end all the Dinosaurs were dead. (Calvino 93) In the tale Qfwfq appears as a dinosaur that is the last one on the earth. He stays in a deserted place and feels so lonely. As it comes to see the new world with the new ones in it, they couldn’t recognize it and called it ‘Ugly’. They all had fear about the dinosaur, but didn’t know that it is a dinosaur that lives with them. The tales explores the feeling of the existing dinosaur in an age where all the present mammals were afraid of dinosaurs. Calvino takes us back to the time of the dinosaurs with the tale. It tempts us to live in that period of time. It is around “sixty-five billion years ago that the last of the non-avian dinosaurs went extinct” (Cheung). Scientists are not sure about the reasons of this extinction. They have different hypothesis for it. they suggest either “an extraterrestrial impact, such as an asteroid or comet, or a massive bout of vocanism” (Cheung). Thomas 94 Calvino writes about the pre-historical moment in the past when dinosaurs lived on earth and take us all back to that period. The life, thoughts, feelings and experiences of the last dinosaur may feel fantastic to our apprehension, but the species and its lifetime becomes part of the imagination through elements of the scientific research in this field. 4.10 The Form of Space The beginning statement of the tale goes like this: “The equations of the gravitational field, which relate the curve of space to the distribution of matter, are already becoming common knowledge” (Calvino 112). Tale is about the shape of the space and the wish of the narrator to have a change in it. The narrator is not mentioned by name, but it could be Qfwfq. The story narrates the infinite fall of the narrator, Ursula H’x who is a beautiful lady and lieutenant Fenimore through the space. All the three fall in parallel lines and they have no chance to meet each other. Still both the narrator and the lieutenant fell in love with the beautiful Ursula and tried their best to convey it to her. The lieutenant had a wish to meet somewhere down below, but the narrator understood that it would never happen, since they fall in parallel line. So the dream of the narrator goes in a different dimension that he thought of a change in the shape of the space and thereby he could touch Ursula. The endless fall in the tale point towards the vastness of the cosmos. It is eternal and the fall will never end since it is extended beyond any kind of apprehension. This idea is exactly mentioned when the narrator says, “a couple of times I managed to glimpse a universe, but it was Thomas 95 far away and seemed very tiny” (Calvino 115). The narrator, in order to get the attention of the beautiful woman, shouts at her to look at the universe that appears and disappears. In the story we have allusions to the present day hypothesis regarding multiple universes. The narrator exclaims, “but it wasn’t clear whether these were a number of universes scattered through space or whether it was always the same universe we kept passing” (Calvino 116). We can also read the traces of steady-state model of the universe present in the narration: “But it could also be that the universes had always been there, dense around us, and had no idea of moving, and we weren’t moving, either . . .” (Calvino 116). The way Calvino presents the space and the concepts of the universe/universes (multiverses) are well founded on the contemporary scientific deliberations of the cosmos. 4.11 The Light Years “The more distant a galaxy is, the more swiftly it moves away from us. A galaxy located at ten billion light years from us would have a speed of recession equal to the speed of light, three hundred thousand kilometers per second. The ‘quasars’ recently discovered are already approaching this threshold” (Calvino 123). The tale well descripts the measurement of light year. It is only in light year we are able to calculate the measures in cosmos and describe its history. The narrator observes a sign that is written, “I saw you”, in a galaxy that is hundred million light years away from him. It was a wonder to him. As per his calculation, the galaxy’s light had taken a hundred million years to reach him. He checked what he was doing on that day. It was something that he had to hide from other. He found such similar signs “I saw you” in other Thomas 96 galaxies too. It causes him worry. “A light-year is a measure of distance, rather than time. A light-year is the distance light travels in a year. Specifically, the International Astronomical Union defines a light-year as the distance light travels in 365.25 days” (Emspak). The tale Light Year narrates the distances in the space and it becomes easy for the reader to understand the vastness and the gap between galaxies. 4.12 The Spiral ‘The Spiral’ is the tale of a mollusc and its life. Molluscs are the second largest phylum of invertebrate animals. The beginning statement reads like this: For the majority of molluscs, the visible organic form has little importance in the life of the members of a species, since they cannot see one another and have, at most, only a vague perception of other individuals and of their surroundings. This does not prevent brightly coloured stripings and forms which seen very beautiful to our eyes (as in many gastropod shells) from existing independently of any relationship to visibility. (Calvino 137) Molluscs are attractive in their shells, but they do not see their own shells or the shells of their friends. They cannot see even the surroundings of their life. Qfwfq is a mollusc thinking about its own life and the world around it. It remains alone, away from any kind of attachments, since it can reproduce without sex. The thoughts, aspirations and deliberations of the mollusc become the theme of the tale. There is a distant hope remains in Qfwfq that one day evolution Thomas 97 will bring him a change, by which he can enjoy the beauty around him. The life and the aspirations of the mollusc is presented beautifully by the writer. Here the attention has to be given to the importance of evolution and its role in leading the thoughts of Qfwfq. The tale is narrated in the background of this evolutionary perspective, science has towards the entire world. Conclusion The present chapter was an attempt to learn the content of the twelve Cosmicomics stories of Italo Calvino and find out what are the elements of fantasy, imagination and science in them. All the twelve tales are studied well and explored in the said background. It is important to remember that each story begins with a beginning statement, which is purely a scientific hypothesis and the story follows is prepared in the context of the beginning statement. The analysis of the stories reveals the presence of fantasy, imagination and science in all of them. Thomas 98 Work Cited “At Daybreak”. www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/n2k/visibility/Alison_Errico/ Soft%20Moon/ad-content.html. Accessed 15 August 2018. Armstrong, Edwin Howard. “Edwin Hubble”, New World Encyclopedia, 21 September, 2017. www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Edwin_Hubble. Accessed 13 August, 2018. Calvino, Italo. The Complete Cosmicomics. Penguin Book: England, 2010. Cheung, Chung-Tat. “Dinosaur Extinction”, National Geographic. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/prehistoric-world/dinosaur-extinction/. Accessed 20 August 2018. “Cosmicomics”. Wikipedia, 13 November 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmicomics. Accessed 18 November 2018. “Cosmicomics – A Sign in Space”. Oulipo, 30 April 2015. https://oulipobybecky.wordpress.com/2015/04/30/cosmicomics-a-sign-in-space/. Accessed 16 August 2018. Emspak, Jesse. “What is a Light-Year?”, Live Science, 15 September 2016. http://www.livescience.com/56115-what-is-a-light-year.html. Accessed 13 Semptember 2018. Pamplany, Augustine. Cosmos, Bios, Theos. Aluva: Institute of Science and Religion, 2005. Ressler, Harrison. ““A Sign in Space” by Italo Calvino”, 7 September 2017, https://medium.com/@harrisonressler/a-sign-in-space-by-italo-calvino-6bccab9d4b79. Accessed 16 August 2018. “Steady-state Theory”. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/steady- Thomas 99 state-theory. Accessed 15 August 2018. Wilcox, Christie. “Evolution: Out of the Sea”, Scientific American, 28 July 2012. http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/science-sushi/evolution-out-of-the-sea/. Accessed 18 August 2018. Thomas 100 Chapter 5 Conclusion Why is there something rather than nothing? Is our universe real? If it is real, how is it formed? Where does it come from and where is it going? Is nature discrete or continuous? Is the universe infinite or finite? Is life inevitable, or is it a lucky accident? What is the destiny of the universe? What/who is behind the vast structure of the universe? These are few questions human race asks about the cosmos from time ancient. They had received answers to their quest in this regard. It was the philosophy and religion of those times usually gave answers to those cravings. They were all out of their sensory knowledge and philosophical reflections. They used the language of philosophy, religion and literature (poems, tales and narrations) to describe the mystery of the cosmos. As science entered into the human history the duty to answer those ultimate questions regarding the cosmos was also handed over to it. Science was dealing with everything in the microcosm and macrocosm. In the beginning decades of the scientific progression, there was a tendency to question and negate the answers given by religion and philosophy to the perennial queries regarding the cosmos. Science criticized philosophy and religion in their attempts to answer those questions. The philosophical, literary and religious language and methods were all discarded. Today science prevails with its systematic encountering with the realities and the knowledge gathered through experiments and research gets upper hand in the academic as well as lay circles. Thomas 101 But, with regard to the scientific progress of the recent decades, especially in the fields of quantum physics and astronomy, to deal with the scientific observations and to present it to the world, the quantum physicists and the astrophysicists subscribe back to the language of philosophy and literature. The impending mystery of the cosmos and the material realities is cause behind this return to the language of philosophers and storytellers. An article in the Scientific American by Christie Wilcox begins like this: In the beginning the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep, as a giant cloud of gas and dust collapsed to form our solar system. the planets were forged as the nebula spun, jolted into motion by a nearby supernova, and in the center, the most rapid compression of particles ignited to become our sun. Around 4.5 billion years ago, a molten earth began to cool. Violent collisions with comets and asteroids brought the fluid of life – water – and the clouds and oceans began to take shape. It wasn’t until a billion years later that the first life was brought forth, filling the atmosphere with oxygen. (Wilcox) The above quoted text is an example for the return of science to the language of philosophy and literature. This exactly is the background of my interdisciplinary approach to literature and science. What I have tried to establish is in today’s science fiction we find the elements of fantasy, imagination and hard core science. Many of the answers given by philosophy and religion to the queries regarding cosmos were mere fantasy. When I use the word fantasy, it is as per the current definition of the term. Though a product of imagination, fantasy is likely to happen, imagining something impossible or improbable, hence it is considered as a hallucination. Thomas 102 But, today with the help of scientific probe into the mystery of the cosmos we are able to do away with the fantasies and capable to imagine what is true regarding the realities. Science is doing away with fantasies. Fantasy gives way to imagination, since imagination is the human faculty to form ideas, images or concepts of external objects, though they are not present to the senses. John Archibald Wheeler, a physicist in Princeton and disciple of Niels Bohr articulates like this: “the future and the past are theory. They exist only in records and the thoughts of the present, a fulcrum, in which all stories end and begin” (Smith). It is important to distinguish between fantasy and imagination and to understand the difference in the concepts they bring. The introductory chapter of the dissertation tries to bring clarity to these concepts. Imagination and fantasy is approached from multiple perspectives and the etymological meaning is explored. The research went into different dictionaries, both printed and online and various disciplines of knowledge to find out the differences in the concepts existing between fantasy and imagination. Meanwhile it was needed also to establish the differences between fantasy and fiction too. All these words are used synonymously in usual walks of human life. Science fiction is totally different from fantasy. It is impossible to conclude that science fiction is fantasy. Second part of the introductory chapter deals with science fiction in detail. There are subgenres in science fiction. It is in this context of the science fiction, Italo Calvino and his Cosmicomics tales get relevance. Calvino, in his Cosmicomics stories tries to combine the ancient cosmogenic myths with the latest theories of the scientific cosmology. The subject matter of his stories are divided in to four main strands: a) The moon; b) The sun, stars and galaxies; c) The earth; d) Evolution and Thomas 103 time (McLaughlin). Therefore, it requires an understanding of the modern cosmological theories to continue with the research to find out the elements of fantasy, imagination and science fiction in Calvino’s Cosmicomics. So the second chapter is dealing with the evolution of modern cosmology. The importance of the new worldview put forward by science is stressed against the old worldview of the Aristotalian-Thomistic philosophy. The contrast is narrated briefly for the better understanding of the current academic atmosphere different from the medieval philosophical background. Second chapter also discusses Steady-state theory and Big Bang theory those describing the origin of the universe. The new understandings of the cosmos in the light of the contemporary revelations by the astronomical researches are also analyzed briefly in the second chapter. In the light of the first and second chapters Cosmicomics stories are analyzed in the third chapter. The reading of the individual tales brought out the elements of fantasy imagination and scientific content in each of them. It is good to have a close look at each story to know what is the scientific content they possess: No Name of the Story Theme 1 The Distance of the Moon Moon comes closer to earth and its eternal departure 2 At Daybreak Life immediately after Big Bang 3 A Sign in Space Discourses on galaxy 4 All at One Point Initial Singularity before Big Bang Thomas 104 5 Without Colours Formation of the atmosphere of earth 6 Games Without End Formation of atoms and elements 7 The Aquatic Uncle Emergence of life on land – evolution from sea 8 How Much Shall we Bet? Long term evolution of mankind 9 The Dinosaurs The extinction of dinosuars 10 The Form of Space The vastness of the universe and the concept of multiple universes 11 The light years Measurement of cosmological distance and time 12 The Spiral Evolution of a mollusc All these stories have a scientific statement in the beginning and that works as launch pads for the imagination to work on the narrations. Cosmicomics tales explore the domestic, the romantic and the existential of human life using the knowledge of astronomy, geology and evolutionary biology. What happens to literature in this approach is worth noting. McLaughlin, the translator of the Cosmicomics tales puts it like this: Calvino’s aim was “to raise the target which literature sets itself: he challenges literature to describe the indescribable, from macrocosm to microcosm, from the Big Bang to the division of cells” (Power). 5.1 Some Observations Literary dimensions cross-fertilize the scientific content in the stories. ‘Without Colours’ is an example. There are prior existing myths taking new forms or receiving new interpretations in his tales in the light of science. There are allusions to other literary works of other writers of Thomas 105 different periods. There are reflections on literature itself. We see the presence of certain postmodern theories in ‘A sign in space’. There is plenty of comedy in these tales. ‘The distance of the moon’, ‘The Aquatic uncle’ etc. are good examples. It is interesting to note that most of the Cosmicomics stories are love stories. ‘Without Colours’, ‘Aquatic Uncle’, ‘The form of space’ are good examples. 5.2 Research Findings and its Social Relevance All the twelve Cosmicomics tales are creations of Calvino’s Imagination. Though we find elements of fantasy in all the tales we cannot conclude that these stories are mere fantasies. Taking into account the distinction between fantasy and fiction, the analysis will prove that the Cosmicomics tales are fiction in nature. These tales begin with a scientific hypothesis as a beginning statement and the entire story revolves around almost that statement. Also as it is given above it is easy to decipher the scientific content from each story through a simple reading of them. Therefore the scientific content in the each tale is clearly approved. Author’s resort to scientific data made these tales part of his imagination rather being mere fantasy. The research finds in the Cosmicomics tales a movement from the mere use of fantasy to the analysis of data and reseraches in science. Therefore we are able to use our imagination capacity to read those tales. They are not fantasy anymore. We can imagine the narration using the scientific data available today, which is the same lying behind them. The increasing use of science in literature and literary creations will help people to enjoy reading and receive more real information regarding realities and say good bye to fantasy, that is behind many blind beliefs and Thomas 106 evil practices. 5.3 Limitations of the Study Current research focuses only on the first twelve short stories of Cosmicomics collection by Italo Calvino. I haven’t gone through all the Cosmicomics tales itself. The period Calvino wrote these tales is 1960s. Science, especially Astronomy has developed so much after that period. The last two or three decades scientific advancements may be capable enough to do away with all the ill information and defect knowledge created by fantasy in the previous centuries. 5.4 Further Scope The interdisciplinary approach to literature with the aid of contemporary science is not much explored in the researches. Therefore the scope is wide and vivid for any scholar who is interested in interdisciplinary studies. Thomas 107 Work Cited McLaughlin, Martin. Introduction. The Complete Cosmicomics. By Italo Calvino. Penguin: London, 2010. vii-xxiv. Power, Chris. “A Brief Survey of the Short Story: Italo Calvino”, The Guardian, 13 August 2014. http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/aug/13/short-story-survey-italo- calvino. Accessed 03 October 2018. Smith, Elwood H. “A Quantum of Solace”, The New York Times, 1 July 2013. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/science/space/timeless-questions-about-the- universe.html. Accessed 20 September 2018. 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