German Contributions to World Literature (322-0-1)
Topic
Literature and Mathematics
Instructors
Peter D Fenves
847/467-2966
1880 Campus Drive, Kresge 3329
Office Hours: Mon, 12 - 1:30 PM and by appointment
Meeting Info
Harris Hall L04: Mon, Wed 2:00PM - 3:20PM
Overview of class
Literature and mathematics—though often seen as at opposite ends of the "liberal arts"— have enriched each other in a variety of ways. This class is designed for students who are interested in exploring the relation between these two forms of creating, discovering, and analyzing rigorously formed structures that hover between reality and imagination. Each student will develop their own final project in consultation with the professor. After an introductory discussion of "mathematicity" (Roland Barthes) and the "mathematical person" (Robert Musil), the class is broken into three units. The first considers a small number of poetic genres and individual poems whose mathematical character is a crucial element of their meaning. In the second, we read several short stories by a single author, Jorge Luis Borges, whose "fictions" are widely recognized as auspicious points of intersection between literature and mathematics. In the final unit, we examine literary representations of the mathematician, ranging from Musil's sketch of a "man without qualities" through Benjamín Labatut's image of Alexander Grothendieck to Alice Munro's luminous portrayal of Sophia Kovalevsky at the end of her life. All readings and discussion are in English; those who know one or more of the original languages (German, French, Spanish) are encouraged to work with the texts in their original form.
Learning Objectives
• Learn about a variety of ways in which literature is related to mathematics
• Acquire knowledge of certain elements of poetic composition
• Become acquainted with the work of several major modernist writers, including Robert Musil, Jorge Luis Borges, and Alice Munro
• Learn how to propose and develop an independent research project in humanistic studies.
Class Materials (Required)
All texts will be available on Canvas.
Class Attributes
Advanced Expression
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area