JOURNAL ARTICLE

The Mercurial Effects of Abstract Reflection: Troubling Hegemonic Cultures of Knowledge in Ted Chiang's Short Math Fiction and Richard Powers's Maximalist Arboreal Novel.

  • Published In: Anglia: Journal of English Philology / Zeitschrift für Englische Philologie, 2023, v. 141, n. 4. P. 522 1 of 3

  • Database: Humanities Source Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Butter, Stella 3 of 3

Abstract

Narrative fiction that combines mathematical or scientific discourses with a pronounced interest in the topic of reasoning, particularly the mercurial effects of abstraction, unfolds an especially multi-faceted engagement with hegemonic cultures of knowledge. The contrastive analysis of two contemporary works of American fiction illustrates the role that the affordances of aesthetic form thereby play: Ted Chiang's "Division by Zero", a short story concerned with mathematical and empathic cultures of knowledge, and Richard Powers's maximalist novel The Overstory, a climate change novel that challenges plant disparity awareness in Western culture. Powers's novel can be seen as a critical response to the anthropocentric cultures of knowledge encapsulated in Chiang's short story. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional Information

  • Source:Anglia: Journal of English Philology / Zeitschrift für Englische Philologie. 2023/12, Vol. 141, Issue 4, p522
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:Literature and Writing
  • Publication Date:2023
  • ISSN:03405222
  • DOI:10.1515/ang-2023-0033
  • Accession Number:173961063
  • Copyright Statement:Copyright of Anglia: Journal of English Philology / Zeitschrift für Englische Philologie is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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