Michele Cometa: Catalogue data in Spring Semester 2022 |
| Name | Prof. Dr. Michele Cometa |
| Address | Charlotte Meisner Clausiusstrasse 59, RZ H 12 Literatur- u. Kulturwiss., Kilche 8092 Zürich SWITZERLAND |
| Department | Humanities, Social and Political Sciences |
| Relationship | Visiting Professor |
| Number | Title | ECTS | Hours | Lecturers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 851-0335-00L | LITERATURE AND DARWINISM. Outlines of Biopoetics  | 3 credits | 2V | M. Cometa | |
| Abstract | After an extensive analysis of the biocultural turn in literary theory, the lectures will focus on the so-called Literary Darwinism, both in its orthodox version and in the forms that draw on the sciences of the mind and cognitive archaeology. | ||||
| Learning objective | Outlining the basic features of a "biopoetics". This means bringing together the sciences of “bíos” with literary theory in the broader context of a study of the narrative niche of Homo Sapiens. | ||||
| Content | In the famous conference on Darwinism in art (1883) Francesco De Sanctis, while expressing unconditional admiration for the English scientist and writer, already warned scholars of literature and aesthetics on the risks of a too mechanical application of the principles of the new biology to the Humanities. However, he did not fail to grasp the inevitability of a comparison with the "new science" that Charles Darwin had founded. More than a century later, the science of literature is called, with new arguments, to this dialogue and to overcome, once and for all, the thesis of the "two cultures". After an extensive analysis of the biocultural turn in literary theory, the lectures will focus on the so-called Literary Darwinism, both in its orthodox version and in the forms that draw on the sciences of the mind and cognitive archaeology. Today, outlining the basic features of a "biopoetics" means bringing together the sciences of “bíos” with literary theory in the broader context of a study of the narrative niche of Homo Sapiens. | ||||