Noble Numbers, Subtle Words: The Art of Mathematics in the Science of Storytelling

Couverture
Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1997 - 168 pages
This study approaches the use of mathematics in fiction in an entirely new way, as a potent instrument of language. Following Wittgenstein's description of mathematical constructs as a component of ordinary language, Fisher shows how number, geometric figuration, algebraic coding, and transcendent abstractions have been made to function as practical narrative tools. Far from rehearsing the various paradigms of numerology, whether Pythagorean, Elizabethan, or Cabalistic, this book explores the tactical deployment of mathematical objects as shaping and framing agents. It reveals how mathematical objects may be subordinated to the storyteller's art.
 

Table des matières

Acknowledgments
7
Preface
11
The Telltale Figure
19
Zero Reason Infinite Need
34
The Mathematics of Pandaemonium
49
Jamesian Geometry
73
Borges Algebra and Fire
90
Minutes for Seven Letters Beloved
113
Notes
128
Bibliography
150
Index
160
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