Conceptual mathematics and literature

"When as young children we first start to read, we enjoy the experience in the most basic and intuitive sense. We are moved by The Last of the Mohicans (Cooper, 1826/ 1986), fascinated by The Jungle Book (Kipling, 2013) and thrilled by The Hound of the Baskervilles (Doyle, 2016). No difficulty is evident, at least from our perspective as naive readers. However, when we grow up and are socialized as reflective individuals, our old new friend, the text, appears in a new light. It becomes an object that requires interpretation, explanation and understanding. Our trust in the text as naive readers may be replaced with deep suspicion or a distant analytical stance. The text might become an object of conspiracy (for example, if we read Fenimore Cooper as representing a colonialist perspective) or of analytical observation (for example, if we analyze it similarly to a mathematical riddle or a frog in a biology lesson). In both cases, the aesthetic experience is lost with our cherished childish enchantment"--

Year

2021

Language

English

Series

Studies in mathematics in the arts and humanities -- volume 2

Publisher

Brill

Editions

1

Pages

175

ISBN

9789004442368

Data source: Wikidata