EN 2252: Science and Scientists in Modern Literature

Department
Category
Category I (offered at least 1x per Year)
Units 1/3

This course surveys the ways in which modern literature has represented science and scientists. Beginning with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the origin of what Isaac Asimov calls the “damned Frankenstein complex” is examined. More complex presentations of science and scientists occur in twentieth-century works like Brecht’s Galileo, Huxley’s Brave New World, and Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. The course covers major modern works of fiction and drama, including such literary forms as the play, the novel of ideas, and the utopian novel. Attention is focused on the themes (ideas) in, and the structure of, these works.