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Literary Darwinism
In Literary Darwinism, Carroll presents a comprehensive survey of this new movement with a collection of his most important previously published work, along with three new essays. The essays and reviews give commentary on all the major contributors to the field, situate the field as a whole in relation to historical trends and contemporary schools, provide Darwinist readings of major literary texts such as Pride and Prejudice and Tess of the d'Urbervilles, and analyze literary Darwinism in relation to the affiliated fields of evolutionary metaphysics, cognitive rhetoric, and ecocriticism. Collecting the essays in a single volume will provide a central point of reference for scholars interested in consulting what the foremost practitioner ( New York Times ) of Darwinian literary criticism has to say about his field.
304 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2004
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About the author
Joseph Carroll
21 books9 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Joseph Carroll (b. 1949) is a scholar in the field of literature and evolution. He is currently Curators’ Professor at the University of Missouri-St Louis, where he has taught since 1985.
Evolution and Literary Theory established the field of evolutionary literary studies and critiqued poststructuralist theory for seeing the world as if it were textual and for seeing meaning as undecidable. Literary Darwinism: Evolution, Human Nature and Literature collected the essays from Carroll’s next decade. A second volume, Reading Human Nature, collected later essays. Carroll and colleagues have applied empirical methods—an Internet survey of reader responses—to an evolutionary analysis of British nineteenth century fiction, Graphing Jane Austen. Carroll edited Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species and co-edited volumes 1 and 2 of The Evolutionary Review.
Joseph Carroll (b. 1949) is a scholar in the field of literature and evolution. He is currently Curators’ Professor at the University of Missouri-St Louis, where he has taught since 1985.
Evolution and Literary Theory established the field of evolutionary literary studies and critiqued poststructuralist theory for seeing the world as if it were textual and for seeing meaning as undecidable. Literary Darwinism: Evolution, Human Nature and Literature collected the essays from Carroll’s next decade. A second volume, Reading Human Nature, collected later essays. Carroll and colleagues have applied empirical methods—an Internet survey of reader responses—to an evolutionary analysis of British nineteenth century fiction, Graphing Jane Austen. Carroll edited Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species and co-edited volumes 1 and 2 of The Evolutionary Review.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 29, 2010
Searching for a link between the humanities and the sciences is contentious territory. Academics in the industry of literary criticism, especially, are loathe to recognize the positive potential of applying findings from the sciences to the study of literature. I strongly suspect that this is a selfish survival instinct, and also a form of cowardice: the thing about scientific theories is that if they are wrong, they may ultimately be proven wrong. The thing with post-modern theoretical leanings favored by the modern humanities industry is that they can never be proven to be true or false. Like foundational religious beliefs, they are largely impractical and unsupportable, but but too ethereal to be bound by the laws of reality. Cowards like to adopt these kinds of beliefs, because they can be clung to without fear of ever being proven wrong.
Literary Darwinism does a fine job of outlining how a more scientific approach to literary criticism can open new avenues down which critics may travel. In many ways, the book is a toe in the water of what could be a broad new field, and Carroll seems to recognize this. His Adaptationist-inspired analysis of Pride and Prejudice is an excellent example of what could be done in the field, but it's impossible not to note that Pride and Prejudice has got to be the most obvious text to explain with sociobiological principles.
Literary Darwinism does a fine job of outlining how a more scientific approach to literary criticism can open new avenues down which critics may travel. In many ways, the book is a toe in the water of what could be a broad new field, and Carroll seems to recognize this. His Adaptationist-inspired analysis of Pride and Prejudice is an excellent example of what could be done in the field, but it's impossible not to note that Pride and Prejudice has got to be the most obvious text to explain with sociobiological principles.
August 14, 2022
A well written collection of essays. The author clearly has a good grasp of evolutionary concepts.
A deficit is the lack of empirical studies to buttress the theory. Great theorizing and a good portal into evolutionary psychology.
Another deficit is that the psychology of representation is not detailed enough and broad enough. Nonetheless, a well written intro with some big, interesting ideas which can serve to enliven one’s imagination on his/her intellectual journey.
A deficit is the lack of empirical studies to buttress the theory. Great theorizing and a good portal into evolutionary psychology.
Another deficit is that the psychology of representation is not detailed enough and broad enough. Nonetheless, a well written intro with some big, interesting ideas which can serve to enliven one’s imagination on his/her intellectual journey.
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February 25, 2009As seen on Origins.
Darwinist literary criticism? Really?
Darwinist literary criticism? Really?
July 9, 2012
If you were ever to misjudge a book by it's cover, it would be this one. I thought it would challenge my belief in intelligent design, but it only has made it stronger.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews