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

Noble Numbers, Subtle Words: The Art of Mathematics in the Science of Storytelling
ISBN-10
083863740X
ISBN-13
9780838637401
Category
Literary Criticism
Pages
168
Language
English
Published
1997
Publisher
Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press
Author
Barbara Milberg Fisher

Description

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.

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