It is widely acknowledged that emotion is deeply embedded in literary criticism. Even when we aspire to scientific analysis and objectivity, we assume that we share a love of literature. Loving Literature is a deep and fascinating exploration of this important assumption. Literary critics and professors of literature are expected not only to know but also to love their work. In the case of prof...

In answering the question 'what is special about the gene' from a literary perspective, the article suggests that if literary appreciation is often seen as a mark of human exceptionalism, knowledge of the gene may undermine this claim. Tracing some of the historical and philosophical complexities that circulate around the word 'gene', the article argues that in one sense 'the gene' plays the le...

pursuing literary studies based on chaos theory: Turbulent Mirror (Briggs and Peta) and Chaos: Making a New Science (Gleick), two monographs aimed at the non-specialist; Does God Play Dice? (Stewart); The Beauty of Fractals: Images of Complex Dynamical Systems (Peitgen-Richter), a visually amazing scientific treatise; and Computers, Pattern, Chaos and Beauty: Graphics from an Unseen World (Pick...

This essay surveys four articles of the section dedicated to the boundaries of fiction in literature, scientific discourse, and other areas of human creativity. The section is supposed to contribute to the study of a broad range of the problems of literary theory, such as the interaction between literature and other social practices, resulting in the creation of a particular discourse of ‘reali...

Applied Literature, however, does not have literature at its centre. Literature in this domain is a tool to solve problems and achieve goals. Using literature to teach and learn languages, the application of literature to language education, is a very handy example. Health Humanities (by Crawford, et al. and reviewed by A. Ramazani in our Journal's previous issue) comprises chapters on how lite...

Throughout the ages, literary works have expressed fears and expectations generated by scientific discoveries and have portrayed images and myths about science itself. Several parameters can contribute to these representations of science, including the culture and social class to which the authors of these works belong. We also cannot deny the influence of gender, as due to the fact that the ma...

Many scientific authors--among them famous names such as Henri Gastaut or Sigmund Freud--dealt with the question from what kind of epilepsy Fyodor Mikhailovitch Dostoevsky (1821-1881) might had suffered. Because of the tight interplay between Dostoevsky's literary work and his own disease we throw light on the author's epilepsy against the background of his epileptic fictional characters. Moreo...