Imagining the Universe: From Dante to Contemporary Cosmology
Course Description
Is it possible to imagine the universe? What does it mean to grasp, or attempt to grasp, the totality that surrounds us? What is at stake between the cosmos and the individual? Is there such a thing as an objective image of the universe, and what happens when different images of the universe are put into dialogue?
This is a literature course. In our classes, we will look at these questions by testing the (im)possibilities of literature to help us make sense of the universe around us and our place in it. We will follow the works of various authors from the Italian tradition: Dante Alighieri, Ludovico Ariosto, Galileo Galilei, Giacomo Leopardi, Primo Levi, Oriana Fallaci, Italo Calvino, and Daniele del Giudice. Alongside our primary focus, we will also explore texts of authors from other literary contexts, such as Homer, Virgil, Lucretius, Farid al-Din Attar, Luís de Camões, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Cyrano de Bergerac, Blaise Pascal, Descartes, John Milton, H. P. Lovecraft, Vicente Huidobro, and Jorge Luis Borges. We will also analyze how contemporary scientists such as Guido Tonelli and Carlo Rovelli, among others, use literature to organize their scientific discourses. Finally, we will watch and discuss the movie Interstellar (2014) by Cristopher Nolan as an example of how cinema deals with these same questions. We will also organize guided stargazing sessions at the Student Observatory at Stanford.
The texts we read grapple in various ways with the challenges of imagining a synthetic view of our universe. They invite us to engage with the cosmos – sometimes in an attitude of contemplation and enthusiasm, and other times with doubt and fear, but always with wonder. This course argues for the centrality of literature and the arts in helping us make sense of the universe today.
Meet the Instructor: Giacomo Berchi
"My name is Giacomo Berchi, and I am a scholar of Dante and epic poetry. My research focuses especially on the relationship between literature and the universe, as well as Dante’s presence in literary traditions across the globe. I am currently working on several projects exploring Dante’s influence in the Caribbean epic tradition – particularly in the works of Derek Walcott – and in the cosmic poetry of the Brazilian poet Haroldo de Campos. One of the defining features shared by Dante’s Comedy and other epic poems is their engagement with profound questions: what is our place in the universe? What can we know about the world around us – from our daily life to the stars and galaxies? And how can literature help us making sense of it all? These questions are at the heart of this seminar, and I am especially excited to explore them with you as we read texts from a range of literary traditions."
Of related interest
FRENCH 56N
COMPLIT 56N