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THE DISCOVERY OF COMPARISON

THE DISCOVERY OF COMPARISON AbstractWhile comparative literature is often called a discipline in crisis, it is just as often charged with the responsibility to see into the future. But why has comparative literature been given the task of the fortune-teller? To answer this question, I compare the works of Philip K. Dick and Ricardo Piglia to address a method of accessing the future by means of the random reading of books, also known as “bibliomancy” (divination by books). My argument opens up a disciplinary question (the practice of comparative literature, the mechanism of comparison) by means of a theoretical inquiry into the relation between reading and chance. I argue that Piglia’s incorporation of Dick’s theme of bibliomancy introduces us to “comparomancy,” which describes the way the chance crossing of texts bears witness to the forces at work in the present and opens up the present to strikingly new paths. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Angelaki: Journal of Theoretical Humanities Taylor & Francis

THE DISCOVERY OF COMPARISON

Kelman, David
Angelaki: Journal of Theoretical Humanities , Volume 24 (5): 15 – Sep 3, 2019
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THE DISCOVERY OF COMPARISON

Abstract

AbstractWhile comparative literature is often called a discipline in crisis, it is just as often charged with the responsibility to see into the future. But why has comparative literature been given the task of the fortune-teller? To answer this question, I compare the works of Philip K. Dick and Ricardo Piglia to address a method of accessing the future by means of the random reading of books, also known as “bibliomancy” (divination by books). My argument opens up a disciplinary...
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Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
© 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
ISSN
1469-2899
eISSN
0969-725X
DOI
10.1080/0969725X.2019.1655276
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

AbstractWhile comparative literature is often called a discipline in crisis, it is just as often charged with the responsibility to see into the future. But why has comparative literature been given the task of the fortune-teller? To answer this question, I compare the works of Philip K. Dick and Ricardo Piglia to address a method of accessing the future by means of the random reading of books, also known as “bibliomancy” (divination by books). My argument opens up a disciplinary question (the practice of comparative literature, the mechanism of comparison) by means of a theoretical inquiry into the relation between reading and chance. I argue that Piglia’s incorporation of Dick’s theme of bibliomancy introduces us to “comparomancy,” which describes the way the chance crossing of texts bears witness to the forces at work in the present and opens up the present to strikingly new paths.

Journal

Angelaki: Journal of Theoretical Humanities – Taylor & Francis

Published: Sep 3, 2019

Keywords: Philip K. Dick; Ricardo Piglia; comparative literature; future; chance; bibliomancy

References

  • A Certain Impossible Possibility of Saying the Event
  • Schizophrenia & The Book of Changes
  • The Reign of the Amoeba: Further Thoughts about the Future of Comparative Literature
  • Fatal Texts: The Sortes Vergilianae
  • Metaphysics and Metafiction in The Man in the High Castle
  • Introduction: Comparative Literature and the New Humanities
  • Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle
  • Synchronizität als ein Prinzip Akausaler Zusammenhänge
  • The Sortes Vergilianae: Fact and Fiction
  • The Theme of the Traitor: Disinheritance in Ricardo Piglia’s Artificial Respiration
  • The Sortes Vergilianae
  • La lengua ausente: la traducción como relato
  • The I Ching and Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle
  • The Metafictive World of The Man in the High Castle: Hermeneutics, Ethics, and Political Ideology
  • Ancient Jewish Bibliomancy
  • Sortes: Sacred Books as Instant Oracles in Late Antiquity
  • The Crisis of Comparative Literature