Evolution, Literature, and Film

Original and unique--there is almost by default no collection like it at present. The field of evolutionary literary studies is coalescing as I write, and the publication of this book will have a decisive and positive impact in this regard. -- Peter Swirski, author of Literature, Analytically Speaking: Explorations in the Theory of Interpretation, Analytic Aesthetics, and Evolution Extremely well conceived, bringing together classics from the early days and the cutting edge of recent statistical scholarship. The essays are excellent and represent the best work being done right now in the field. -- Blakey Vermeule, Stanford University This book not only fills a need, but creates a field. With texts ranging from the classic to the contemporary, Evolution, Literature, and Film builds on the dramatic advances made in recent years by evolutionary literary study and extends those advances to the study of film and beyond, to a 'new humanities.' This argument is frankly revolutionary in its aspirations, seeking to revitalize the humanities by linking them to the human sciences. This move, the editors argue, will ground the humanities in a world of fact, account for the pertinence to literary and cinematic art of universal principles of human being, and dignify the study of creative expression by placing it in the context of evolved human existence. -- Geoffrey Harpham, president and director, National Humanities Center

Featuring thirty-nine essential essays by pioneering scholars, scientists, and critics, Evolution, Literature, and Film opens with an introduction to the principles of evolution, with essays from Charles Darwin on the logic of natural selection, Richard Dawkins on the genetic revolution of modern evolutionary theory, Edward O. Wilson on the unity of knowledge, Steven Pinker on the transformation of psychology into an explanatory science, and David Sloan Wilson on the integration of evolutionary theory into cultural critique. Later sections include essays on the adaptive function of the arts, discussions of evolutionary literary theory and film theory, interpretive commentaries on specific works of literature and film, and analyses using empirical methods to explore literary problems. Texts under the microscope include folk- and fairy tales; Homer's Iliad; Shakespeare's plays; works by William Wordsworth, Charles Dickens, Emily Bronte, and Zora Neale Hurston; narratives in sci-fi, comics, and slash fiction; and films from Europe, America, Asia, and Africa. Each essay explains the contribution of evolution to a study of the human mind, human behavior, culture, and art.