Toward a Sociobiological Hermeneutic: Darwinian Essays on Literature

248 Pages·2012·2.165 MB·English

by  Michael Wainwright (auth.)

Toward a Sociobiological
Hermeneutic
Also by Michael Wainwright
Faulkner’s Gambit: Chess and Literature (2011)
Darwin and Faulkner’s Novels: Evolution and Southern Literature (2008)
Toward a Sociobiological
Hermeneutic
Darwinian Essays on Literature
Michael Wainwright
TOWARD A SOCIOBIOLOGICAL HERMENEUTIC
Copyright © Michael Wainwright, 2012.
All rights reserved.
First published in 2012 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States— a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the
United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-35174-9 ISBN 978-0-230-39181-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230391819
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wainwright, Michael.
Toward a sociobiological hermeneutic : Darwinian essays on literature /
Michael Wainwright.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Literature and science. 2. Evolution (Biology) in literature. 3. Social
Darwinism in literature. I. Title.
PN55.W27 2012
8099.9336—dc23 2011047897
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: June 2012
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
An die ferne Geliebte

Contents
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgments xi
1 Introduction: Darwinism after Darwin 1
2 Wilde, the Science of Heredity, and The Picture of
Dorian Gray 2 5
3 Figuring the Financier in Dreiser, Dos Passos, and
Faulkner 4 9
4 Game Theory in a Literary Setting 91
5 An Evolutionary Reengagement with Todorov’s
Decameron 1 21
6 Veering toward an Evolutionary Realignment of
Freud’s Hamlet 1 47
7 Parasitism in Larsen’s P assing 1 77
Notes 2 03
Works Cited 2 15
Index 2 33

Figures
1.1 The Necker Cube Conundrum 8
1.2 The Necker Cube Conundrum with Foreground
Face in Black 9
4.1 Possible Outcomes to the Cake Cutting Dilemma 9 3
4.2 Possible Outcomes to Matching Pennies 98
4.3 P ossible Outcomes to the Music Hall Problem
in Sanctuary 100
4.4 Possible Outcomes to the Matching Pennies Variant in
“The Final Problem” 104
4.5 Possible Outcomes to a Standard Prisoner’s Dilemma 108
4.6 Possible Outcomes to a Standard Prisoner’s Dilemma
in Terms of Incarceration 109
4.7 A Reduction of Dawson’s Chess as Applied to
Light in August 110
4.8 Possible Outcomes in a Reduction of Dawson’s Chess as
Applied to Light in August 111
4.9 Possible Outcomes for Gavin Stevens’s Egos in
“Knight’s Gambit” 118
5.1 C. B. Harley’s RPS Mechanism for Salabaetto’s
Learning Experience 137