Mechanical Birds and Shapes of Ice: Hardy’s Vision of the ‘Blind Watchmaker’

Gillian Beer has shown that the Darwinian plot radically changed the way the world was perceived, hence the way literature was written. Symbols and metaphors are used to convey complex issues such as the mutations brought by science, radical changes which were so hard to grasp. Thus, many of Thomas...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Miranda
Main Author: Catherine Lanone
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
French
Published: Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès 2010
Subjects:
archaeopteryx
arctic
bird
design
destiny
evolution
Sociology (General)
HM401-1281
Arctic
Iceberg*
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.4000/miranda.676
https://doaj.org/article/2bd2b1702ddc40f690ed7dfebf85bfae
id ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:2bd2b1702ddc40f690ed7dfebf85bfae
record_format openpolar
spelling ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:2bd2b1702ddc40f690ed7dfebf85bfae 2023-05-15T15:03:12+02:00 Mechanical Birds and Shapes of Ice: Hardy’s Vision of the ‘Blind Watchmaker’ Catherine Lanone 2010-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.4000/miranda.676 https://doaj.org/article/2bd2b1702ddc40f690ed7dfebf85bfae EN FR eng fre Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès http://journals.openedition.org/miranda/676 https://doaj.org/toc/2108-6559 2108-6559 doi:10.4000/miranda.676 https://doaj.org/article/2bd2b1702ddc40f690ed7dfebf85bfae Miranda: Revue Pluridisciplinaire du Monde Anglophone, Vol 1 (2010) archaeopteryx arctic bird design destiny evolution Sociology (General) HM401-1281 article 2010 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.4000/miranda.676 2022-12-31T15:00:37Z Gillian Beer has shown that the Darwinian plot radically changed the way the world was perceived, hence the way literature was written. Symbols and metaphors are used to convey complex issues such as the mutations brought by science, radical changes which were so hard to grasp. Thus, many of Thomas Hardy's images and metaphors, whether in his poems or his novels, can only be understood if one bears in mind the impact of Darwinism upon the Victorian frame of mind. This paper focuses on the way two key images (Hardy's vision of mechanical birds and ominous icebergs as cogs of destiny) may be highlighted by today's readings of the Darwinian legacy, such as Richard Dawkins' 1986 The Blind Watchmaker: both may be read as symptoms of an ontological paradigmatic shift, as Thomas Hardy grappled with the philosophical contradictions of a new era. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Iceberg* Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Miranda 1
institution Open Polar
collection Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles
op_collection_id ftdoajarticles
language English
French
topic archaeopteryx
arctic
bird
design
destiny
evolution
Sociology (General)
HM401-1281
spellingShingle archaeopteryx
arctic
bird
design
destiny
evolution
Sociology (General)
HM401-1281
Catherine Lanone
Mechanical Birds and Shapes of Ice: Hardy’s Vision of the ‘Blind Watchmaker’
topic_facet archaeopteryx
arctic
bird
design
destiny
evolution
Sociology (General)
HM401-1281
description Gillian Beer has shown that the Darwinian plot radically changed the way the world was perceived, hence the way literature was written. Symbols and metaphors are used to convey complex issues such as the mutations brought by science, radical changes which were so hard to grasp. Thus, many of Thomas Hardy's images and metaphors, whether in his poems or his novels, can only be understood if one bears in mind the impact of Darwinism upon the Victorian frame of mind. This paper focuses on the way two key images (Hardy's vision of mechanical birds and ominous icebergs as cogs of destiny) may be highlighted by today's readings of the Darwinian legacy, such as Richard Dawkins' 1986 The Blind Watchmaker: both may be read as symptoms of an ontological paradigmatic shift, as Thomas Hardy grappled with the philosophical contradictions of a new era.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Catherine Lanone
author_facet Catherine Lanone
author_sort Catherine Lanone
title Mechanical Birds and Shapes of Ice: Hardy’s Vision of the ‘Blind Watchmaker’
title_short Mechanical Birds and Shapes of Ice: Hardy’s Vision of the ‘Blind Watchmaker’
title_full Mechanical Birds and Shapes of Ice: Hardy’s Vision of the ‘Blind Watchmaker’
title_fullStr Mechanical Birds and Shapes of Ice: Hardy’s Vision of the ‘Blind Watchmaker’
title_full_unstemmed Mechanical Birds and Shapes of Ice: Hardy’s Vision of the ‘Blind Watchmaker’
title_sort mechanical birds and shapes of ice: hardy’s vision of the ‘blind watchmaker’
publisher Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès
publishDate 2010
url https://doi.org/10.4000/miranda.676
https://doaj.org/article/2bd2b1702ddc40f690ed7dfebf85bfae
geographic Arctic
geographic_facet Arctic
genre Arctic
Iceberg*
genre_facet Arctic
Iceberg*
op_source Miranda: Revue Pluridisciplinaire du Monde Anglophone, Vol 1 (2010)
op_relation http://journals.openedition.org/miranda/676
https://doaj.org/toc/2108-6559
2108-6559
doi:10.4000/miranda.676
https://doaj.org/article/2bd2b1702ddc40f690ed7dfebf85bfae
op_doi https://doi.org/10.4000/miranda.676
container_title Miranda
container_issue 1
_version_ 1766335089351852032

Similar Items