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...

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Published in:	Miranda
Main Author:	Lanone, Catherine
Format:	Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:	English
Published:	Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès 2013
Subjects:	archéoptéryx arctique destinée évolution intentionnalité métaphore mécanique oiseau romantisme tragique archaeopteryx arctic bird design destiny mechanical metaphor romanticism tragic litt hist Arctic Arctique* Iceberg*
Online Access:	https://doi.org/10.4000/miranda.676 http://journals.openedition.org/miranda/676

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spelling	fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:10.4000/miranda.676 2023-05-15T15:13:35+02:00 Mechanical Birds and Shapes of Ice: Hardy’s Vision of the ‘Blind Watchmaker’ Lanone, Catherine 2013-11-07 https://doi.org/10.4000/miranda.676 http://journals.openedition.org/miranda/676 en eng Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès Miranda urn:doi:10.4000/miranda.676 doi:10.4000/miranda.676 http://journals.openedition.org/miranda/676 other Miranda archéoptéryx arctique destinée évolution intentionnalité métaphore mécanique oiseau romantisme tragique archaeopteryx arctic bird design destiny mechanical metaphor romanticism tragic litt hist Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2013 fttriple https://doi.org/10.4000/miranda.676 2023-01-22T17:57:45Z 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. Gillian Beer a mis en évidence l'impact de Darwin sur la littérature victorienne, comme si l'évolution s'était substituée à l'intrigue traditionnelle du roman. Métaphores et symboles permettent de rendre compte des mutations idéologiques issues des bouleversements scientifiques. Tel est bien le cas pour Thomas Hardy, dont l'œuvre porte l'empreinte des interrogations scientifiques et épistémologiques de son époque. Cet article s'inspire de la lecture que fait Richard Dawkins du Darwinisme, et notamment du concept de l'horloger aveugle, pour interroger, à travers quelques poèmes et Tess of the d'Urbervilles, deux images clefs de Hardy, l'oiseau mécanique et l'iceberg, et la façon dont le motif des rouages de la destinée révèle une mutation conceptuelle paradigmatique. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctique* Iceberg* Unknown Arctic Miranda 1
institution	Open Polar
collection	Unknown
op_collection_id	fttriple
language	English
topic	archéoptéryx arctique destinée évolution intentionnalité métaphore mécanique oiseau romantisme tragique archaeopteryx arctic bird design destiny mechanical metaphor romanticism tragic litt hist
spellingShingle	archéoptéryx arctique destinée évolution intentionnalité métaphore mécanique oiseau romantisme tragique archaeopteryx arctic bird design destiny mechanical metaphor romanticism tragic litt hist Lanone, Catherine Mechanical Birds and Shapes of Ice: Hardy’s Vision of the ‘Blind Watchmaker’
topic_facet	archéoptéryx arctique destinée évolution intentionnalité métaphore mécanique oiseau romantisme tragique archaeopteryx arctic bird design destiny mechanical metaphor romanticism tragic litt hist
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. Gillian Beer a mis en évidence l'impact de Darwin sur la littérature victorienne, comme si l'évolution s'était substituée à l'intrigue traditionnelle du roman. Métaphores et symboles permettent de rendre compte des mutations idéologiques issues des bouleversements scientifiques. Tel est bien le cas pour Thomas Hardy, dont l'œuvre porte l'empreinte des interrogations scientifiques et épistémologiques de son époque. Cet article s'inspire de la lecture que fait Richard Dawkins du Darwinisme, et notamment du concept de l'horloger aveugle, pour interroger, à travers quelques poèmes et Tess of the d'Urbervilles, deux images clefs de Hardy, l'oiseau mécanique et l'iceberg, et la façon dont le motif des rouages de la destinée révèle une mutation conceptuelle paradigmatique.
format	Article in Journal/Newspaper
author	Lanone, Catherine
author_facet	Lanone, Catherine
author_sort	Lanone, Catherine
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	2013
url	https://doi.org/10.4000/miranda.676 http://journals.openedition.org/miranda/676
geographic	Arctic
geographic_facet	Arctic
genre	Arctic Arctique* Iceberg*
genre_facet	Arctic Arctique* Iceberg*
op_source	Miranda
op_relation	urn:doi:10.4000/miranda.676 doi:10.4000/miranda.676 http://journals.openedition.org/miranda/676
op_rights	other
op_doi	https://doi.org/10.4000/miranda.676
container_title	Miranda
container_issue	1
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Mechanical Birds and Shapes of Ice: Hardy’s Vision of the ‘Blind Watchmaker’

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