—To be found at SSRN: "Illuminations from This Thing of Darkness"

"This Thing of Darkness", a phrase describing the half-human creature Caliban in Shakespeare's The Tempest, is the British title of Harry Thompson's novel titled "To the Edge of the World" in the USA. It deals with Darwin's Beagle voyage and the European encounter with primitive civilizations, with the figure of the Beagle's captain FitzRoy taking center focus. This paper reviews Thompson's novel as a portrait of the impact of evolutionary theory on traditional world-views, with FitzRoy's experiences embodying an old order of values and beliefs which is displaced by modern imperial bureaucracy and by the new understanding of mankind ushered in by Darwin. In the meantime, we find a portrait of the European world order, both political, economic and conceptual, displacing and driving to extinction the primitive societies of "the edges of the world". Darwin's science is thus both a symptom and a diagnosis of the struggle for existence in human cultures.

—This Thing of Darkness, "esta cosa de la oscuridad", es una frase que describe a la criatura semihumana Caliban en La Tempestad de Shakespeare, usada como título en la novela de Harry Thompson que en América se titula To the Edge of the Word, "Hacia los confines del mundo", título también éste de la versión española. Trata la novela del viaje del Beagle llevado a cabo por Darwin, y del encuentro europeo con civilizaciones primitivas, ocupando el centro la figura del capitán del Beagle, FitzRoy. Reseñamos la novela de Thompson en tanto que representación del impacto que supone la teoría evolucionista sobre las visiones tradicionales del mundo. FizRoy encarna un orden de valores y creencias que se verá desplazado por la burocracia imperial moderna y por la nueva comprensión de la naturaleza de la humanidad que inaugura la ciencia de Darwin. Entretanto, vemos cómo el orden mundial de Occidente, tanto político y económico como conceptual, desplaza y empuja a la extinción a las sociedades primitivas de "los confines del mundo". La ciencia de Darwin aparece así a la vez como síntoma y como diagnóstico de la lucha por la existencia de las culturas humanas.



________

Illuminations from 'This Thing of Darkness'

Reference Info: The Evolutionary Review 1 (2010): 138-40.

Date posted: February 05, 2014  

http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2390119

SSRN eJournal Classifications Message AARN Subject Matter eJournals      Biology & Anthropology eJournal - CMBO          AARN: Other Biology & Anthropology (Topic) - CMBO Added to eLibrary AARN Subject Matter eJournals      Anthropology of Race, Ethnicity & Indigenous People eJournal - CMBO Added to eLibrary AARN Subject Matter eJournals      Biology & Anthropology eJournal - CMBO Added to eLibrary LIT Subject Matter eJournals      English & Commonwealth Literature eJournal - CMBO Added to eLibrary LIT Subject Matter eJournals      English & Commonwealth Literature eJournal - CMBO          LIT: Contemporary English Literature (Topic) - CMBO Added to eLibrary Delete      --Cultural Anthropology eJournal - CMBO Added to eLibrary Delete      --Cultural Anthropology eJournal - CMBO          AARN: Race, Ethnicity, & Indigenous People (Topic) - CMBO              AARN: Indigenous Peoples (Sub-Topic) - CMBO Added to eLibrary Delete      --Cultural Anthropology eJournal - CMBO          AARN: Race, Ethnicity, & Indigenous People (Topic) - CMBO Added to eLibrary

Also in these repositories:

_____. "Illuminations from This Thing of Darkness." Rev. of Harry Thompson's novel. The Evolutionary Review 1 (2010): 138-40.*

_____. "Illuminations from This Thing of Darkness." SSRN 5 Feb. 2014.*

         http://ssrn.com/abstract=2390119

         2014

         Anthropology of Race, Ethnicity & Indigenous People eJournal 5 Feb. 2014.*

         https://www.ssrn.com/link/Anthro-Race-Ethnicity-Indigenous-People.html

         2024

         Cultural Anthropology eJournal 5 Feb. 2014.*

         http://www.ssrn.com/link/Cultural-Anthropology.html

         2014 DISCONTINUED 2024

         Biology & Anthropology eJournal 5 Feb. 2014.*

         http://www.ssrn.com/link/Biological-Anthropology.html

2014

         English and Commonwealth Literature eJournal 5 Feb. 2014.*

         http://www.ssrn.com/link/English-Commonwealth-Lit.html

         2014

_____. "Illuminations from This Thing of Darkness." In García Landa, Vanity Fea 3 Feb. 2014.*

         http://vanityfea.blogspot.com.es/2014/02/illuminations-from-this-thing-of.html

         2014

_____. "Illuminations from This Thing of Darkness." ResearchGate 9 Aug. 2014.*

         https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264553037

         2014

_____. "Illuminations from This Thing of Darkness." Academia 9 Aug. 2014.*

         https://www.academia.edu/7922432/

         2014

_____. "Illuminations from This Thing of Darkness." The Evolutionary Review 1 (138-40). (Part III). Online at Academia (Joseph Carroll) Sept. 2015.*

         https://www.academia.edu/16176288/The_Evolutionary_Review_Art_Science_Culture_third_3rd_of_vol._1_2010_

         2015

Harry Thompson, This Thing of Darkness: Narrative Anchoring

 

 

—oOo—