BLP-Conference: Literature and Mathematics
On 22 November 2008, the gala ship Regina Danubia set sail at 1 p.m. as the "Letters and Numbers Ship". The day, which brought together literature and maths in Passau, was part of a prize-winning project in the "Heads and Tails" ideas competition. In the Science Year 2008, this competition, initiated by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and organised by the House of Science in Bremen, promoted dialogue between the humanities and mathematics.
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research organised a "Heads and Tails" competition for the Year of Mathematics, which was aimed at the humanities. Professor Dr Susanne Hartwig from the University of Passau won the competition with her proposal entitled "Literature and mathematics in the same boat". The application, submitted jointly with Professor Dr Stefan Siegmund from the Technical University of Dresden, was funded with 10,000 euros.
Literary studies and mathematics are caught between the humanities and the natural sciences and are often contrasted as "soft" and "hard" sciences. Are they really so different or can they learn from each other? What do they have in common?
In order to provide answers to these questions, literature invited mathematics to Passau: on the "letters and numbers ship" Regina Danubia. There, following Sebastian Brant's Narrenschyff ad Narragoniam, the disciplines of mathematics and literary studies were merged:
- Mathematics as a literary theme
- Mathematics as a source of ideas for literary forms
- Mathematical principles as the basis for the interpretation of literature.
The three-hour trip on the ship was intended to link two otherwise seemingly completely separate scientific fields and shake up entrenched categories. The audience was given plentiful opportunities to join in the discussion and experiment.
On the ship's stage, dialogues between mathematics and literature were staged, a public reading was offered, mathematical principles in literature and literary terms (metaphor, tautology) were explained from a mathematical perspective.
On the "interactive deck", there was an exhibition and plenty of opportunities to experiment with maths and literature . Prizes were awarded for the best results!
The goal of the event was to show the level at which maths and literature have always met and can continue to meet. Creativity and imagination, which both sciences share, led to a playful dialogue with the audience.
| Principal Investigator(s) at the University | Prof. Dr. Susanne Hartwig (Lehrstuhl für Romanische Literaturen und Kulturen) |
|---|---|
| Project period | 22.11.2008 - 22.11.2008 |
| Source of funding |  BMBF - Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung > BMBF - Bund-Länder-Programm BLP |
