Date of Award
2008
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Program
Theory and Criticism
Supervisor
Tony Purdy
Second Advisor
Jenny Shaddock
Third Advisor
Michael Gardiner
Abstract
This thesis investigates the possibility that information theory as developed by Claude Shannon in 1948, and the Lucretian clinamen provide a model of communication that reveals common links between disparate fields of study. A model of information theory and the clinamen is first elaborated. This differs from previous humanist studies using information theory in that the focus is on the quantitative, not any qualitative aspects of the theory. The developed model is then applied to three systems - morphogenesis, Oulipian literature, and social utopianism. This study establishes the usefulness of information theory in furthering our understanding of how each of these systems operates and evolves.
Recommended Citation
Shaw, Christopher K., "The Mouse that Roared: Information Theory and the Clinamen in Social, Scientific, and Literary Systems" (2008). Digitized Theses. 4351.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses/4351