Technik und Science-Fiction in der Vormoderne [Technology and science fiction in the premodern age] ed. by Brigitte Burrichter and Dorothea Klein (review).

Abstract

Reviewed by: Technik und Science-Fiction in der Vormoderne [Technology and science fiction in the premodern age] ed. by Brigitte Burrichter and Dorothea Klein Matthias Riedl (bio) Technik und Science-Fiction in der Vormoderne [Technology and science fiction in the premodern age] Edited by Brigitte Burrichter and Dorothea Klein Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2018. Pp. 312. This volume emerged from a lecture cycle (Ringvorlesung) at Würzburg University in 2016–17. Ringvorlesung is a German academic tradition whereby scholars from different disciplines establish a broad and multifold panorama of perspectives on a certain topic, in this case premodern technology and science fiction. The research area of medieval science fiction is fairly new, but swiftly growing. In 2016, Carl Kears and James Paz edited a collection of essays under the title Medieval Science Fiction, which focuses on English literature and complements the German volume's more continental perspective. Technik und Science-Fiction in der Vormoderne surprises the reader with an unexpected richness and diversity of materials. The reader benefits from following the sequence of the chapters, arranged by the editors in a meaningful, loosely chronological order. Stefan Petersen lays the groundwork and traces the understanding of mechanica from the seventh to the twelfth century. After Isidor of Sevilla broadly defined mechanics as the "fabrication of things," Carolingian theorists downgraded it to an application-oriented practical science for craftsmen and artisans. Later, Hugo of Saint Victor's Didascalicon emphasized the value of mechanica as a scientific diffusion of the practical arts. A full rehabilitation of the practical arts on equal ranking with the liberal arts occurs only with the discovery of Greek and Arab knowledge in the thirteenth century and the combination of mechanics with mathematics. Siegfried Zielinski's well-illustrated contribution highlights the importance of medieval Arabic-Islamic civilization in furthering technical innovation and experimental culture. Udo Friedrich provides insights into the symbolic function of the automat in medieval political, religious, and cultural representation. He especially points to the "ludic" dimension of technology, a new playfulness emerging from a post-Aristotelian nonteleological understanding of nature and creativity. Three contributions deal with similar sources: medieval romances and epics. All three authors emphasize the prominence of machines and automats in the sources and how this articulates a European awareness of the technological superiority of the orient, exemplified in the intercultural narratives of the Alexander Romances. Yet in this context, technology may also symbolize the protagonist's hubris as an attempted transgression of God's natural order, Susanne Fried writes. Christian Buhr points out that accounts of artisan creativity in the novels may constitute reflections on the [End Page 916] narrators' own creativity. The most magnificent example is a French version of the Tristan epic, where the hero commissions the creation of an entire technological ensemble of automatic figures, representing the emotions in his soul: fears, hopes, dreams, and most intimate desires. Brigitte Burrichter shows that in medieval romances, it is often the women who resort to sophisticated "unethical" weapon technology, as they are excluded from chivalric combat. In the French vernacular Roman d'Eneas, Dido equips the walls of her city, Carthage, with a strong magnetic defense mechanism that incapacitates iron-armored warriors. Often, the imagined weapons go beyond the technological possibilities of the time and constitute a science fiction element. Viola Tenge-Wolf explains Ramon Lull's famous thought machine, which aimed at an errorless thought process that could facilitate the reconciliation of mankind. Stefan Bürger then shows how artistic representations of the Tower of Babel complement written accounts of medieval technology, as they help modern researchers understand the function of tools, the application of techniques, and medieval work processes. Elke Lossin offers a broad panorama of "pious machines" to show how they impacted medieval and early modern religious practice. Hania Siebenpfeiffer's richly illustrated chapter looks into the early modern "art of flying" and shows how the literary imagination of flying machines interacts with paradigm shifts in the sciences. Most interesting is the sociological aspect of early modern "science fiction" literature, as it proves the existence of pan-European networks of knowledge distribution. Arguably, the most thought-provoking piece is the concluding chapter by Wolfgang Riedel. His focus on...