Why Samuel Richardson's Clarissa Became a Role Model. On Johann Georg Zimmermann's Biography of Albrecht Von Haller (2019)
The topic of this paper is the impact of literary texts and literary strategies on Johann Georg Zimmermann's biography of the renowned Swiss scientist Albrecht von Haller (1755). I argue in this paper that Zimmermann's use of intertextual literary references contributes to specific writing strategies Zimmermann uses for this biography. Zimmermann, on the one hand, maintains to deal with facts only, which are proven by the same scientific methods Haller uses in his research. In proposing a new kind of biographical writing, Zimmermann claims that he intends to follow nature since nature guarantees truth. On the other hand, Zimmermann's book cannot deny that it responds to the specific situation Haller had found himself in in the 1750's. The internationally renowned scientist Haller had returned to Berne in 1753 in a subordinate position, and soon thereafter Zimmermann published Haller's biography, attempting to establish a new interpretation of his life. The use of fictional aspects such as the central quote from Samuel Richardson's Clarissa which is used as a motto aims at the fictional level which selects and interprets facts through specific writing strategies.
...MoreArticle George N. Vlahakis (2019) Science and Imagination: An Introduction. Almagest (pp. 6-9).
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