Telos: Science and Fiction in the Detective Stories of Doyle, Pynchon and Asimov

The thesis presents case studies on the concept of telos in detective fiction, focusing on the works of Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Pynchon, and Isaac Asimov. It is intended as a foundation for a broader study on the influence of cybernetics in American detective literature. Beginning with Thomas Narcejac's 1975 proposal for a retrospective reading of "classical" detective fiction through the lens of cybernetics, a discipline initiated by Norbert Wiener in the late 1940s, the thesis argues that Edgar Allan Poe’s influential "backward" compositional technique transforms detective fiction into a cybernetic machine that self-corrects until it reaches a conclusion. Rejecting this anachronistic application, the thesis uses the Sherlock Holmes series as a model to demonstrate that Narcejac's insights can be explored through a more appropriate literary perspective using Possible Worlds Theory of Fiction (PWT). The first chapter serves as a theoretical benchmark for studying Pynchon and Asimov, both influenced by Doyle and having direct relationships with cybernetics. By employing PWT, the thesis proposes models for the structural and narratological functioning of classic detective stories and the post-war works of these American authors. Utilizing Doležel's categories of authentication and modal restriction, along with Umberto Eco's studies on detective logic, the thesis characterizes the progressive exclusion of plot possibilities leading to a conclusive ending as a "pruning of possible worlds", where fictional facts align with the protagonist's inferences through the exclusion of counterfactuals. To avoid anachronism, Narcejac's insights on plot logic are connected to Doyle's spiritualism rather than cybernetics. In contrast, Pynchon and Asimov approached cybernetics directly but from different perspectives. Pynchon appears to undermine Narcejac's cybernetic model by nullifying the narrator's authentication function. His character Oedipa grapples with the absence of confirmations for her theories, leading to a "wild flourishing" of possible worlds where no possibility is excluded. The term "sabotage", attributed to Pynchon’s plots in relation to Narcejac’s theories, reflects the influence of Neo-Luddite theories on the writer, emphasizing resistance to the political impacts of technological progress. Conversely, Asimov frames his literature as a battle against irrationalism. For him, science and cybernetics, while potentially dangerous, also provide solutions to humanity’s problems. His detective plots feature a duality: a human detective, Elijah Bailey, who embodies the socio-political stakes of the narrative, and a robot, Daneel Olivaw, who, while lacking autonomous will, possesses encyclopedic knowledge. Elijah's mistakes, corrected by the robot, highlight his non-centrality as a subject of knowledge. While Asimov's worlds are designed to appear non-deterministic, the stories advocate for dismantling the obscurantist axiological rules that dictate character behavior. Elijah's journey reflects a bildung that transcends these limits. The thesis concludes that the "telos of the pioneer" encapsulates the dual scientific-colonial spirit of Asimov's narratives, where the judicial aspect of detective fiction is often sidelined.