Archaeologia Polona

Differing science and literature

Jean-Claude Gardin

The relation between science and literature has been the subject of innumerable books and articles published for decades in many countries. This paper does not pretend to go beyond them; its aim is only to summarize the evolution followed on such grounds by the author and his group in the past ten years. The subject is presented in four parts dealing with successive stages from 1995 to 2005. (I) In 1995 two books were published on different ways of approaching the relations between science and archaeology or history: logical analysis (Borghetti), complementary data, graphical or literary (Gallay). (II) Articles followed in 1997-1999 on the use of logico-empirical analysis to reduce multi-interpretations in scholarly publications. Cognitive studies are presented as complements or substitutes of traditional discourse (Gardin). (III) From 2000 onwards new forms of publications are proposed based on those principles (Roux). A collection named "Référentiels" is launched at the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, supported by its president (Aymard). Archaeological works are presented in a logical structure on CD-ROMs (SCD, Scientific constructs and data), accompanied by short comments or complements in natural language. A European association has been created in 2002, now chaired by Alain Gallay, for the opening of an "Arkeotek Journal" published in the Internet following the same principles (Gardin and Roux). (IV) The final and major part of the paper goes back to its title, Differing science and literature. The preceding parts were not impervious to the place of literature in studies of archaeology, anthropology or historiography. New situations are however discussed today, bearing on models and narratives, computer progress, sciences of man and sciences of nature (Gardin), epistemological status and literary extension (Gallay). A collective book is in preparation on cumulative progress in the social sciences; a joint contribution about the case of archaeology will clarify the meaning of "differing" in the title of the present paper (Gallay and Gardin).

Keywords: architecture of historiography, computer progress, epistemological status, literary extensions, logicist structure, logico-empirical analysis, models and narratives, strip cartoons

Language: English