Thirteenth International Conference on The Arts in Society

Abstract

Tragic realism, a form of narrative fiction, reveals human limitations in ways that are not possible in other discursive disciplines. One purpose of this essay is to argue why this is the case and precisely how those limitations are revealed. I use the word “finitude” because in tragic realism the human self, in constant relation to the social ecology, is importantly limited in resources for self-understanding. I argue that these limitations cannot be overcome: they are features of the human condition. In the last section of the paper, I argue that assimilating these features of art and finitude are crucial for a realistic comprehension of human progress. Insofar as STEM fails to assimilate these features, it prepares culture for a host of illusions and dangerous myths.