Infinite Limits

Intro to Multiplicity

          Multiplicity embodies my aesthetic more than any of Calvino’s other memos. The first thing that comes to mind when describing multiplicity is “no limitations.” This idea explains the multiplicity Calvino is discussing throughout his last memo. He believes that literature is constantly attempting to realize and represent the multiplicity of relationships when in reality there is no ending. Calvino uses the analogy of Goethe and his idea of writing a novel about the universe that will have no limitations throughout the text.

            In addition, Calvino believes that knowledge, as multiplicity is the thread that binds together major works both of what is called modernism and post modernism. The idea of the “hyper novel” also plays an important role in explaining multiplicity. The analogy of Jorge Luis Borges and “keeping it short” is a hyper novel in which each goes a different way but begins from a common nucleus to give a novel its plot.

            Lastly, the idea that multiplicity can be known as “a system of systems” comes from Carlo Emilio Gadda. He believes that each system conditions the others and is conditioned by them. Gadda’s representation of the world as a knot tangled exemplifies multiplicity in a way that is tied up and difficult to untangle.