From Poland to "Petersburg": The Banach-Tarski Paradox in Bely's Modernist Novel

TL;DR

This paper explores a potential conceptual connection between Bely's modernist novel 'Petersburg' and the Banach-Tarski Paradox, highlighting interdisciplinary links between literature and mathematics based on historical interactions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel interdisciplinary analysis linking a 20th-century literary masterpiece with a famous mathematical paradox through historical and textual examination.

Findings

Identifies thematic parallels between the novel and the paradox.

Suggests influence of mathematical ideas on modernist literature.

Highlights interactions between Bely and the Moscow Mathematical School.

Abstract

Andrei Bely's novel "Petersburg," first published in 1913, was declared by Vladimir Nabokov one of the four greatest masterpieces of 20th-century prose. The Banach-Tarski Paradox, published in 1924, is one of the most striking and well-known results in 20th-century mathematics. In this paper we explore a potential connection between these two landmark works, based on various interactions with the Moscow Mathematical School and passages in the novel itself.