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Work #1075 · Mid-mature

Giovanni's Room

James Baldwin
1956 · English
Novel · African American literature / mid-twentieth-century LGBT literature

Baldwin's 1956 Paris novel of male homosexual love — major founding text of post-war LGBT literature

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Giovanni's Room (Mid-mature)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Partial
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency None
Observer · Moral Authority Experience
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Giovanni's Room

Narrative frame of David recalling events.

Space

Giovanni's Room

Paris — Saint-Germain, gay bars, Hella's apartment.

Matter

Giovanni's Room

Embodied David, Giovanni, Hella.

Observer

Giovanni's Room

David as self-evading-yet-narrating consciousness.

Energy

Giovanni's Room

Energies of love, shame, self-evasion.

Information

Giovanni's Room

Retrospective narration; specific Paris details.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Giovanni's Room

Reception in 1956 American literary culture complicated by explicit homosexual content; rehabilitation continuous.