A twist in the plot - Systems Thinking and Building Models for Analyzing Literary Artwork

Models are being used extensively for practicing and understanding scientific, engineering and mathematical subjects, but are rarely used as art analyzing tools, particularly, in learning environments. Contrarily, using art to explain mathematical ideas is not unprecedented. Strogatz (1988), for example, built a model based on Romeo and Juliet’s love story, and used it to explain the idea of differential mathematics, and system dynamics. The use of analogies and metaphors as representation is widely recognized and discussed in the context of understanding scientific phenomena, much like their importance for assimilating key concepts and new theories by bridging domains. In this article we will try to show how, by building models and using simple mathematical representations and analogies, it is possible to analyze and understand literary texts from the prism of systems thinking, which emphasizes the dynamic, non-linear, and non-reduction aspects of complex systems. In this sense, the text is treated as a systemic object which represents interactions. In this paper, we will attempt to show how models and modeling processes of three cultural assets, allow renewed, insightful and interactive correspondence with the original texts.