Postmodern Epistemology in Daniel Kehlmann’s Measuring the World

Abstract

Daniel Kehlmann’s Measuring the World (2007) reimagines the lives of Carl Friedrich Gauss and Alexander von Humboldt to explore the nature and limits of human knowledge. This paper examines the novel through the lens of postmodern epistemology, arguing that Kehlmann challenges Enlightenment faith in objective truth, rationality, and scientific certainty. While Gauss seeks to understand the world through mathematics and abstract reasoning, Humboldt attempts to master it through observation, measurement, and empirical investigation. Despite their different approaches, both characters encounter the limitations of their methods, revealing that knowledge is never complete or absolute. The novel further questions the reliability of historical knowledge by blending documented facts with fictional invention, thereby blurring the distinction between history and narrative. The objective of this paper is to analyse how Kehlmann employs postmodern narrative strategies to expose the limitations of scientific, historical, and empirical forms of knowledge. Through this historiographic strategy, Kehlmann demonstrates that the past is always mediated through interpretation and representation. The paper also analyses the role of corporeality in the production of knowledge, showing how physical vulnerability shapes scientific inquiry. By portraying two celebrated scientists as flawed and limited individuals, the novel undermines grand narratives of progress and intellectual mastery.