to successfully create a code reading culture you must acknowledge that in practice examining most code is not at all like reading literature and instead needs to be approached more like a scientific investigation
OK, so that's an interesting hypothesis, what evidence do you have to support your hypothesis? Doesn't it make more sense that if you want people to read your code, you should make it easy to read (that is, make it literate)?
Evidence? Did you RTFA? I've just given you a one line synopsis, if you want evidence you'll find it there.
Knuth actually provided an anecdote that reinforces this point so I very much doubt he disagrees with it.
I read Knuth's Literate Programming, and I would say I accurately portrayed his viewpoint. Would you like to read the book and tell me how you think I misunderstood it? To restate, Knuth doesn't think all code is literature, he thinks code can be literature, and he taught how to get there.
We're not talking about Knuth's book. We're talking about the article, which you apparently didn't bother to read. In it Knuth provides an anecdote that supports the author's contention. Please, go and RTFA.