Cognitive Literary Science: Dialogues between Literature and Cognition

by Michael Burke (Editor), Emily T. Troscianko (Editor)

This book brings together researchers with cognitive-scientific and literary backgrounds to present innovative research in all three variations on the possible interactions between literary studies and cognitive science. The tripartite structure of the volume reflects a more ambitious conception of what cognitive approaches to literature are and could be than is usually encountered, and thus aims both to map out and to advance the field. The first section corresponds to what most people think of as "cognitive poetics" or "cognitive literary studies": the study of literature by literary scholars drawing on cognitive-scientific methods, findings, and/or debates to yield insights into literature. The second section demonstrates that literary scholars needn't only make use of cognitive science to study literature, but can also, in a reciprocally interdisciplinary manner, use a cognitively informed perspective on literature to offer benefits back to the cognitive sciences. Finally,
the third section, "literature in cognitive science", showcases some of the ways in which literature can be a stimulating object of study and a fertile testing ground for theories and models, not only to literary scholars but also to cognitive scientists, who here engage with some key questions in cognitive literary studies with the benefit of their in-depth scientific knowledge and training.

368 pages, Hardcover

Published January 2, 2017

Reviews

[Víctor Bermúdez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Introduction: A Window on to the Landscape of Cognitive Literary Science
Emily T. Troscianko and Michael Burke

SECTION I:
LITERATURE THROUGH A COGNITIVE LENS
Chapter 1: Scientific Concepts in Literary Studies: Towards Criteria for the Meeting of Literature and Cognitive Science 17
Marcus Hartner
Chapter 2: Towards a 'Natural' Bond of Cognitive and Affective Narratology 35
Caroline Pirlet and Andreas Wirag
Chapter 3: 'Annihilation of Self': The Cognitive Challenge of the Sublime 55
David Miall
Chapter 4: The Space between Your Ears: Construal Level Theory, Cognitive Science, and Science Fiction 73
James Carney
Chapter 5: Patterns of Thought: Narrative and Verse 93
Brian Boyd

SECTION II:
COGNITION THROUGH A LITERARY LENS
Chapter 6: Simulation and the Structure of Emotional Memory: Learning from Arthur Miller's After the Fall. 113
Patrick Colm Hogan
Chapter 7: Cognitive Science and the Double Vision of Fiction 135
Merja Polvinen
Chapter 8: Fantastic Cognition 151
Karin Kukkonen
Chapter 9: Feedback in Reading and Disordered Eating 169
Emily T. Troscianko
Chapter 10: Animal Minds across Discourse Domains 195
David Herman

SECTION III:
LITERATURE AND COGNITION IN COGNITIVE SCIENCE
Chapter 11: Embodied Dynamics in Literary Experience 219
Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr.
Chapter 12: How Readers' Lives Affect Narrative Experiences 239
Richard J. Gerrig and Micah L. Mumper
Chapter 13: On Truth and Fiction 259
Keith Oatley
Chapter 14: Under Pressure: Norms, Rules, and Coercion in Linguistic Analyses and Literary Readings 279
Alexander Bergs
Chapter 15: Affective and Aesthetic Processes in Literary Reading: A Neurocognitive Poetics Perspective 303
Arthur M. Jacobs
Index 327