Reuven Tsur

Bio: Reuven Tsur is an academic researcher from Tel Aviv University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Cognitive poetics & Poetry. The author has an hindex of 12, co-authored 62 publications receiving 734 citations. Previous affiliations of Reuven Tsur include Purdue University.

Toward a Theory of Cognitive Poetics

Abstract: General Assumptions. The Nature of Cognitive Poetics. Mental and Vocal Performance in Poetry Reading. Constructing a Stable World. Poetic Structure and Perceived Qualities. The Sound Stratum of Poetry. Rhyme Patterns, Gestalt Theory and Perceptual Forces. Meter and Rhythm. Expressiveness and Musicality of Speech Sounds. The Units-of-Meaning Stratum. Semantic Representation and Information Processing. Literary Synaesthesia. The World Stratum. The Representative Anecdote: Human Contingency. Regulative Concepts. The Versatile Reader: Style as Open Concept. Style as Diagnosis and as Hypothesis Practical Application: The Ballad "Edward". Archetypal Patterns. Poetry of Orientation & Disorientation. Space Perception and Poetry of Orientation. Poetry of Disorientation. The Grotesque as an Aesthetic Mode. Poetry of Altered States of Consciousness. Poetry and Altered States of Consciousness. Obtrusive Rhythms & Emotive Crescendo. The Divergent Passage and Ecstatic Poetry. Critics and Criticism. The Implied Critic's Decision Style. The Critic's Mental Dictionary.

What Makes Sound Patterns Expressive?: The Poetic Mode of Speech Perception

Abstract: Poets, academics, and those who simply speak a language are subject to mysterious intuitions about the perceptual qualities and emotional symbolism of the sounds of speech. Such intuitions are Reuven Tsur’s point of departure in this investigation into the expressive effect of sound patterns, addressing questions of great concern for literary theorists and critics as well as for linguists and psychologists. Research in recent decades has established two distinct types of aural perception: a nonspeech mode, in which the acoustic signals are received in the manner of musical sounds or natural noises; and a speech mode, in which acoustic signals are excluded from awareness and only an abstract phonetic category is perceived. Here, Tsur proposes a third type of speech perception, a poetic mode in which some part of the acoustic signal becomes accessible, however faintly, to consciousness. Using Roman Jakobson’s model of childhood acquisition of the phonological system, Tsur shows how the nonreferential babbling sounds made by infants form a basis for aesthetic valuation of language. He tests the intersubjective and intercultural validity of various spatial and tactile metaphors for certain sounds. Illustrating his insights with reference to particular literary texts, Tsur considers the relative merits of cognitive and psychoanalytic approaches to the emotional symbolism of speech sounds.

Aspects of Cognitive Poetics

Abstract: This paper is a short introduction to Cognitive Poetics. Cognitive poetics as I conceive of it is a far cry from what goes nowadays under the label "cognitive linguistics". Cognitive linguistics does not ask the questions this paper asks; consequently it does not answer them. In an important respect, the two approaches are even diametrically opposed. Cognitive linguistics shows very succesfully how a wide range of quite different metaphors can be reduced to the same underlying conceptual metaphor, whereas cognitive poetics makes significant distinctions between very similar metaphors, claiming that these differences make poetic expression unique. It accounts for the perceived effects of poetic texts, and relates perceived effects to poetic texts in a prin cipled manner. What is more, cognitive poetics has a lot to say about thematic, semantic, and syntactic structures, the reader's cognitive style preferring one or another "mental performance", rhyme patterns, and their interaction in generating the perce i ved effects. New Criticism, Structuralism and Formalism treated these effects, sometimes quite brilliantly, in a pre-theoretical manner. Cognitive poetics is devised to handle them in a principled manner. Finally, cognitive poetics conceives of the sema ntic and the rhythmic structure of a poem by a homogeneous set of principles. In both respects it allows for alternative (mental or vocal) performances, and handles the conflicting terms of a metaphor as well as the conflicting patterns of poetic rhythm i n conformity with the aesthetic principle of an "elegant solution to a problem": the conflicting terms of a metaphor are accommodated in a semantic interpretation; the conflicting patterns of poetic rhythm in a rhythmical performance. Above all, both semantic and rhythmic structures are shaped and constrained by cognitive processes. Cognitive Linguistics, by contrast, offers no tools for handling poetic rhythm; and objects to the Controversion Theory of metaphor. ?

语音学和音系学词典 = A dictionary of phonetics and phonology

Abstract: Written for students of linguistics, applied linguistics and speech therapy, this dictionary covers over 2,000 terms in phonetics and phonology. In addition to providing a comprehensive, yet concise, guide to an enormous number of individual terms, it also includes an explanation of the most important theoretical approaches to phonology. Its usefulness as a reference tool is further enhanced by the inclusion of pronunciations, notational devices and symbols, earliest sources of terms, suggestions for further reading, and advice with regard to usage. The wide range of topics explained include: * Classical phonology, including American Structuralism and the Prague School * Contemporary approaches, including Autosegmental Phonology, Metrical Phonology, Dependency Phonology, Government Phonology and Lexical Phonology * Prosodic ideas in phonology, both traditional and contemporary ^ * * historical phonology * Intonation and tonology This dictionary devotes space to the various theoretical approaches in proportion to their importance, but it concentrates most heavily on non-theory-bound descriptive terminology. It will remain a definitive reference for years to come.