Beyond the Frame: Cognitive Science, Common Sense and Fiction
TL;DR: The authors argue that certain types of modernist and post-modernist self-reflexive fiction paradoxically provoke focused schema-consis tent reading and foreground stereotype frames to alleviate the cognitive load that schema-inconsistent information presents to the reader.
Abstract: According to popular definition, the subject matter of fiction is invention, whereas nonfiction relies on factual ("real-world") data. Recent developments in cognitive narratology (Ryan, Fludernik, Jahn, Herman) considerably reduce the value of sharp distinction between fiction and nonfiction, however. The concepts of "frame", "schema" and "script" provide a link between the "real-life" and "fictional" experience. As Pierre Ouellet observes, the "real-life" knowledge contains a signifi cant number of propositions that are taken for granted and are employed by the com munity or individuals either intuitively (as rules of thumb) or rationally as "shortcuts" of experience; these often do not withstand critical scrutiny and may qualify as "natural fictions" based solely on the immediacy and fullness of belief. From this perspective, fiction is continuous with accepted opinions, stereotypes and other components of folk knowledge (i.e. beliefs used as "default knowledge") that people rely on in everyday life. My hypothesis is that certain types of modernist and postmodernist self-reflexive fiction paradoxically provoke focused schema-consis tent reading and foreground stereotype frames to alleviate the cognitive load that schema-inconsistent information presents to the reader. In this case naturalizing reading and focusing on the commonsense frames as secure and reliable as com pared with the strange or indeterminate data beyond the frame is provocatively sup ported by the text itself; however, if sustained, it leads to impoverished interpretation of the events and diminishes the cognitive effect of inconsistent data.
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32 citations
18 citations
23 Sep 2017
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the narrative function of cinema in twenty-first century fiction, and demonstrate that the literary use of cinema greatly affects narration and the reading experience: it disturbs the conventional narrative hierarchy and the subordination between the primary level and the embedded one.
Abstract: In my doctoral dissertation I explore the narrative function of cinema in twentyfirst century fiction. In this study literary representations of films are regarded as a narrative strategy through which literary texts accentuate, reflect, and give rise to their principal themes and questions. Since filmic insertions have a noticeable impact upon the narrative construction and hence turn out to be pivotal in the reader’s inferential process, I also investigate this narrative phenomenon in the context of reader’s meaning-making. I have chosen four novels for my study, namely The Book of Illusions (2002) by Paul Auster, Point Omega (2010) by Don DeLillo, The Understudy (2005) by David Nicholls, and The Ice Cream Man by Katri Lipson, published in Finnish in 2012 as Jäätelökauppias and translated into English in 2014. In these works the dominant meanings are closely linked to the representations of cinema, and films appear both at the discourse level and within the fictional world. Owing to the diversity of the chosen texts in terms of style and genre, my study provides a comprehensive view of the ways in which recent fiction has utilised “moving images” in narration. In this study I draw on the theoretical concepts of intersubjectivity, framing, mise en abyme, possible worlds theory, and indexicality in order to analyse the narrative function of films in the novels and the subsequent effects in the reader’s hermeneutic process. I demonstrate that the literary use of cinema greatly affects narration and the reading experience: it disturbs the conventional narrative hierarchy and the subordination between the primary level and the embedded one. Simultaneously, it violates ontological stability, which separates the fictional “real” from the filmic “unreal”. My case studies testify to the importance of the reader’s role as an active interpreter whose knowledge of and experiences with cinema contribute to the textual processing of the novels. By pointing out the intricate interaction between audiovisual and verbal sign systems in these texts, I show how the audiovisual upsurge in contemporary society has altered how we read literature.
16 citations
Abstract: This article examines literature for children and young adults that depicts the devastation of natural disasters, particularly the 2005 hurricane Katrina which hit the eastern United States and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Especially for audiences of young children, representations of death and massive destruction can be a controversial enterprise. Focusing on three types of narratives—animal picture books, eye witness accounts, and young adult fiction—this study explores how children's and young adult literature navigates such difficult issues by retelling stories of large-scale disasters as scenarios of trauma and recovery.
12 citations
TL;DR: This paper developed a broad, non-representational perspective on narrative, necessary to account for the narrative "ubiquity" hypothesis, which considers narrativity as a feature of intelligent behaviour and as a formative principle of symbolic representation.
Abstract: Drawing on non-Darwinian cultural-evolutionary approaches, the paper develops a broad, non-representational perspective on narrative, necessary to account for the narrative “ubiquity” hypothesis. It considers narrativity as a feature of intelligent behaviour and as a formative principle of symbolic representation (“narrative proclivity”). The narrative representation retains a relationship with the “primary” pre-symbolic narrativity of the basic orientational-interpretive (semiotic) behaviour affected by perceptually salient objects and “fits” in natural environments. The paper distinguishes between implicit narrativity (as the basic form of perceptual-cognitive mapping) of intelligent behaviour or non-narrative media, and the “narrative” as a symbolic representation. Human perceptual-attentional routines are enhanced by symbolic representations: due to its attention-monitoring and information-gathering function, narrative serves as a cognitive-exploratory tool facilitating cultural dynamics. The rise of new media and mass communication on the Web has thrown the ability of narrative to shape the public sphere through the ongoing process of negotiated sensemaking and interpretation in a particularly sharp relief.
6 citations
References
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Book•
01 Jan 1974
TL;DR: In Frame Analysis, the brilliant theorist wrote about the ways in which people determine their answers to the questions What is going on here? and Under what circumstances do we think things are real?.
Abstract: Erving Goffman will influence the thinking and perceptions of generations to come In Frame Analysis, the brilliant theorist writes about the ways in which people determine their answers to the questions What is going on here? and Under what circumstances do we think things are real? "
11,533 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1966
TL;DR: Scheleris et al. as mentioned in this paper proposed a sociologijos disciplinos raida, which is a discipline for sociologists to discipline themselves in the discipline of social sciences.
Abstract: Publikacijoje apžvelgiama žinojimo sociologijos disciplinos raida, pateikiamos svarbiausios jos nagrinėjamos sąvokos ir tyrimo tikslai. Teigiama, kad tikrovė yra socialiskai konstruojama ir kad žinojimo sociologija turi analizuoti sio konstravimo procesus. Ji turi aiskinti ne tik empirine žinojimo įvairove visuomenėse, bet taip pat ir procesus, dėl kurių bet kuris žinojimas tampa socialiskai pripažinta tikrove. K. Marxo tezė, kad žmogaus sąmone apsprendžia jo socialinė būtis, tapo bazine žinojimo sociologijos teze. Terminą „žinojimo sociologija“įvedė M. Scheleris. Jis teigė, kad visuomenė lemia idėjų būtį, bet ne jų prigimtį ir pabrėžė individualaus žmogiskojo žinojimo aprioriskumą, kuris prasmės sistemą įgyja visuomenėje. K. Mannheimas teigė, kad visuomenė sąlygoja ne tik žmogiskosios idealizacijos formą, bet ir turinį. Jam svarbiausias buvo ideologijos reiskinys. Skyrė partikuliarinės, totalinės ir bendrosios ideologijos sąvokas. R. Mertonas siekė sujungti žinojimo sociologijos ir struktūrinės funkcinės teorijos pozicijas. Autoriai isplecia sios sociolgijos tyrimo objektą teigdami, kad ji turi tirti ne tik idėjų istoriją, bet viską, kas visuomenėje laikoma žinojimu.
10,453 citations
9,533 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1981
TL;DR: The Longman Linguistics library has published a series of books aimed primarily at an undergraduate and postgraduate student readership as mentioned in this paper, which are self-contained and intended to treat important areas in general linguistics and to be of value for a number of years
Abstract: Since its initiation some twenty years ago Longman Linguistics Library has established itself as a series aimed primarily at an undergraduate and postgraduate student readership. Some of its books serve as introductions to key aspects of the subject, others are more specialised: generally they assume a first year's knowledge of linguistics and lead the reader on from there. In all cases the books are self-contained; they are intended to treat important areas in general linguistics and to be of value for a number of years
1,547 citations
Book•
02 Nov 1989
TL;DR: The categorization of colour is the classical approach to categorization prototype categories linguistic and encyclopaedic knowledge polysemy and meaning chains category extension - metonymy and metaphor polysemous categories in morphology and syntax, grammatical categories prototype categories in phonology.
Abstract: The categorization of colour the classical approach to categorization prototype categories linguistic and encyclopaedic knowledge polysemy and meaning chains category extension - metonymy and metaphor polysemous categories in morphology and syntax polysemous categories in intonation grammatical categories prototype categories in phonology the acquisition of categories.
760 citations