The Experientiality of Narrative: An Enactivist Approach
31 Jan 2014-Vol. 43
TL;DR: The authors studied the dynamics underlying readers' responses to narrative through close readings of literary texts and theoretical discussion in ways that shed light on the deep connection between narrative, literary fiction, and human experience.
Abstract: How do readers experience literary narrative? Drawing on narrative theory, cognitive science, and the philosophy of mind, this book offers a principled account of the dynamics underlying readers' responses to narrative Through its interdisciplinary approach, this study combines close readings of literary texts and theoretical discussion in ways that shed light on the deep connection between narrative, literary fiction, and human experience
Citations
More filters
5 citations
TL;DR: A multidisciplinary fMRI study of 21 readers' responses to characters' speech and thoughts during silent reading of short fictional stories found evidence of elevated auditory cortex responses to direct speech over indirect speech, replicating previously reported effects.
Abstract: Stories transport readers into vivid imaginative worlds, but understanding how readers create such worlds-populating them with characters, objects, and events-presents serious challenges across disciplines. Auditory imagery is thought to play a prominent role in this process, especially when representing characters' voices. Previous research has shown that direct reference to speech in stories (e.g., He said, "I'm over here") may prompt spontaneous activation of voice-selective auditory cortex more than indirect speech [Yao, B., Belin, P., & Scheepers, C. Silent reading of direct versus indirect speech activates voice-selective areas in the auditory cortex. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 23, 3146-3152, 2011]. However, it is unclear whether this effect reflects differential processing of speech or differences in linguistic content, source memory, or grammar. One way to test this is to compare direct reference effects for characters speaking and thinking in a story. Here, we present a multidisciplinary fMRI study of 21 readers' responses to characters' speech and thoughts during silent reading of short fictional stories. Activations relating to direct and indirect references were compared for both speaking and thinking. Eye-tracking and independent localizer tasks (auditory cortex and theory of mind [ToM]) established ROIs in which responses to stories could be tracked for individuals. Evidence of elevated auditory cortex responses to direct speech over indirect speech was observed, replicating previously reported effects; no reference effect was observed for thoughts. Moreover, a direct reference effect specific to speech was also evident in regions previously associated with inferring intentions from communication. Implications are discussed for the spontaneous representation of fictional characters and the potential roles of inner speech and ToM in this process.
5 citations
Cites background from "The Experientiality of Narrative: A..."
...Far from passively “receiving” information from the writer, readers actively and creatively engage with fictional texts in a way that draws on multiple psychological resources (Bortolussi and Dixon, 2003; Caracciolo, 2014; Kukkonen, 2014; Oatley, 2011; Polvinen, 2016)....
[...]
...In parallel, Caracciolo (2014) has highlighted the contrast between attributing intentions to characters and the direct, inner enactment of a character’s thoughts and fictional consciousnessesmore broadly....
[...]
...Far from passively “receiving” information from the writer, readers actively and creatively engage with fictional texts in a way that draws on multiple psychological resources (Polvinen, 2016; Caracciolo, 2014; Kukkonen, 2014; Oatley, 2011; Bortolussi & Dixon, 2003)....
[...]
Dissertation•
01 Jan 2015
TL;DR: The notion of imagined geographies, as pioneered by Said, helps us understand how geographical epistemologies are produced and how those, in turn, affect the various ways in which people understand space and their relationship to it as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: spaces embody the intersection between power, ideology and knowledge. It is the hierarchical space relevant to those who are constantly trying to reign in and control social organization, the social space of everyday life. The representation of space is made out of abstract representations conceptualized by urban planners, scientists, architects and politicians. These conceptualizers and constructors of physical space-along with the state-are the ones who determine what is lived and perceived with what is conceived. Abstract representations are the spaces of capitalism and neo capitalism and incorporated in them are the world of commodities, worldwide strategies, power and the political state. To understand the workings of space, is thus to move beyond the “illusion of natural simplicity” (ibid., 29) where space is seen as naturally existing providing contexts where individuals conduct their daily lives rather we must question the existence of spaces through the conception of the dialectical moments of the spatial triad. 4.2.2. Imagined Geographies Drawing from Lefebvre’s theory of space, it is clear that geography allows for a more nuanced understanding of the production of world views. Imagined geographies, as pioneered by Said, helps us understand how geographical epistemologies are produced and how those, in turn, affect the various ways in which people understand space and their relationship to it. Adding on to Lefebvre’s work, which is focused on historicizing the production of space, Said’s notion of imagined geographies offers a foundation for thinking about how power is produced in the production of different sets of [imaginative] geographies. This is important in
5 citations
01 Nov 2018
TL;DR: This article explored the modernist aesthetic involved in creating a fictive, nostalgic, childhood experience, and argued that evoking the experience of childhood through fiction is as close to actually reliving childhood as we can get.
Abstract: This essay explores the modernist aesthetic involved in creating a fictive, nostalgic, childhood experience. Evoking the experience of childhood through fiction is as close to actually reliving childhood as we can get. The author argues that it is possible to actually transport the reader into not only the idealized world of childhood, but more so into an embodied experience of childhood through the use of different kinds of narrative and stylistic configurations. In a stylistic and narratological analysis of three modernist novels, Virginia Woolf’s The Waves (1931), Tarjei Vesaas’ The Ice Palace [ Is-slottet ] (1963) and William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury (1929), the author explores the different ways that literature can create (or re-create) the very experience of childhood through literary style. The strategies involved in establishing a fictive experience of childhood extend from narratological choices such as free indirect style, strict focalization through a child in the narrative (which implies limitations in perception and cognitive abilities, as well as in linguistic terms) to the use of a child-like temporality, the hyperbolic use of phenomena, and an emphasis of the sensorial aspects of perception.
5 citations
Journal Article•
5 citations