Brains in Literature/Literature in the Brain

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4375441
AutoresFrancisco Ortega (0000-0002-2449-3802), F Vidal (0000-0002-2956-8607, Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona)
Año2013
Volumen34
Número3
Páginas327-360
Fecha de publicación2013-09-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPoetics Today (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0333-5372 • E-ISSN: 1527-5507
EditorialDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1215/03335372-2325241
OpenAlexW2321554146
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas8
Referencias citadas56

Since the 1990s, several disciplines, from neuroanthropology to neurotheology, have emerged at the interface between neuroscience and the social and human sciences. These "neurodisciplines" share basic assumptions about the brain/mind relationship, a preference for neuroimaging methodology, and the goal of establishing the neurobiological foundations of mind and behavior. A neural turn has also been taken in some quarters within the literary field. The neurosciences have provided writers of literature with resources for depicting characters and psychological processes and states; at the same time, they have inspired new interpretive approaches within literary studies. A twofold motif structures what might be called the neuroliterary field: brains in literature/literature in the brain. There has been a certain convergence between the rise of "neuronovels," on the one hand, and the neurologization of literary analysis, on the other. This article studies that twofold motif. It first sketches how neuronovels fit into the history of neurological fiction and fictional elaborations of brain-related issues. It then examines three aspects of several major neuronovels: narrativity, solipsism and sociality, and memory. The article concludes by underlining the difference between incorporating "brains in literature" and placing "literature in the brain

Cognitive science · Epistemology · Sociality · Sociology · Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations · Neurology and Historical Studies · Neuroscience, Education and Cognitive Function · Philosophy · Psychology