Cognitive Approaches to Russian Literature

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Brief Description

Cognitive perspectives to great works of literature, insofar as they transcend matters of individual biography, would seem to apply to all readers; insofar as they identify human universals, they help explain why readers can be so diverse, ranging well beyond the original target audience. Substantial findings in this line of research possess the great virtue of being exportable: they presumably can be applied to other works. Secondly, they are falsifiable: the relationship between psychology and literature should be a two-way street, one that can be widened to include a great variety of acknowledged achievements in other fields. In addition, especially thanks to recent clinical findings, this combined perspective enjoys a multitude of promising approaches It is also a means of noting consilience between diverse viewpoints. As in most sciences, particular value is accorded not so much to novel theories but rather to effective demonstration of them. Our roundtable is designed to compare, contrast, and evaluate formal studies drawing cognitive insights implicit in such fields as preparation of theatrical performance, conduct of the bereavement process, neurophysiology, and cultural semiotics. For this reason, we prefer to engage in the give-and-take of a roundtable.

Sub Unit

• Literature: 20th Century

Chair

• Michael A. Denner, Stetson U / Tolstoy Studies Journal

Roundtable Members

• Brett Cooke, Texas A&M U

• Tom Dolack, Wheaton College

• Jessica Lynn Ginocchio, UNC at Chapel Hill

• Olga Muller Cooke, Texas A&M U

• Angelina Rubina, U of South Carolina