The field of psychonarratology represents an interdisciplinary collaboration between cognitive psychology and discourse processing, and narratology and literary studies. This work provides a broad, integrative framework for pursuing research that is approachable by researchers from both disciplinary backgrounds. Marina Bortolussi and Peter Dixon survey the important problems in literary studies and demonstrate how the methodological and empirical tools of cognitive psychology are applied in this new approach.
Author(s): Marisa Bortolussi, Peter Dixon
Year: 2003
Language: English
Pages: 320
Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Dedication......Page 7
Contents......Page 9
Tables......Page 12
Acknowledgments......Page 15
The Study of Narrative......Page 17
Objectives......Page 19
Reader-Oriented Literary Studies......Page 21
The Aesthetics of Reception......Page 22
Reception Theory......Page 23
Hermeneutics......Page 24
Sociological, Historical, and Cultural Approaches......Page 25
Narratology......Page 26
Discourse Processing......Page 29
The “Text-as-Communication” Framework......Page 30
Theoretical Concepts......Page 32
Linguistics......Page 34
Conversational Processes......Page 36
Empirical Science of Literature......Page 37
Current Trends......Page 39
Psychonarratology......Page 40
Interdisciplinarity: Myths and New Directions......Page 41
Features and Constructions......Page 44
The Conversational Narrator......Page 45
The Promise of Research in Psychonarratology......Page 46
Summary......Page 48
2 Preliminaries......Page 50
The Domain of Psychonarratology......Page 51
Applying Features and Constructions......Page 53
The Nature of Textual Features......Page 54
Measuring Reader Constructions......Page 57
The Statistical Reader......Page 59
Population......Page 60
Measurement Distributions......Page 61
Variables and Relationships......Page 63
Theory and Explanation......Page 65
Covariation and Causation......Page 67
Author Confounds and Other Artifacts......Page 69
Designing Textual Experiments......Page 71
Identifying Meaningful Relationships......Page 73
Summary......Page 75
3 The Narrator......Page 76
Previous Analytical Concepts of the Narrator......Page 77
The Nature of the Narrator......Page 78
Types of Narrators......Page 79
Textual Features for the Narrator......Page 80
Levels of Communication......Page 82
The Author–Reader Relation......Page 85
The Author–Intended Reader Relation......Page 86
The Narrator–Narratee Relation......Page 87
Conversational Processes......Page 88
The Narrator and the Author......Page 90
Embedded Representations......Page 93
Categories of Features......Page 96
Unreliable Narrators......Page 98
Identifying with the Narrator......Page 100
Prior Research on Identification......Page 101
Transparency......Page 105
Empirical Evidence......Page 106
Summary......Page 111
4 Events and Plot......Page 113
Story versus Discourse......Page 114
Story Grammars......Page 115
Competence......Page 118
The Psychological Reality of Story Grammars......Page 120
Problems with Story Grammars......Page 122
Events and Event Structure......Page 125
Stereotypic Experience......Page 127
Character Plans......Page 128
Causal Chains......Page 129
Problems with Chains and Plans......Page 130
The Role of the Reader......Page 132
Plot and Experience......Page 133
Textual Features for Plot......Page 135
Plot Features in the Story......Page 136
Plot Features in the Discourse......Page 139
Reader Constructions for Plot......Page 140
Character Plans......Page 142
Empirical Evidence......Page 143
Summary......Page 147
Theories of Literary Character......Page 149
Characters as People......Page 150
Characters as Textual Signs......Page 152
Characters as Constructions......Page 155
Similarity of Codes and Conventions......Page 156
Social Cognition......Page 157
Attribution Theory......Page 158
Bayesian Analysis......Page 162
Applications to Literature......Page 163
Story-World Actions......Page 165
Evaluations......Page 166
Indications of Character Change......Page 167
A Framework for Character Constructions......Page 168
Constructing Traits from Actions......Page 170
Constructing Traits from Evaluations......Page 173
Character Change......Page 174
Traits and Behavior......Page 175
Empirical Evidence......Page 176
Summary......Page 180
Narratological Approaches to Focalization......Page 182
The Nature of Focalization......Page 185
The Agent of Focalization......Page 187
The Ontological Distinction Argument......Page 188
Lack of Reader Relevance......Page 190
The Mode of Focalization......Page 192
Perspective in Production......Page 194
Spatial Representations......Page 195
Reference Frames......Page 197
Summary of the Evidence......Page 199
A Psychonarratological Approach to Focalization......Page 200
Textual Features for Focalization......Page 201
Descriptive Reference Frames......Page 202
Perceptual Attribution......Page 204
Implications......Page 206
Reader Constructions for Focalization......Page 207
Perceptual Knowledge......Page 208
Narrator–Character Associations......Page 209
Empirical Evidence......Page 210
Summary......Page 214
7 Represented Speech and Thought......Page 216
Direct and Indirect Discourse......Page 217
The Role of the Narrator......Page 219
Free Direct and Indirect Discourse......Page 220
Nested Speech and Thought......Page 224
Approaches to Speech and Thought in Narrative......Page 226
Sentence-Level Models......Page 227
Extended-Text Approaches......Page 231
Reader-Based Approaches......Page 232
Features in the Depiction of Speech and Thought......Page 236
The Communicative Situation......Page 237
The Manner of Communication......Page 238
Representing Intended Messages......Page 239
Representing the Communicative Situation......Page 240
Representing Intended Manner......Page 244
Free-Indirect Speech and Intended Manner......Page 245
Empirical Evidence......Page 246
Summary......Page 251
8 Directions and Unsolved Problems......Page 253
Core Assumptions......Page 254
Unsolved Problems......Page 256
Memory and Attention......Page 257
Reading Context......Page 258
Extratextual Information......Page 260
Interactions......Page 261
Narratorial Presence......Page 262
Individual Differences......Page 264
Literariness......Page 267
Genre......Page 268
Nonnarrative Discourse......Page 270
Film Narrative......Page 271
Narrative Writing......Page 272
Summary......Page 274
Experimental Design......Page 277
Analysis of Variance and Significance Testing......Page 279
Comparing Models......Page 280
Comparing Two Conditions......Page 281
Factorial Designs......Page 284
Repeated Measures and Mixed Designs......Page 287
References......Page 291
Index......Page 311
