This symposium wishes to initiate a conversation between and about science and literary criticism. The event brings together a range of approaches that represent and reflect on promising developments within the broad field of science-inspired ways of studying literature. Topics under discussion will include the following:
- Criteria for establishing terminologies and methodologies for the scientifically informed study of literature, and difficulties involved in so doing
- Work on narratology and stylistics from cognitive and philosophical perspectives
- Explorations of cognitive and emotional responses to fiction or poetry
- Analysis of characterisation, dialogue, focalisation, foregrounding, textual imagery, plot patterns, etc., and their effects on the reader
- Application of conceptual metaphor theory, theory of mind, conceptual blending, and other theoretical frameworks to understanding literary creation or literary effects
- Empirical studies of readers’ responses to literature: methods and findings
- The value of brain imaging and neuroscience more generally for studying literature
- What the literary critics may offer the scientists: the prospects for real interdisciplinary dialogue
For further details please download the PDF. Please note, however, that registration has now closed for this event.
