The Balzan Project
Literature as an Object of Knowledge
Director: Professor Terence Cave
Deputy Directors: Dr Raphael Lyne; Dr Wes Williams
As the winner of the 2009 Balzan Foundation Prize for ”Literature since 1500”, Terence Cave received 500,000 Swiss francs (approximately 300,000 pounds) to fund a project in his own areas of academic interest. The project he proposed, ”Literature as an Object of Knowledge”, will run from October 2010 to September 2013 at the Research Centre; St John’s has contributed substantial additional funding.
The project is designed to encourage reflection on the value of literature as an object of knowledge and advanced study, and thence as a vehicle and instrument of thought: ”Thinking with Literature” is its unoffficial title.
It has two strands. The first is historical, exploring the uses of literature as a vehicle and instrument of thought in the early modern period. The second is more general and conceptual, focusing on cognitive approaches to literature. Cognitive methodologies have flourished over the last few decades in neuroscience, psychology, linguistics and philosophy, but these methodologies have so far had little impact on the mainstream of literary studies. The project will undertake a mapping and evaluation of possible cognitive approaches to literature, and will seek to promote them in a context which is both international and interdisciplinary.
Download the full Project Description.
