Kuzmičová, A. (2012): Presence in the reading of literary narrative: A case for motor enactment (original) (raw)
Bernaerts, L., et al. (eds.) Stories and Minds: Cognitive Approaches to Literary Narrative, 2013
This paper disputes the notion, endorsed by much of narrative theory, that the reading of literary narrative is functionally analogous to an act of communication, where communication stands for the transfer of thought and conceptual information. The paper offers a basic typology of the sensorimotor effects of reading, which fall outside such a narrowly communication-based model of literary narrative. A main typological distinction is drawn between those sensorimotor effects pertaining to the narrative qua verbal utterance (verbal presence) and those sensorimotor effects pertaining to the imaginary physical world(s) of the story (direct presence). While verbal presence refers to the reader's vicarious perception of the voices of narrators and characters, direct presence refers to the emulated sensorimotor experience of the imaginary worlds that the narrators' and characters' utterances refer to. The paper further elaborates on how, by which kinds of narrative content and structure, direct presence may be prompted. The final section addresses some of the observational and historical caveats that must be attached to any theoretical inquiry made into the sensorimotor effects of reading. As a preliminary for further research, a few ideas about the model's potential for empirical validation are put forward. A brief, tentative history of the sensorimotor benefits of literary narrative reading is then outlined.
A Soul Dancing or Plunging: body and presence in literary experiences
Revista Brasileira de Estudos da Presença, 2017
This paper reflects upon the affective dimension of the experience of reading fiction and poetry. I argue that the space of the imagination allows the approach of literary texts by means of sensations and emotions. Therefore, I formulate a concept of presence suitable for thinking about literary experiences, in which the reader's body is mobilized by effects triggered by the text when in contact with his imagery.
‘Doing There’ vs. ‘Being There’: Performing Presence in Interactive Fiction
The ability of computers to produce ‘presence’ – the visceral feeling of actually ‘being there’ – is typically associated with the presentation of intensive graphical effects. But studies on presence indicate that what players are able to ‘do’ in fact contributes more to their sense of presence than graphical realism. Keeping this in mind, I explore possibilities for 'performing’ presence in digital narratives, particularly through the non-graphical digital medium of interactive fiction. I draw from critical theorists (Barthes, Iser and especially Gumbrecht) as well as theorists of new media (Aarseth, Ryan, Montfort) to frame an investigation into two major aspects of presence production in interactive fiction, namely: 1) how interactive fiction generates presence through the exclusive use of verbal signifiers rather than graphical images, and 2) how it allows users to generate presence themselves through their own actions. I conclude by examining three works of interactive fiction: Adventure, All Roads and Luminous Horizon (Crowther and Woods 1975–6; Ingold 2006; O’Brian 2004).
Textual sources of Embodied Literary Reading
Literary works can be analyzed from the viewpoint of how frequently, how systematically, and at what level they engage the reader in somatic activation and imagery. Researchers need to (a) identify text cues that (co-)produce embodied effects and (b) evaluate their distinct somatization profiles. This paper surveys embodied simulation, a scene-bound effect lending itself to a textual approach most straightforwardly. After charting the wider terrain of literary somatization I shall single out two broad categories of cues for scene-bound effects (whereas global effects like suspense and “emergent” reader specific effects like dissatisfaction tend to elude linguistic analysis, so I won’t have much to say about them): My first focus addresses canonical imagery, which, by and large, subserves the functions of “being there” and character empathy. It spans descriptions of objects, persons, actions, and interactions in the storyworld, but also inner experience, i.e. pain, proprioception, and visceral affect. Under a second – in fact overlapping – heading, figurative language deserves attention. It comprises force-dynamic metaphors that cue our understanding of the causality of affect, psychodynamics, and protagonist interaction. Metaphors that augment already established simulative imagery by gestalt effects (double-projection, etc.) add to this. My overall aim is to pinpoint analytic hot spots by discussing the cue-effect relationship of some thirty linguistic devices with a view to case-studies and comparative analyses of “engagement profiles” of texts.
Kuzmičová, A. (2014): Literary narrative and mental imagery: A view from embodied cognition
Style, 2014
The objective of this article is twofold. In the first part, I discuss two issues central to any theoretical inquiry into mental imagery: embodiment and consciousness. I do so against the backdrop of second-generation cognitive science, more specifically the increasingly popular research framework of embodied cognition, and I consider two caveats attached to its current exploitation in narrative theory. In the second part, I attempt to cast new light on readerly mental imagery by offering a typology of what I propose to be its four basic varieties. The typology is grounded in the framework of embodied cognition and it is largely compatible with key neuroscientific and other experimental evidence produced within the framework.
The Verbal Presence: An Aesthetics of Literary Performance
The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 1973
WHEN WE SURVEY what has been written on the various arts, it is remarkable how much more is devoted to the literary arts than to any of the others. Remarkable, per-haps, but not surprising, for one would think that literature is in a favored posi-tion, since the medium of ...