A Biocultural Approach to Literary Theory and Interpretation

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, British, Theory
Cover of the book A Biocultural Approach to Literary Theory and Interpretation by Nancy Easterlin, Johns Hopkins University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Nancy Easterlin ISBN: 9781421405049
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press Publication: May 31, 2012
Imprint: Language: English
Author: Nancy Easterlin
ISBN: 9781421405049
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication: May 31, 2012
Imprint:
Language: English

Combining cognitive and evolutionary research with traditional humanist methods, Nancy Easterlin demonstrates how a biocultural perspective in theory and criticism opens up new possibilities for literary interpretation.

Easterlin maintains that the practice of literary interpretation is still of central intellectual and social value. Taking an open yet judicious approach, she argues, however, that literary interpretation stands to gain dramatically from a fair-minded and creative application of cognitive and evolutionary research. This work does just that, expounding a biocultural method that charts a middle course between overly reductive approaches to literature and traditionalists who see the sciences as a threat to the humanities.

Easterlin develops her biocultural method by comparing it to four major subfields within literary studies: new historicism, ecocriticism, cognitive approaches, and evolutionary approaches. After a thorough review of each subfield, she reconsiders them in light of relevant research in cognitive and evolutionary psychology and provides a textual analysis of literary works from the romantic era to the present, including William Wordsworth’s "Simon Lee" and the Lucy poems, Mary Robinson’s "Old Barnard," Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s "Dejection: An Ode," D. H. Lawrence’s The Fox, Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea, and Raymond Carver’s "I Could See the Smallest Things."

A Biocultural Approach to Literary Theory and Interpretation offers a fresh and reasoned approach to literary studies that at once preserves the central importance that interpretation plays in the humanities and embraces the exciting developments of the cognitive sciences.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Combining cognitive and evolutionary research with traditional humanist methods, Nancy Easterlin demonstrates how a biocultural perspective in theory and criticism opens up new possibilities for literary interpretation.

Easterlin maintains that the practice of literary interpretation is still of central intellectual and social value. Taking an open yet judicious approach, she argues, however, that literary interpretation stands to gain dramatically from a fair-minded and creative application of cognitive and evolutionary research. This work does just that, expounding a biocultural method that charts a middle course between overly reductive approaches to literature and traditionalists who see the sciences as a threat to the humanities.

Easterlin develops her biocultural method by comparing it to four major subfields within literary studies: new historicism, ecocriticism, cognitive approaches, and evolutionary approaches. After a thorough review of each subfield, she reconsiders them in light of relevant research in cognitive and evolutionary psychology and provides a textual analysis of literary works from the romantic era to the present, including William Wordsworth’s "Simon Lee" and the Lucy poems, Mary Robinson’s "Old Barnard," Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s "Dejection: An Ode," D. H. Lawrence’s The Fox, Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea, and Raymond Carver’s "I Could See the Smallest Things."

A Biocultural Approach to Literary Theory and Interpretation offers a fresh and reasoned approach to literary studies that at once preserves the central importance that interpretation plays in the humanities and embraces the exciting developments of the cognitive sciences.

More books from Johns Hopkins University Press

Cover of the book Reducing Gun Violence in America by Nancy Easterlin
Cover of the book The Complete Poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley by Nancy Easterlin
Cover of the book Glorious Victory by Nancy Easterlin
Cover of the book The Breast Reconstruction Guidebook by Nancy Easterlin
Cover of the book Subverting Aristotle by Nancy Easterlin
Cover of the book Imagination and Science in Romanticism by Nancy Easterlin
Cover of the book DeWitt Clinton and Amos Eaton by Nancy Easterlin
Cover of the book Bats of the United States and Canada by Nancy Easterlin
Cover of the book Chronic Disease in the Twentieth Century by Nancy Easterlin
Cover of the book A History of Global Health by Nancy Easterlin
Cover of the book The Webster-Hayne Debate by Nancy Easterlin
Cover of the book Alien Universe by Nancy Easterlin
Cover of the book Nonprofits and Advocacy by Nancy Easterlin
Cover of the book Creatures Born of Mud and Slime by Nancy Easterlin
Cover of the book Civil-Military Relations and Shared Responsibility by Nancy Easterlin
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy