Toward a Theory of Cognitive Poetics

Description

This book has three distinctive characteristics: (1) It offers a widely interdisciplinary perspective; (2) It provides a comprehensive view of poetry, with groups of chapters on the Sound Stratum of Poetry (rhyme patterns and gestalt theory; metre and rhythm; expressiveness and musicality of speech sounds); the Units-of-Meaning Stratum (semantic representation and information processing, metaphor, rhyme and meaning, literary synaesthesia); the World Stratum; Regulative Concepts (genre, period style, archetypal patterns); the Poetry of Orientation and Disorientation (experiential and mystic poetry versus poetry of emotional disorientation; and the grotesque); the Poetry of Altered States of Consciousness (hypnotic and ecstatic poetry); Critics and Criticism; and Cognitive Poetics vs. Cognitive Linguistics; (3) It goes into minute details of poetic texts, so as to account for subtle intuitions of readers. Updating from the first edition consists of samples from the authors later instrumental study of the rhythmical performance of poetry and the expressiveness of speech sounds; and in three chapters responding to the later work of three cognitive linguists. Contents Preface to the First Edition Preface to the Second Edition Acknowledgments A Note on Transliteration General Assumptions 1. The Nature of Cognitive Poetics 2. Mental and Vocal Performance in Poetry Reading 3. Constructing a Stable World 4. Poetic Structure and Perceived Qualities The Sound Stratum of Poetry 5. Rhyme Patterns, Gestalt Theory and Perceptual Forces 6. Metre and Rhythm 7. Delivery Style and Listener Response — an Empirical Study 8. Expressiveness and Musicality of Speech Sounds The Units-of-Meaning Stratum 9. Semantic Representation and Information Processing 10. Literary Synaesthesia The World Stratum 11. The Representative Anecdote: Human Contingency Regulative Concepts 12. The Versatile Reader: Style as Open Concept 13. Style as Diagnosis and as Hypothesis Practical Application: The Ballad “Edward” 14. Archetypal Patterns Poetry of Orientation & Disorientation 15. Space Perception and Poetry of Orientation 16. Poetry of Disorientation 17. The Grotesque as an Aesthetic Mode Poetry of Altered States of Consciousness 18. Poetry and Altered States of Consciousness 19. Obtrusive Rhythms and Emotive Crescendo 20. The Divergent Passage and Ecstatic Poetry Critics and Criticism 21. The Implied Critic’s Decision Style 22. The Critic’s Mental Dictionary Cognitive Poetics and Cognitive Linguistics 23. Lakoff’s Roads Not Taken 24. Deixis in Literature: What Isn’t Cognitive Poetics? 25. Comparing Approaches to Versification Style in Cyrano de Bergerac References Index