Disrupted Intersubjectivity: Paralysis and Invasion in Ian McEwan’s Works

Description

Disrupted Intersubjectivity investigates two classes of phenomena creating failures of understanding in social interaction, referred to as ‘paralysis’ and ‘invasion.’ Both can be understood as disrupted forms of intersubjectivity, the former being characterized by a lack/deficiency of ways of relating to others, and the latter by an unnecessary surplus. By studying the literary accounts of these phenomena in a selection of Ian McEwan’s literary works (“Homemade,” On Chesil Beach, Enduring Love, and Atonement), Andrei Ionescu scheds light on the epistemological potential of literature and the structure of human relationships in general. Part of the developing field of cognitive literary studies, Disrupted Intersubjectivity not only to uses cognitive scientific theories in order to clarify literary issues, but also to investigate to what extent can literature itself contribute to the process of understanding the workings of the human mind. By investigating the metacognitive issues staged and reflected upon in literary works, Ionescu challenges and refines contemporary cognitive and philosophical approaches to intersubjectivity and opens directions for further theoretical and empirical research. Title Page Copyright Page Contents Acknowledgments Abbreviations Chapter 1: Ian McEwan’s Intuition Pumps 1.1 Theoretical and Methodological Framework 1.2 Forms of Intersubjectivity 1.3 Blindness and Insight in Contemporary Cognitive-Scientific and Philosophical Accounts of Intersubjectivity Chapter 2: Sexual Breakdowns 2.1 A Brief Look at Sexuality in Ian McEwan’sand D. H. Lawrence’s Works 2.2 Blood-Knowledge as a Vestigial Form of Primary Intersubjectivity 2.3 One of the Most Desolate Couplings Known to Copulating Humanity: Homemade Sexual Initiation 2.4 Always Bound by Our History and Our Guilty Natures: Sexual Failure on Chesil Beach 2.5 The Success of Failure or the Heuristic Potential of McEwan’s Works in Understanding Sexuality Chapter 3: Clashes of Worldviews 3.1 Science versus Religion versus Art in McEwan’s Works 3.2 In a Mess of Their Own Unmaking: Enduring Love’s Paralytics 3.3 Their Fatal Lack of Cooperation: Corrupted Teamwork in Enduring Love Chapter 4: Coda 4.1 The Hermeneutic and Heuristic Potential of theConcepts of Paralysis and Invasion 4.2 Topics for Further Research Notes Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Bibliography Index of Names Index of Subjects