"Recent work in cognitive science has rooted our moral dispositions in the more ancient and less plastic regions of our brains, seeming to confirm Darwin's suspicion that a biological approach to huma
Investigations into how the brain actually works have led to remarkable discoveries of late, and these findings carry profound implications for interpreting literature. John Donne's probing insights,
This book shows how Shakespeare’s excellence as storyteller, wit and poet reflects the creative process of conceptual blending. Cognitive theory provides a wealth of new ideas that illuminate Shakespe
In the first in-depth study of the emotional dimensions of Du Bois's and Emerson's writings on public intellectualism, reform, and race, Schneider offers a valuable and eloquent contribution to the cr
Why have we evolved to delight in telling stories and listening to them? Can literary meaning be discovered through data? What is more important to the identity of a literary character: gender or mora
Toward a General Theory of Acting explores the actor’s art through the lens of Dynamic Systems Theory and recent findings in the Cognitive Sciences. An analysis of different theories of acting in the
Shakespeare’s company coped with an enormous mnemonic load, performing up to six different plays a week. How did they do it? Cognition in the Globe addresses this question through the lens of Distribu
Narratives of early English demoniacs have survived in medical and philosophical treatises, salacious and cheap ephemera, and formulaic and culturally constructed depositions. Demon possessions have b
This book examines the theatrical movement-based pedagogy of Jacques Lecoq (1921-1999) through the lens of the cognitive scientific paradigm of enaction. The conversation between these two both uncove
Cognition, Mindreading, and Shakespeare's Characters brings cognitive science to Shakespeare, applying contemporary theories of mindreading to Shakespeare’s construction of character. Building on the
Celebrating the mystery of the creative process, Toward a General Theory of Acting explores the actor's art through the lens of Dynamic Systems Theory and recent findings in the Cognitive Sciences. Lu
This book examines how early modern and recently emerging theories of consciousness and cognitive science help us to re-imagine our engagements with Shakespeare in text and performance. Papers investi
Theatrical meanings are enacted in onstage 'ecologies' of actors and objects irrespective of spoken language. Applying the concepts of affordances and image schemas to extensive analyses of Vsevolod M
This collection is the first book-length study to re-evaluate all of James Joyce's major fictional works through the lens of cognitive studies. Cognitive Joyce presents Joyce's relationship to th
This book investigates how writers and readers of Renaissance literature deployed ‘kinesic intelligence’, a combination of pre-reflective bodily response and reflective interpretation. Through analyse
This book explores how minds at the movies understand minds in the movies and introduces readers to some fundamental principles of Cognitive Studies—namely conceptual blending, Theory of Mind, and emp
This book is about the centrality of movement, movement perception, and kinesthetic experience to theatrical spectatorship. Drawing upon phenomenological accounts of movement experience and the insigh
