Cognition and Literary Interpretation in Practice

COGNITION AND LITERARY INTERPRETATION IN PRACTICE

A conference arranged by the Finnish Graduate School of Literary Studies
at University of Helsinki, Finland
27-29 August 2004

Plenary speakers: Professor Jørgen Dines Johansen (University of Southern Denmark) and Professor David S. Miall (University of Alberta)

CALL FOR PAPERS

Cognitive studies have become one of the leading areas of research during the past twenty years in the humanities as well as in the life sciences. In literary studies, the interest in cognitive aspects has spurred research on topics ranging from metaphor to narration and to the experience of reading, thus opening up new areas of inquiry, such as mental mapping, blending and embodiment. At the beginning of the 21st century, cognitive studies have also provided wide-spread and innovative approaches to the study of literature in literary studies per se, philosophical aesthetics and empirical aesthetics as well as in semiotics and hermeneutics. Yet it is not clear what cognitive studies have to offer to the practice of literary interpretation, and this is the focus of the conference. We invite scholars to reflect on this issue along at least three lines:

(1) We should ask ourselves what a cognitively based analysis can offer literary studies. In theory at least, cognitive studies provide means for describing structural aspects in literary interpretation, but they have been criticized for neglecting historical, institutional and ideological aspects. What is more, cognitive approaches still have to face the challenges inherent in the complexity, ambiguity and heterogeneity of individual literary works and their interpretation.

(2) The conference will also address how the models, methods and notions of cognitive studies can be applied to critical and scholarly interpretation. What insights into literary works do notions like schema, script and mapping provide and how do they – or any other cognitive tools – help the interpreter to organize, develop and/or express his or her understanding?

(3) In order for literary scholars to make full use of cognitive studies, any cognitive aspects should be viewed in relation to the history of literature and literary theory. Twentieth-century literary theories, such as Russian formalism, French structuralism, phenomenology and even new criticism (I. A. Richards) in many ways anticipated cognitive studies of literature. The differences, similarities and parallelisms between cognitive analysis and the other fields of literary-theoretical inquiry should now be explored. What we should analyze now is where exactly lies the novelty in cognitive studies of literature? What can we do in literary interpretation by applying cognitive studies that we could not do by using other methodologies? And can literary studies, perhaps by providing a historical understanding, broaden the scope of cognitive studies?

The conference will consist of keynote lectures as well as of thematically organized sessions of individual papers. We invite all scholars interested in the topic to submit an abstract of no more than 300 words by e-mail in word- or rtf-format to Dr. Harri Veivo, the chairman of the organizing committee of the conference, for evaluation before 30 October, 2003.

Dr Harri Veivo
Chairman of the organizing committee of the conference
Postdoctoral fellow at the Finnish Graduate School of Literary Studies
University of Helsinki
e-mail harri.veivo@helsinki.fi

Professor Bo Pettersson
Director of the Finnish Graduate School of Literary Studies
Department of English
University of Helsinki

Ms. Merja Polvinen, M.A.
Coordinator of the Finnish Graduate School of Literary Studies
Department of English
University of Helsinki