Blog Archive | Diegesis In Mind

BLOG POST | 1. December 2022

Cognition and Point of View: An Interview with Eve Sweetser

Linguist Eve Sweetser (University of California, Berkeley) gives key points from her Society of Biblical Literature (2022) presentation about how cognitive science aids our understanding of point of view in ancient narrative texts. ...

BLOG POST | 1. November 2022

Cognition and Ancient Characters

A conversation with Koen De Temmerman (Ghent) and Evert van Emde Boas (Aarhus) discussing cognition and ancient characters and their 2018 volume, Characterization in Ancient Greek Literature (Brill). ...

BLOG POST | 1. November 2022

Conceptual Metaphor Theory, Emotion, and Narrative

A criticism of CMT that I regularly encounter is that its universalizing tendencies efface the cultural specificity of the phenomena it purports to explain. But this is not, I think, a criticism that stands up to scrutiny.A case in point would be the ancient Greek use of various kinds of garment metaphor for a wide range of emotions, but especially shame and grief. ...

BLOG POST | 1. November 2022

Blending in Pindar

The quintessentially dense ancient Greek texts of the lyric poet Pindar (ca. 518-437 BCE) cannot be conceived, performed, studied, and taught without the basic human ability to create and understand networks of blends. Blending happens whenever we unconsciously connect conceptual counterparts and integrate them, so that new meanings emerge. Identifying blends not only helps us make sense of Pindar (‘Pindar’ metonymically stands for ‘Pindar’s poems’), but also of our blending-based ...

BLOG POST | 1. November 2022

Conceptual blending and historical understanding in Polybius

Scholars often characterise Polybius’ way of writing as clunky, heavy-going and unsophisticated. I fundamentally disagree with this assessment, which reflects stereotypes and prejudices about the decline of Greek literature and style after the ‘classical’ period. In this short entry, I will show that more attention to Polybius’ style, encouraged by cognitive approaches such as conceptual blending, opens up new perspectives on how this fascinating author conceived of the process of ...

BLOG POST | 1. October 2022

How I Became a Cognitive Narratologist: Fludernik’s Towards a ‘Natural’ Narratology

Fludernik’s study was eye-opening for me, not least because it was the first time that I encountered post-classical narratology. I was astonished by how confidently and carefully she developed her own theoretical approach; I was intrigued by her use of cognitive theories and the combination of linguistic, cognitive, and literary theories; and I was delighted to read her analyses of English medieval and early modern narratives, which she sets in ...

BLOG POST | 1. October 2022

Emphasis: A Cognitive Figure in Ancient Rhetoric

“Emphasis” (emphasis]; significatio) is an ancient rhetorical figure that heightens audience participation through strategic ambiguity, polysemy, or otherwise opaque sentence construction. Through careful diction, the writer/speaker directs audience members to a latent meaning, hidden within a seemingly innocuous phrase. Far from mere ornamentation, this figure fundamentally increases persuasive power through narrative engagement, while also providing the writer or speaker plausible deniability. ...

BLOG POST | 20. September 2022

Blending in Diegesis: Public Lecture by Mark Turner

Mark Turner, Professor of Cognitive Science at Case Western Reserve University, reviews aspects of conceptual blending that are consciously and explicitly put onstage during diegesis ('narrative' and narration). He makes the case that advanced blending is a basic mental operation for human beings, and it is constant. There would be no diegesis of any kind without it. ...

BLOG POST | 20. September 2022

Blending in Diegesis: Workshop Highlights with Mark Turner

Mark Turner, Professor of Cognitive Science at Case Western University, gave a workshop on September 7, 2002, as an extension of his Public Lecture on 'Blending and Diegesis' at the University of St Andrews. In this 'master class', students and faculty posed questions that connected cognitive science and blending theory to their own research. ...

BLOG POST | 31. August 2022

What does Language have to do with Cognitive Framing?

As a linguist – and in particular, one working with older texts as data– a major benefit of cognitive framing for textual analysis is the awareness that I’m constrained by knowledge about human cognition. If I can’t read long-ago authors’ or redactors’ minds, I can at least propose textual meanings and readings that are plausible for a human, embodied brain. ...

BLOG POST | 30. August 2022

Meat in Cooking Pots? How Cognitive approaches to Metaphor help us Read Ezekiel

Readers of the ancient Israelite book of Ezekiel have long been fascinated, bewildered, and provoked by its imagery. One well-known example is the description of the prophet’s visionary experience in the first chapter, in which he sees multi-headed creatures, wheels with eyes, and the deity seated on a throne. This text became important as a model for ancient readers who wished to have similar ecstatic experiences. In more recent times, ...

BLOG POST | 30. August 2022

How Cognitive Sciences Transform Ideas about Text, Audience, and Meaning

For the past ten years, I have entertained questions at the intersection of text, audience, and meaning. The cognitive sciences have allowed me to think outside methodological boxes in ways that breath new life into old questions. ...

BLOG POST | 29. August 2022

Welcome to Diegesis In Mind

Diegesis in Mind aims to encourage and support the use of cognitive (‘mind’) science to study ancient narrative (‘diegesis’). We intend to be an intellectual nucleus for continuing scholarly dialogue about methods, standards, prospects, and limitations of using cognitive disciplines to study ancient narrative texts and other media across disciplines. ...

BLOG POST | 28. August 2022

Salzburg Event

Prior to our first livestreaming event with Mark Turner, the SBL International Meeting in Salzburg (July 17–21) provided us with the opportunity to engage with members of our Advisory Board as well as junior scholars in a seminar sponsored by the local planning committee. ...

BLOG POST | 27. August 2022

Why I Use Cognitive Science to Read Narratives?

VIDEO
Victoria Pöhls, Koen de Temmerman and Kirsten Marie Hartvigsen on why they use cognitive science to read narratives? ...

BLOG POST | 26. August 2022

Why I use Cognitive Linguistics to understand Religious Enmity and Social Identity

VIDEO
Chris Porter on why he uses socio-cognitive science to read biblical narratives. ...