The Realist literary figure: a (cognitive) challenge or not? Cover Image

Realistická literární postava: (kognitivní) výzva, či nikoli?
The Realist literary figure: a (cognitive) challenge or not?

Author(s): Bohumil Fořt
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Theory of Literature
Published by: AV ČR - Akademie věd České republiky - Ústav pro českou literaturu
Keywords: kognitivní věda; literární postava; realismus; fikční svět

Summary/Abstract: This study is an attempt to critically evaluate the contribution made by cognitiveliterary theory to research into literary characters in general and Realist literarycharacters in particular. Based on cognitive contributions to research into literarycharacters, it examines the characters in Realist fiction to demonstrate the validityof these contributions due to their detailed research in comparison with traditionalconcepts that have emerged outside that sphere. This analysis indicates that cognitiveapproaches are of benefit both in connection with grasping the mental aspects of thesubjects of literary communication, i.e. the authors, the readers and their abstractcounterparts created for purposes of more detailed analysis of literary works, andin connection with research into the mental functions of Realist literary characters.Nevertheless, the employment of these approaches appears to be limited toa large extent when we focus upon Realist literary characters as complex semanticconglomerates with prominent social dimensions.

  • Issue Year: 69/2021
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 361-376
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: Czech
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