Blakey Vermeule wonders how readers become involved in the lives
of fictional characters, people they know do not exist.
Vermeule examines the ways in which readers' experiences of
literature are affected by the emotional attachments they form to
fictional characters and how those experiences then influence their
social relationships in real life. She focuses on a range of
topics, from intimate articulations of sexual desire, gender
identity, ambition, and rivalry to larger issues brought on by
rapid historical and economic change. Vermeule discusses the
phenomenon of emotional attachment to literary characters primarily
in terms of 18th-century British fiction but also considers the
postmodern work of Thomas Mann, J. M. Coetzee, Ian McEwan, and
Chinua Achebe.
From the perspective of cognitive science, Vermeule finds that
caring about literary characters is not all that different from
caring about other people, especially strangers. The tools used by
literary authors to sharpen and focus reader interest tap into
evolved neural mechanisms that trigger a caring response.
This book contributes to the emerging field of evolutionary
literary criticism. Vermeule draws upon recent research in
cognitive science to understand the mental processes underlying
human social interactions without sacrificing solid literary
criticism. People interested in literary theory, in cognitive
analyses of the arts, and in Darwinian approaches to human culture
will find much to ponder in "Why Do We Care about Literary
Characters?"
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