Affective Narratology: The Emotional Structure of Stories

305 Pages·2011·4.679 MB·English

by  Patrick Colm Hogan

Affective Narratology
Frontiers of series editor
Narrative David Herman Ohio State University
Affective
Narratology
The Emotional Structure of Stories
patrick colm hogan
University of Nebraska Press | Lincoln and London
© 2011 by the Board of Regents of the University of
Nebraska. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the
United States of America.
Parts of the introduction and chapter 1, “The Brain
in Love,” were originally published as “The Brain in
Love: A Case Study in Cognitive Neuroscience and
Literary Theory” in Journal of Literary Theory 1.2
(2007): 339–55. An earlier version of part of the intro-
duction appeared as “A Passion for Plot: Prolegomena
to Affective Narratology” in symplokē 18.1–2 (2011).
Parts of chapters 3 and 4 were originally published as
“Narrative Universals, National Sacrifice, and Dou E
Yuan” in Ex/Change 12 (2005): 18–25.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hogan, Patrick Colm.
Affective narratology : the emotional structure
of stories / Patrick Colm Hogan.
p. cm.—(Frontiers of narrative)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-8032-3002-6 (cloth: alk. paper)
1. Discourse analysis, Narrative. 2. Emotions in
literature. 3. Narration (Rhetoric). I. Title.
p302.7.h64 2011
808'.036—dc22
2011015514
Set in Minion Pro by Bob Reitz.
Designed by A. Shahan.
For my teachers, including Sister James Louise,
Miss Phelan, Mrs. Larsen, Mr. Schmertz,
Father Ralph, Brother James, Joe Kramer,
John Craig, Pat Conley, Mr. Azzara, Father
Renner, Father Ong, Dan Dahlstrom, Jim
Friedman, Joseph Demartini, James Degnan,
Northrop Frye, Marshall McLuhan, Donald
Davidson, Jim McCawley, Murray Schwartz,
Irving Massey, and Norman Holland.

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: A Passion for Plot 1
1 Before Stories: Emotional Time and
Anna Karenina 29
2 Stories and Works: From Ancient Egypt
to Postmodernism 69
3 Universal Narrative Prototypes: Sacrifice,
Heroism, and Romantic Love 125
4 Cross-Cultural Minor Genres: Attachment,
Lust, Revenge, and Criminal Justice 185
Afterword: Stories and the Training
of Sensibility 237
Notes 253
Works Cited 265
Index 279

Acknowledgments
An earlier version of the discussion of The Injustice Done to Tou Ngo was
published as “Narrative Universals, National Sacrifice, and Dou E Yuan”
in Ex/Change (Hong Kong) 12 (2005): 18–25. I am grateful to the editor,
Zhang Longxi, for very helpful comments and suggestions on an earlier
draft of that essay. Parts of the introduction and chapter 1 appeared previ-
ously in “The Brain in Love: A Case Study in Cognitive Neuroscience and
Literary Theory,” Journal of Literary Theory 1.2 (2007): 339–55. An earlier
version of part of the introduction appeared as “A Passion for Plot: Pro-
legomena to Affective Narratology” in symplokē 18.1–2 (2011).
Ellen Litman kindly checked some passages in the Russian of Anna
Karenina. Lalita Pandit helped greatly with difficult points in the Urdu of
Meenaxi and the Sanskrit of Abhijñānaśākuntalam. David Conrad provid-
ed invaluable assistance on the Son-Jara epic, giving me access to unpub-
lished parts of Condé’s version (in Conrad’s own translation) and patiently
answering my questions about difficult parts of Condé’s text. I am very
grateful to all three. I am also grateful to three readers for the University
of Nebraska Press and to David Herman, who read the two different ver-
sions of the manuscript with great care and provided very helpful com-
ments. Finally, I wish to thank Kristen Elias Rowley of the University of
Nebraska Press for her careful handling of the manuscript, as well as Ann
Baker, my production editor, and Lona Dearmont, who copyedited the
manuscript.
ix