Cognitive Poetics: An Introduction

257 Pages·2019·3.979 MB·English

by  Peter Stockwell

COGNITIVE POETICS
A pioneering text in its first edition, this revised publication of Cognitive Poetics
offers a rigorous and principled approach to literary reading and analysis.
The second edition of this seminal text features:
• updated theory, frameworks, and examples throughout, including new expla-
nations of literary meaning, the power of reading, literary force, and
emotion;
• extended examples of literary texts from Old English to contemporary liter-
ature, covering genres including religious, realist, romantic, science fictional,
and surrealist texts, and encompassing poetry, prose, and drama;
• new chapters on the mind- modelling of character, the building of text- worlds,
the feeling of immersion and ambience, and the resonant power of emotion in
literature;
• fully updated and accessible accounts of Cognitive Grammar, deictic shifts,
prototypicality, conceptual framing, and metaphor in literary reading.
Encouraging the reader to adopt a fresh approach to understanding literature and
literary analyses, each chapter introduces a different framework within cognitive
poetics and relates it to a literary text. Accessibly written and reader- focused, the
book invites further explorations either individually or within a classroom setting.
This thoroughly revised edition of Cognitive Poetics includes an expanded further
reading section and updated explorations and discussion points, making it essential
reading for students on literary theory and stylistics courses, as well as a fundamental
tool for those studying critical theory, linguistics, and literary studies.
Peter Stockwell is Professor of Literary Linguistics at the University of
Nottingham, UK.

COGNITIVE POETICS
An Introduction
Second Edition
Peter Stockwell
Second edition published 2020
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2020 Peter Stockwell
The right of Peter Stockwell to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 2002
British Library Cataloguing- in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data
Names: Stockwell, Peter, author.
Title: Cognitive poetics : a new introduction / Peter Stockwell.
Description: Second edition. | London ; New York, NY : Routledge,
2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019037626 | ISBN 9781138781368 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781138781382 (paperback) | ISBN 9780367854546 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Cognitive grammar. | Poetics.
Classification: LCC P165 .S74 2020 | DDC 808.1–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019037626
ISBN: 978-1-138-78136-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-78138-2 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-85454-6 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear
In memory of Eileen and Mervyn Stockwell

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ix
1 Introduction: body, mind, and literature 1
2 Prototypicality and contexts 15
3 Figures and ground 32
4 Deixis and projection 49
5 Texture and resonance 70
6 Cognitive Grammar 86
7 Schemas and frames 102
8 Conceptual metaphor 119
9 Blending and compression 138
10 Text- worlds 155
11 Mind- modelling 176
12 Immersion and ambience 194
viii Contents
13 Directions and connections 211
14 Key readings 223
References 225
Index 240
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This is a new introduction, but cognitive poetics can no longer be said to be new.
When the first edition of this book was being written, around the turn of the mil-
lennium, the area was still in the process of being defined, and its edges delineated.
That book played its part not only in mapping the landscape but in suggesting how
far to the horizons the field could stretch. This new edition appears at a point at
which a cognitive poetic turn of mind has already made itself felt across a range of
approaches in literary studies, and arts and humanities more generally.
Back in the beginning, it was all Peter Verdonk’s idea. Many years ago, at a
restaurant in a Hungarian forest, he suggested with his usual quiet, wise smile that
I should write a textbook on cognitive approaches to literature. The conception
of the book has changed quite a bit since then, and the discipline itself has acquired
a name and a firmer set of borders, but the shape of this book and its mere exist-
ence owe a great deal to the inspiration and influence he has exerted over all
that time.
Over the course of three decades, I have had conversations with many brilliant
people whose ideas have shaped my thinking, though they are probably not aware
of it. I am especially grateful to Michael Burke, Amy Cook, Peter Crisp, Szilvia
Csabi, Jonathan Culpeper, Barbara Dancygier, Catherine Emmott, Monika Flud-
ernik, Charles Forceville, Donald Freeman, Margaret Freeman, Richard Gerrig,
Ray Gibbs, Keith Green, Chris Hart, David Herman, Laura Hidalgo Downing,
Patrick Colm Hogan, Lesley Jeffries, Dan McIntyre, Nigel McLoughlin, David
Miall, Rocio Montoro, Alan Palmer, Merja Polvinen, Alan Richardson, Brian
Richardson, Elena Semino, Mick Short, Paul Simpson, Gerard Steen, Eve Sweet-
ser, Michael Toolan, Reuven Tsur, Mark Turner, Willie van Peer, Katie Wales,
Martin Wynne, Lisa Zunshine, and Sonia Zyngier; and I would also like to acknow-
ledge with fond memory conversations with colleagues who have passed away:
Ron Carter, Bill Nash, Mary Ellen Ryder, and Paul Werth.