The Neuroscience of Literary Time-Travel

Fri Nov 29 2024 at 03:00 pm to 04:30 pm UTC+00:00

Institute for Medical Humanities • Durham University | Durham

Institute for Medical Humanities
Publisher/HostInstitute for Medical Humanities
The Neuroscience of Literary Time-Travel
Advertisement
Passport Talk by Paul Armstrong: 'The Neuroscience of Literary Time-Travel: How Literary Works Cross Historical Distance'
About this Event

The Narrative and Cognition Lab in the invites you to an online and in-person Passport Talk presented by Paul Armstrong at the Institute for Medical Humanities.

The dead seem to come alive again when we read a literary work from the past and feel the strange but intimate presence of other subjectivities inhabiting our consciousness and our bodies. The power of literary works to speak across historical distance may seem mysterious, even mystical, but it must have a material basis in our neurobiological equipment for making sense of the world. What is often referred to as the “life” of a literary work calls for an explanation that goes beyond formal or historical categories.

Elucidating this complex, contradictory state of affairs requires a neuro-phenomenological analysis of the relation between aesthetic experiences and their neural correlates, an analysis that integrates phenomenological theories of reading with neuroscientific research on action understanding, brain-to-brain coupling, and the temporal horizonality of predictive processing.

Reading is a process of doubling whereby we simulate cognitive processes held ready in a text, awaiting activation through our participation as we fill in its absences and make its world present. Because embodied brains can oscillate rhythmically together, we can interact with the activity embedded in a literary work and respond to the opportunities these afford for reciprocity and collaboration. We speak with the dead by unbinding and binding cognitive energy, and the liveliness of their voices is a consequence of how our interactions with their patterns of meaning-making activate and sensitize our arousal systems.

This event will be chaired by Dr Marco Bernini from the Narrative and Cognition Lab in the .

This event is free to attend.

Zoom details will be circulated closer to the event.

Advertisement

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Institute for Medical Humanities • Durham University, Confluence Building, Durham, United Kingdom

Tickets

GBP 0.00

Discover more events by tags:

Art in DurhamLiterary-art in Durham

Sharing is Caring:

More Events in Durham

Wreath Workshop at Runa Farm with Rooted
Thu Nov 28 2024 at 06:30 pm Wreath Workshop at Runa Farm with Rooted

Runa Farm

Naoke Abe  - Saving the blossom: 'Cherry' Ingram and his rich legacy
Thu Nov 28 2024 at 07:00 pm Naoke Abe - Saving the blossom: 'Cherry' Ingram and his rich legacy

Teikyo University of Japan

Paint Sip Durham Revolution
Thu Nov 28 2024 at 08:00 pm Paint Sip Durham Revolution

Revolution Durham (Durham)

Count Arthur Strong Is Charles Dickens In 'a Christmas Carol'
Thu Nov 28 2024 at 08:00 pm Count Arthur Strong Is Charles Dickens In 'a Christmas Carol'

The Witham Barnard Castle

Reservoirs + Dave Hepple +Special Guest @White Rooms Stanley
Fri Nov 29 2024 at 07:15 am Reservoirs + Dave Hepple +Special Guest @White Rooms Stanley

The White Room

Christmas Fayre
Fri Nov 29 2024 at 02:00 pm Christmas Fayre

Durham High School

Ice Skating 2024
Fri Nov 29 2024 at 04:00 pm Ice Skating 2024

Sunderland Live

Chilton Christmas Lights Switch On
Fri Nov 29 2024 at 05:00 pm Chilton Christmas Lights Switch On

Chilton Town Council, Hutton House, Durham Road, DL17 0HE Chilton, United Kingdom

Candlelight: A Tribute to Queen | Durham
Fri Nov 29 2024 at 06:00 pm Candlelight: A Tribute to Queen | Durham

Ushaw Historic House, Chapels & Gardens

Toby Manning, Mixing Pop and Politics: A conversation and book signing
Fri Nov 29 2024 at 06:30 pm Toby Manning, Mixing Pop and Politics: A conversation and book signing

People's Bookshop

Live at the Waterhouse, Durham
Fri Nov 29 2024 at 07:00 pm Live at the Waterhouse, Durham

The Waterhouse, Durham

Sophie Davis
Fri Nov 29 2024 at 08:00 pm Sophie Davis

The Canteen Bar And Kitchen

Durham is Happening!

Never miss your favorite happenings again!

Explore Durham Events