Description
The study of literature, which has traditionally been the work of the humanities, has seemingly opened up to biology in recent years through an infusion of cognitive science and evolutionary psychology. This essay examines two perspectives on the potential for reader/character identification, one perspective from cognitive/evolutionary studies, and the other from the humanities. Building on both perspectives, I propose my own notion of reader/character identification called immersive identification. I argue that fiction is especially suited to prompt readers to identify with fictional characters in an immersive way. Then, I demonstrate how different cognitive/evolutionary perspectives of fiction can accommodate my notion of immersive identification. Finally, I defend my account of immersive identification against a counterexample.
Details
Title
- Identifying with Fictional Characters
Contributors
- Dhein, Kelle James (Author)
- Eder, James (Thesis director)
- Kobes, Bernard (Committee member)
- Cassell, Paul (Committee member)
- Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor)
- Department of English (Contributor)
- School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor)
Date Created
The date the item was original created (prior to any relationship with the ASU Digital Repositories.)
2014-05
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