Joint Attention, Semiotic Mediation, and Literary Narrative

Abstract

In this paper I discuss the importance for narrative theory of the concept, drawn from developmental psychology, of "joint attention". 1 In the first part, I explain the basic concept and its significance for the emergence of narrative in young children. In the second part I draw out the implications of this genetic approach for our understanding of the nature of narrative signification: where classical narratology is based on a chain of representational and "communicative" dyads (signifier/signified and sender/receiver), joint attention integrates these functions into a triadic semiotic by which the sign mediates between three poles: the producer of the sign, the receiver of the sign and the object of their joint attention. In the third part, taking Boccaccio's Decameron as an example, I illustrate how this approach to the semiotics of narrative elucidates aspects of literary narrative that are obscured by the classical semiotic. Joint attention offers affordances for quasirecursive re-contextualization, since the object of joint attention may consist of another act of joint attention: literary narrative can create complex joint attentional structures by which the story is "seen" through nested perspectival prisms of embedded narrative and character.1 I would like to thank David Herman, Richard Walsh, Adam Roberts and Alan Palmer for their comments and suggestions on earlier versions of this article.

The year’s work in stylistics 2016

“…Considering the various contexts in which narrative is produced and received is advantageous in developing narratological concepts, as an article by Lively demonstrates. He shows that traditional semiotic dyads such as sender/receiver fall flat when considering young children’s narrative use, and that the concept of ‘joint attention’ from developmental psychology can better account for literary narrative, with its ‘nested perspectival prisms of embedded narrative and character’ (Lively, 2016: 517).…”

“…In order to empirically test his concept of High Emotional Involvement, Toolan uses questionnaires to gather reader responses to a short story, a method that will interest the growing number of stylisticians interested in empirical and reader response methods (see Section 6 of this article for a detailed review of such research). Considering the various contexts in which narrative is produced and received is advantageous in developing narratological concepts, as an article by Lively (2016) demonstrates. He shows that traditional semiotic dyads such as sender/receiver fall flat when considering young children's narrative use, and that the concept of 'joint attention' from developmental psychology can better account for literary narrative, with its 'nested perspectival prisms of embedded narrative and character ' (2016: 517).…”