The Gender of the Neuronovel: Joyce Carol Oates and the Double Brain

Abstract

Some labels are more compelling than the actual thinking that lies behind them. Sometimes this is because a label's slick sound makes an idea seem more polished than it really is (consider the snappy sounding Brexit). In other cases, a title simply seems impressive because it bears an aural similarity to more austere and rarefied fields (here we might file astrology, bumpology, and craniology as an ABC of -ologies from the pseudosciences). In contemporary literary criticism, the currency of the label neuronovel depends upon a little of both strategies to cover the chasm between term and theoretical justification. The name itself is hard to resist. It flows so smoothly off the tongue-with its pleasingly alliterative n's and the assonant glide of its paired o'swhile its resemblance to the titles of more rigorous fields (say, neurophilosophy) loans a certain amount of scholarly credit that it typically does not repay. The term initially emerged in its longer form-the neurological novel-and was probably first coined by Oliver Sacks in 1984, when he summarized his book, A Leg to Stand On, as "a sort of neurological novel" (x). 1 But whatever contemporary eminence the term enjoys is lived out in its abbreviated form, and can be traced to Marco Roth's conservative essay, "The Rise of the Neuronovel" (2009). Unlike Sacks, who was fascinated by the intersection of neuroscience and story, and who would later map this conjunction's genealogy back to A. R. Luria, 2 Roth's coinage is meant to be derisory. Although he introduces the term with a vague remit-it simply covers novels "wherein the mind becomes the brain"the requirements gradually tighten. He sees such works as only emerging from 1997 onwards, and heralding a much-lamented withdrawal from the novel-"friendly" age of therapy and psychoanalysis, toward an imagined neurology whose putative biological determinism-in the hands of his representative writers Mark Haddon, Rivka Galchen, Jonathan Lethem, and Ian McEwan-denies history and society, marginalizes experimental language, and replaces novelistic meaning with the randomness of evolution's dice roll.

Internet and Biometric Web Based Business Management Decision Support

“…Other branches of neuroscience analyze AFFECT in various related sciences and fields, such as affective neuroscience [199,200], neuroinformatics [201,202], neuroimaging [203,204], systems neuroscience [205,206], computational neuroscience [207,208], neurophysiology [51,209], behavioral neuroscience [210,211], neural engineering [212,213], neuroeconomics [214,215], neurolinguistics [216,217], neuropsychology [218,219,220], neurophilosophy [221,222,223], neuroaesthetics [224,225,226], neurotheology [227,228,229], neuropolitics [230,231,232], neurolaw [233,234,235], social neuroscience [236,237], cultural neuroscience [238,239], neuroliterature [240,241,…”

Emotion Intelligence Based on Smart Sensing

“…Other branches of neuroscience analyze AFFECT in various related sciences and fields, such as affective neuroscience [199,200], neuroinformatics [201,202], neuroimaging [203,204], systems neuroscience [205,206], computational neuroscience [207,208], neurophysiology [51,209], behavioral neuroscience [210,211], neural engineering [212,213], neuroeconomics [214,215], neurolinguistics [216,217], neuropsychology [218][219][220], neurophilosophy [221][222][223], neuroaesthetics [224][225][226], neurotheology [227][228][229], neuropolitics [230][231][232], neurolaw [233][234][235], social neuroscience [236,237], cultural neuroscience [238,239], neuroliterature [240][241][242], neurocinema…”

A Review of AI Cloud and Edge Sensors, Methods, and Applications for the Recognition of Emotional, Affective and Physiological States

“…Other branches of neuroscience analyze AFFECT in various related sciences and fields, such as affective neuroscience [ 199 , 200 ], neuroinformatics [ 201 , 202 ], neuroimaging [ 203 , 204 ], systems neuroscience [ 205 , 206 ], computational neuroscience [ 207 , 208 ], neurophysiology [ 51 , 209 ], behavioral neuroscience [ 210 , 211 ], neural engineering [ 212 , 213 ], neuroeconomics [ 214 , 215 ], neurolinguistics [ 216 , 217 ], neuropsychology [ 218 , 219 , 220 ], neurophilosophy [ 221 , 222 , 223 ], neuroaesthetics [ 224 , 225 , 226 ], neurotheology [ 227 , 228 , 229 ], neuropolitics [ 230 , 231 , 232 ], neurolaw [ 233 , 234 , 235 ], social neuroscience [ 236 , 237 ], cultural neuroscience [ 238 , 239 ], neuroliterature [ 240 , 241 , 242 ], neurocinema [ 243 , 244 , 245 …”