The neuroaesthetics of prose fiction: pitfalls, parameters and prospects

Abstract

There is a paucity of neuroaesthetic studies on prose fiction. This is in contrast to the very many impressive studies that have been conducted in recent times on the neuroaesthetics of sister arts such as painting, music and dance. Why might this be the case, what are its causes and, of greatest importance, how can it best be resolved? In this article, the pitfalls, parameters and prospects of a neuroaesthetics of prose fiction will be explored. The article itself is part critical review, part methodological proposal and part opinion paper. Its aim is simple: to stimulate, excite and energize thinking in the discipline as to how prose fiction might be fully integrated in the canon of neuroaesthetics and to point to opportunities where neuroimaging studies on literary discourse processing might be conducted in collaborative work bringing humanists and scientists together.

Human, Nature, Dynamism: The Effects of Content and Movement Perception on Brain Activations during the Aesthetic Judgment of Representational Paintings

“…In this respect, Lehne et al ( 2015 ) found that the rated amount of actions reported in story segments highly correlates with immersion ratings, suggesting that fiction feelings supported by scenes full of actions facilitate immersive processes (see also, Hsu et al, 2014 ; Lüdtke et al, 2014 ). Relating these findings to the field of visual aesthetics, it can be reasonably posited that, starting from posterior parietal/precuneus activation, specific processes are set (memory-, spatial-, and motor-related), which would allow the receiver (reader or art viewer) to be engaged in an immersive or, otherwise termed, transportation experience characterized by a full involvement of the recipient in a story (or image)—see also Burke ( 2015 ). These processes are hypothesized as part of an implicit system of embodied simulation, which is potentiated by the fact that, most of the time, the recipient is motionless when beholding an artwork or reading (“liberated embodied simulation”; see Wojciehowski and Gallese, 2011 ).…”

On Elementary Affective Decisions: To Like Or Not to Like, That Is the Question

“…Within the field of neurocognitive poetics (Jacobs, 2015a, 2016b; see also Burke, 2015) we are only beginning to understand the potential causes and effects of ludic reading. One line of theorizing trying to explain what motivates readers to pass time with written stories or poems highlights the role of immersion .…”

Behavioral Experiment and Event-related Potentials Experimental Study of the Psychological Mechanism of Art Aesthetic Processing

“…Therefore, when discussing the recognition reaction of the subjects, the recognition reaction time of the subjects when they make the unrecognizable judgment will be converted to 5000ms. Meanwhile, the reaction time when the subjects make the unrecognizable judgment is reserved, which is used to study the processing time of the subjects when they make the unrecognizable judgment (Burke, 2015). Matched with the beauty, clarity and content availability of art works, altogether 18 experimental conditions are constituted.…”