A Poetics of Minds and Madness Fiction, Cognition and Interpretation

This monograph aims to explore the mind-narrative nexus by conducting a cognitive narratological study on the mad minds in fictional narratives. Set on the interface of narrative and cognitive science (cognitive linguistics, cognitive psychology and cognitive neuropsychology), it adopts an indirect empirical approach to the fictional representation of madness. The American writer Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is chosen as the primary text of investigation, whereas due consideration is also given to other madness narratives when necessary. This book not only demonstrates the value of reading and rereading literary classics in the modern era, but also sheds light on the studies of cognitive narratology, cognitive poetics, madness narratives and literature in general.

Foreword.- Preface.- Acknowledgements.- Introduction.- Chapter 1: Narrative Structures and Fictional Mad Minds.- Chapter 2: Intramental Madness.- Chapter 3: Intermental Madness.- Chapter 4: Toward a Social Cognitive Understanding of Minds and Madness   .- Chapter 5: What Do Madness Narratives Offer to Cognitive Science?