The theme of this presentation is the deep continuity between the phenomenologically real experience of perceptual causality and the spontaneously natural way of human beings of communicating through stories. The main question that motivates this research is “why do we have stories?” Another question that Popova will be asking is “what does a narrative possess that makes it a better cognitive tool for organizing experience than, for example, a description, an explanation, or an argument?” In her theorizing she relies on psychological research by A. Michotte who a long time ago challenged a specific claim of positivistic psychology that causality cannot be perceived, and went on to show that causality is a phenomenon in its own right. Popova extends some of Michotte’s findings to the study of how narrative causality is construed in texts. If the unity (or cohesion) of a narrative represents its defining feature (Currie), then it is imperative to explore the extent to which this unity is based on the perception or, perhaps, the misperception of causality. She will argue that when examined on the level of short narratives (such as those provided by the three-line novels of Felix Feneon, or other examples of very short fiction) causality can be easily established and also understood in relation to a main narrative goal, whose main function is narrative cohesion. This research project situates itself within the paradigm of the embodied/enactive view of cognitive science and therefore maintains that perception is the source, if not the limit, of all human knowledge. Additionally, Popova will be arguing against a currently popular understanding of narrative in terms of a ‘blend’. Narrative is but one form of conceptual organization for human minds, the other being categorical organization. She will briefly touch on their distinction and offer some answers to the question whether categorical organization is possible in narrative discourse. Finally, some comments will be offered with respect to categorical organization and its role in establishing causality in two tales by Henry James.
Yanna Popova, assistant professor in the Department of Cognitive Science, Case Western Reserve University (D.Phil. in Language and Literature, University of Oxford, UK) has previously taught at the Universities of Oxford and Birmingham in the UK. Her education has been in linguistics, literature and philosophy and her main areas of research fall within the enactive view of human cognition, particularly in relation to narrative and theater. It is her strong belief that cognitive science has much to learn from how art structures mental activity by incorporating phenomenological processes of intentionality, and forms of narrative and non-narrative representation. Thus there is much common purpose, as well as potential common ground, between art, science, and philosophy.
Popova’s publications reflect her long-standing interest in the relationship between language and perception, including verbal synaesthesia. Other interests comprise verbal and pictorial metaphor; narrative as a fundamental human perceptual and cognitive ability; and theatre and dramatic art as an aspect of human embodiment. “My main objective in research and teaching is the exploration of how a person’s subjective, felt experiences of her body in action serve as part of the primary grounding for human cognition, including language and art. Cognition is what take place when the body engages the physical and the cultural world and should be studied accordingly.”
