What is it about?
Hamlet is very interested in figuring out how to know what he thinks he knows. This is evident in the plot but it's also evident in his conception of theatre as a mirror held up to nature. This book offers a clear explanation of recent advances in cognitive science--particularly the cognitive linguistic theory of conceptual blending theory--and makes a strong case for the usefulness of a close reading informed by the sciences. It also explores the history of the mirror, how the mirror and the idea of the mirror are staged in performances of the play, and how this cognitive reading fits into critical reception of this important play.
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Why is it important?
We need to be smarter about the language we use and about how language works on an audience. This book illuminates ways to rethink what we thought we knew. There have been many works integrating science into the arts and humanities; this one is clear, well-researched, and offers readers a tool, not a novelty.
Perspectives
Shakespearean Neuroplay provides a methodology for applying cognitive science to the study of drama and performance. With Shakespeare's Hamlet as a test subject and the cognitive linguistic theory of conceptual blending as a tool, Cook unravels the 'mirror held up to nature' at the center of Shakespeare's play. Hamlet's mirror becomes a conceptual structure that invisibly scaffolds our understanding of the play. A lucid explanation of both contemporary science and Hamlet, Shakespearean Neuroplay unveils Shakespeare's textual theatrics and sheds light on blind spots in theatre and performance theory.
Amy Cook
Stony Brook University
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This page is a summary of: Shakespearean Neuroplay, January 2010, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1057/9780230113053.
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