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Fully crediting the “brain-body-narrative nexus” (Wojciehowski and Gallese 2022: 62) that shapes readers’ reception, perception, processing, and response patterns, this article examines (1) how Byatt’s use of sensory-motor cues agitates readers’ affective schemata, (2) how this affective stimulation can affect the reading experience, and (3) how Byatt thereby also influences readers’ attitudes toward the thematic content of the story, nudging us to pay attention to our reactions and responses. She thus encourages us to scrutinize our own interactive processes of perception and meaning-making, thereby both complementing and extending the preoccupation of the wonder tale genre with the development of individuals in their chosen social environments, current research in 4E cognition, and (existentialist) notions of 'authentic becoming.'

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This page is a summary of: From Affective Schemata to Authentic Becoming: How Reading about Bodies Can Shape Our Mental Landscape and Philosophical Outlook; Postcritique and A. S. Byatt's "A Stone Woman", Marvels & Tales, January 2023, Project Muse,
DOI: 10.1353/mat.2023.a923684.
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