The Passionate Muse: Exploring Emotion in Stories - Hardcover

Oatley, Keith

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199767637 ISBN 13: 9780199767632

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2012

Synopsis

The emotions a character feels--Hamlet's vengefulness when he realizes his uncle has killed his father, Anna Karenina's despair when she feels she can longer sustain her life, Marcel's joy when he tastes a piece of madeleine cake--are vital aspects of the experience of fiction. As Keith Oatley points out, it's not just the emotions of literary characters such as these in which we are interested. If we didn't ourselves experience emotions, we wouldn't go to the play, or watch the film, or read the book. In The Passionate Muse, Oatley, who is both a prize-winning novelist and a distinguished research psychologist, offers a hybrid book that alternates sections of an original short story, "One Another," with chapters that illuminate the psychology of emotion and fiction. Oatley not only provides insight into how people engage in stories, he also illuminates the value of emotion and the importance of stories for our psychological well-being. Indeed, he offers evidence that the more fiction we read, the better is our understandings of others. Through fiction, we come to know more about the emotions of others and ourselves.

About this title

About the Author

Keith Oatley is Professor Emeritus of Cognitive Psychology at the University of Toronto. He is the author of three novels and six books of psychology, and co-author of the textbook Understanding Emotions.

Review

"This book will appeal to anyone curious about how and why literature (and art in general) can have a significant therapeutic impact." --Library Journal

"The story is, then, a creative piece that serves as the subject for the study of character and plot development as well as an illustration of emotion in a narrative. It is impossible to read the story without feeling the anxiety, fear, disappointment, and relief of the protagonist's experience... A second accomplishment of the book is that it enables the reader to experience emotion in response to specific stimuli, not simply read about it. The reader gains a clear identification with the protagonist and experiences the anxiety, anticipation, and uncertainty that are in the story." -- David S. Hargrove, PsycCRITIQUES

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0199767637
• ISBN 13: 9780199767632
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 226