On the origin of stories : evolution, cognition, and fiction / Brian Boyd.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Boyd, Brian, 1952-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fiction--History and criticism--Theory, etc.

Fiction.

Fiction--Authorship.

Physical Description:

1 recurso en línea (555 páginas)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009.

Summary:

A century and a half after the publication of Origin of Species, evolutionary thinking has expanded beyond the field of biology to include virtually all human-related subjects—anthropology, archeology, psychology, economics, religion, morality, politics, culture, and art. Now a distinguished scholar offers the first comprehensive account of the evolutionary origins of art and storytelling. Brian Boyd explains why we tell stories, how our minds are shaped to understand them, and what difference an evolutionary understanding of human nature makes to stories we love. Art is a specifically human adaptation, Boyd argues. It offers tangible advantages for human survival, and it derives from play, itself an adaptation widespread among more intelligent animals. More particularly, our fondness for storytelling has sharpened social cognition, encouraged cooperation, and fostered creativity. After considering art as adaptation, Boyd examines Homer’s Odyssey and Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hears a Who! demonstrating how an evolutionary lens can offer new understanding and appreciation of specific works. What triggers our emotional engagement with these works? What patterns facilitate our responses? The need to hold an audience’s attention, Boyd underscores, is the fundamental problem facing all storytellers. Enduring artists arrive at solutions that appeal to cognitive universals: an insight out of step with contemporary criticism, which obscures both the individual and universal. Published for the bicentenary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of Origin of Species, Boyd’s study embraces a Darwinian view of human nature and art, and offers a credo for a new humanism.

Contents:

Introduction: animal, human, art, story

Book 1: Evolution, art, and fiction

Part 1: Evolution and nature

Evolution and human nature?

Evolution, adaptation, and adapted minds

The evolution of intelligence

The evolution of cooperation

Part 2: Evolution and art

Art as adaptation?

Art as cognitive play

Art and attention

From tradition to innovation

Part 3: Evolution and fiction

Art, narrative, fiction

Understanding and recalling events

Narrative: representing events

Fiction: inventing events

Fiction as adaptation

Book II: From Zeus to Seuss: origins of stories

Part 4: Phylogeny: the Odyssey

Earning attention (1): natural patterns: character and plot

Earning attention (s): open-ended patterns: ironies of structure

The evolution of intelligence (1): in the here and now

The evolution of intelligence (2): beyond the here and now

The evolution of cooperation (1): expanding the circle

The evolution of cooperation (2): punishment

Part 5: Ontogeny: Horton hears a who!

Levels of explanation: universal, local, and individual

Levels of explanation: individuality again

Levels of explanation: particular

Meanings

Conclusion: retrospect and prospects: evolution, literature, criticism.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 457-507) and index.

ISBN:

9780674053595

0674053591

OCLC:

648759744