Wandering through Endless Nothingness: Reading Fictional Mind in David Markson’s Wittgenstein’s Mistress

AbstractThe present article attempts to investigate David Markson’s Wittgenstein’s Mistress through the lens of cognitive narratology. To understand “the whole mind” of Kate, the protagonist of the novel, this study endeavors to explore her intermental thoughts (interpersonal relationships), intrame...

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Main Authors: Maryam Rabti, Alireza Farahbakhsh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2023-12-01
Series:Cogent Arts & Humanities
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2023.2249283
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author Maryam Rabti
Alireza Farahbakhsh
author_facet Maryam Rabti
Alireza Farahbakhsh
author_sort Maryam Rabti
collection DOAJ
description AbstractThe present article attempts to investigate David Markson’s Wittgenstein’s Mistress through the lens of cognitive narratology. To understand “the whole mind” of Kate, the protagonist of the novel, this study endeavors to explore her intermental thoughts (interpersonal relationships), intramental thoughts (inner speech), and dispositions. The central questions of the present study are: How does Kate, the major female character of Wittgenstein’s Mistress reconstruct the minds of others in her own thought, and how does her mental state is manifested in her narration of episodic traumatic memories and qualia? And how does her internal world emerge from a combination of collective minds as far as Alan Palmer’s conception of “intermental thought” is concerned? Alan Palmer’s humanizing approach to postclassical narratology, which provides the theoretical backbone of the present research, underscores the mental interactions of fictional characters and explores actions, dispositions, and interpersonal relationships. The article concludes that Kate’s internal world is constructed out of a combination of collective minds and her “intermental thoughts.”
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spelling doaj.art-8e0ddc1320f745c8985ac648832bbbfe2023-12-03T02:14:21ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Arts & Humanities2331-19832023-12-0110110.1080/23311983.2023.2249283Wandering through Endless Nothingness: Reading Fictional Mind in David Markson’s Wittgenstein’s MistressMaryam Rabti0Alireza Farahbakhsh1Faculty of Humanities, Department of English Langauge and Literature, University of Guilan, Rasht, IranFaculty of Humanities, Department of English Langauge and Literature, University of Guilan, Rasht, IranAbstractThe present article attempts to investigate David Markson’s Wittgenstein’s Mistress through the lens of cognitive narratology. To understand “the whole mind” of Kate, the protagonist of the novel, this study endeavors to explore her intermental thoughts (interpersonal relationships), intramental thoughts (inner speech), and dispositions. The central questions of the present study are: How does Kate, the major female character of Wittgenstein’s Mistress reconstruct the minds of others in her own thought, and how does her mental state is manifested in her narration of episodic traumatic memories and qualia? And how does her internal world emerge from a combination of collective minds as far as Alan Palmer’s conception of “intermental thought” is concerned? Alan Palmer’s humanizing approach to postclassical narratology, which provides the theoretical backbone of the present research, underscores the mental interactions of fictional characters and explores actions, dispositions, and interpersonal relationships. The article concludes that Kate’s internal world is constructed out of a combination of collective minds and her “intermental thoughts.”https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2023.2249283social mindmind in actionintermental thoughtsintramental thoughtsWittgenstein’s MistressAlan Palmer
spellingShingle Maryam Rabti
Alireza Farahbakhsh
Wandering through Endless Nothingness: Reading Fictional Mind in David Markson’s Wittgenstein’s Mistress
Cogent Arts & Humanities
social mind
mind in action
intermental thoughts
intramental thoughts
Wittgenstein’s Mistress
Alan Palmer
title Wandering through Endless Nothingness: Reading Fictional Mind in David Markson’s Wittgenstein’s Mistress
title_full Wandering through Endless Nothingness: Reading Fictional Mind in David Markson’s Wittgenstein’s Mistress
title_fullStr Wandering through Endless Nothingness: Reading Fictional Mind in David Markson’s Wittgenstein’s Mistress
title_full_unstemmed Wandering through Endless Nothingness: Reading Fictional Mind in David Markson’s Wittgenstein’s Mistress
title_short Wandering through Endless Nothingness: Reading Fictional Mind in David Markson’s Wittgenstein’s Mistress
title_sort wandering through endless nothingness reading fictional mind in david markson s wittgenstein s mistress
topic social mind
mind in action
intermental thoughts
intramental thoughts
Wittgenstein’s Mistress
Alan Palmer
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2023.2249283
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