Reading by proxy: A visit to the literary archive
If literature is an archive of cognitive constellations, then readers can revisit these experiences from different periods and ages. How familiar, however, does a reader have to be with a particular historical context in order to browse the literary archive freely? This article will develop a cognit...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2019-01-01
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| Series: | Cogent Arts & Humanities |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2019.1687271 |
| _version_ | 1829522465919860736 |
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| author | Karin Kukkonen |
| author_facet | Karin Kukkonen |
| author_sort | Karin Kukkonen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | If literature is an archive of cognitive constellations, then readers can revisit these experiences from different periods and ages. How familiar, however, does a reader have to be with a particular historical context in order to browse the literary archive freely? This article will develop a cognitive perspective on intertextual references, arguing that texts often provide the necessary context knowledge themselves. Readers can read “by proxy”, so to speak. Narrators might explain the intertextual reference or enact its salient features in pastiches. Characters might learn about the texts mentioned and discuss their implications in conversation with other characters. A range of strategies for reading by proxy will be introduced on the example of Christoph Martin Wieland’s novel Don Sylvio von Rosalva. Even though few readers today will be familiar with the chivalric romance, the French fairy tale and the picaresque, all genres on which Wieland draws, they can easily follow the structure of references in the novel through reading by proxy. In this sense, literary texts carry their own archive and remain accessible across periods. Reading by proxy is then linked to precision expectations in predictive processing. Its strategies do not provide an exact prediction of what is likely to happen next but rather guide readers’ attention and enable them to trace larger configurations. Wieland’s use of reading by proxy, I shall argue, also marks a moment in the development of the German novel and, thereby, tracing these strategies can contribute to literary history. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T15:33:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8fc63b0b205845088a4641d6440efcad |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2331-1983 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T15:33:14Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cogent Arts & Humanities |
| spelling | doaj.art-8fc63b0b205845088a4641d6440efcad2022-12-21T22:26:17ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Arts & Humanities2331-19832019-01-016110.1080/23311983.2019.16872711687271Reading by proxy: A visit to the literary archiveKarin Kukkonen0University of OsloIf literature is an archive of cognitive constellations, then readers can revisit these experiences from different periods and ages. How familiar, however, does a reader have to be with a particular historical context in order to browse the literary archive freely? This article will develop a cognitive perspective on intertextual references, arguing that texts often provide the necessary context knowledge themselves. Readers can read “by proxy”, so to speak. Narrators might explain the intertextual reference or enact its salient features in pastiches. Characters might learn about the texts mentioned and discuss their implications in conversation with other characters. A range of strategies for reading by proxy will be introduced on the example of Christoph Martin Wieland’s novel Don Sylvio von Rosalva. Even though few readers today will be familiar with the chivalric romance, the French fairy tale and the picaresque, all genres on which Wieland draws, they can easily follow the structure of references in the novel through reading by proxy. In this sense, literary texts carry their own archive and remain accessible across periods. Reading by proxy is then linked to precision expectations in predictive processing. Its strategies do not provide an exact prediction of what is likely to happen next but rather guide readers’ attention and enable them to trace larger configurations. Wieland’s use of reading by proxy, I shall argue, also marks a moment in the development of the German novel and, thereby, tracing these strategies can contribute to literary history.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2019.1687271literary historypredictive processingintertextualityreading by proxywieland |
| spellingShingle | Karin Kukkonen Reading by proxy: A visit to the literary archive Cogent Arts & Humanities literary history predictive processing intertextuality reading by proxy wieland |
| title | Reading by proxy: A visit to the literary archive |
| title_full | Reading by proxy: A visit to the literary archive |
| title_fullStr | Reading by proxy: A visit to the literary archive |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reading by proxy: A visit to the literary archive |
| title_short | Reading by proxy: A visit to the literary archive |
| title_sort | reading by proxy a visit to the literary archive |
| topic | literary history predictive processing intertextuality reading by proxy wieland |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2019.1687271 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT karinkukkonen readingbyproxyavisittotheliteraryarchive |