Marco Caracciolo Books

Recent developments in cognitive narrative theory have called attention to readers' active participation in making sense of narrative. However, while most psychologically inspired models address interpreters' subpersonal (i. e., unconscious) responses, the experiential level of their engagement with narrative remains relatively undertheorized. Building on theories of experience and embodiment within today's „second-generation“ cognitive science, and opening a dialogue with so-called „enactivist“ philosophy, this book sets out to explore how narrative experiences arise from the interaction between textual cues and readers' past experiences. Caracciolo's study offers a phenomenologically inspired account of narrative, spanning a wide gamut of responses such as the embodied dynamic of imagining a fictional world, empathetic perspective-taking in relating to characters, and „higher-order“ evaluations and interpretations. Only by placing a premium on how such modes of engagement are intertwined in experience, Caracciolo argues, can we do justice to narrative's psychological and existential impact on our lives. These insights are illustrated through close readings of literary texts ranging from Émile Zola's Germinal to José Saramago's Blindness.

The book explores how narrative form can challenge the hierarchical model of human societies' interactions with nature, a key factor in the climate crisis. Inspired by Timothy Morton's "mesh" concept, it examines how various literary genres, including novels and short stories, utilize formal devices to reflect the interconnectedness of human and nonhuman entities. Through this analysis, it highlights the potential of storytelling to reshape our understanding of environmental relationships and foster a more inclusive perspective on climate issues.

Through a deep and personal dialogue, the book explores the contrasts between literary and scientific experiences. It raises critical questions about the shareability of experiences and the influence of language and metaphor on our understanding. Marco Caracciolo and Russell Hurlburt engage in a rigorous examination of their differing approaches, challenging each other's perspectives. By applying Hurlburt's experience sampling methods to Caracciolo's insights, they uncover new dimensions of understanding both personal and literary experiences, pushing the boundaries of their initial assumptions.

Exploring the concept of reading as a bodily experience, the authors engage with various disciplines such as neuroscience and cognitive psychology to redefine how we understand literary narratives. By analyzing a diverse range of texts from antiquity to contemporary works, they develop a framework for embodied narratology that challenges traditional theories concerning authorship, narrative structure, and character development. This approach opens avenues for discussions on topics like literary history, AI, posthumanism, and gender studies, enriching the field of literary analysis.

Exploring the intersection of bodily experience and cosmic realities, this work delves into how narrative techniques in twentieth-century fiction can transform our understanding of embodiment. It examines the ways authors challenge conventional perceptions, encouraging readers to view their physical existence through a radical, expanded lens. This book offers insights into the profound connections between human experience and the universe, highlighting the innovative storytelling methods that facilitate this exploration.

How do physical things differ from non-things—human subjects, animals, abstract ideas, or processes? Those questions, which are as old as philosophy itself, have inspired contemporary debates in ecocriticism, thing theory, and in the interdisciplinary field of new materialism. This book argues that contemporary narrative is well placed to map out and work through the spectrum of the material and the philosophical questions that underlie it. This is because narrative does not resolve the tensions at the heart of conceptions of materiality but rather reframes them, envisioning their implications and exploring their relevance to concrete contexts of human interaction. This monograph is structured around a number of novels, experimental fiction, films, and video games that imagine the inherent agency of things but also interrogate the affective and ethical significance of materiality in human terms. Its aim is to demonstrate the power of formal narrative analysis to foster conceptually and ethically sophisticated ways of thinking about thingness in times of ecological crisis—that is, times in which „stuff“ can no longer be taken for granted.