Knowing Subjects

Barbara Simerka

Description

In Knowing Subjects, Barbara Simerka uses an emergent field of literary study-cognitive cultural studies-to delineate new ways of looking at early modern Spanish literature and to analyze cognition and social identity in Spain at the time. Simerka analyzes works by Cervantes and Gracían, as well as picaresque novels and comedias. Employing an interdisciplinary approach, she brings together several strands of cognitive theory and details the synergies among neurological, anthropological, and psychological discoveries that provide new insights into human cognition. Her analysis draws on Theory of Mind, the cognitive activity that enables humans to predict what others will do, feel, think, and believe. Theory of Mind looks at how primates, including humans, conceptualize the thoughts and rationales behind other people's actions and use those insights to negotiate social relationships. This capacity is a necessary precursor to a wide variety of human interactions-both positive and negative-from projecting and empathizing to lying and cheating. Simerka applies this theory to texts involving courtship or social advancement, activities in which deception is most prevalent-and productive. In the process, she uncovers new insights into the comedia (especially the courtship drama) and several other genres of literature (including the honor narrative, the picaresque novel, and the courtesy manual). She studies the construction of gendered identity and patriarchal norms of cognition-contrasting the perspectives of canonical male writers with those of recently recovered female authors such as María de Zayas and Ana Caro. She examines the construction of social class, intellect, and honesty, and in a chapter on Don Quixote, cultural norms for leisure reading at the time. She shows how early modern Spanish literary forms reveal the relationship between an urbanizing culture, unstable subject positions and hierarchies, and social anxieties about cognition and cultural transformation.
Preface

List of Abbreviations and Cognitive Terms

Chapter One: Introduction: Cognitive Cultural Studies

Chapter Two: Theory of Mind, Social Intelligence, and Urban Courtship Drama

Chapter Three: Social Intelligence and Foraging: Primates and Early Modern Pícaros

Chapter Four: Social Intelligence and Social Climbing: Pícaros and Cortesanos

Chapter Five: Contextualism, Skepticism, and Honor

Chapter Six: Contextualism and Performance in Lope’s Lo fingido verdadero

Chapter Seven: Cognition and Reading in Don Quixote

Conclusion

Works Cited

Index

Sujets

• Literary Criticism
• Spanish
• Portuguese
• European

Informations

• Publié par: Purdue University Press
• Date de parution: 15 avril 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781612492681
• Langue: English

Extrait

KNOWING SUBJECTS
Purdue Studies in Romance Literatures
Editorial Board
Patricia Hart, Series Editor
Thomas Broden
Elena Coda
Paul B. Dixon
Howard Mancing, Consulting Editor
Floyd Merrell, Consulting Editor
Susan Y. Clawson, Production Editor
igo S nchez Llama
Marcia Stephenson
Allen G. Wood
Associate Editors
French
Jeanette Beer
Paul Benhamou
Willard Bohn
Gerard J. Brault
Mary Ann Caws
Glyn P. Norton
Allan H. Pasco
Gerald Prince
Roseann Runte
Ursula Tidd
Italian
Fiora A. Bassanese
Peter Carravetta
Benjamin Lawton
Franco Masciandaro
Anthony Julian Tamburri
Luso-Brazilian
Fred M. Clark
Marta Peixoto
Ricardo da Silveira Lobo Sternberg
Spanish and Spanish American
Maryellen Bieder
Catherine Connor
Ivy A. Corfis
Frederick A. de Armas
Edward Friedman
Charles Ganelin
David T. Gies
Roberto Gonz lez Echevarr a
David K. Herzberger
Emily Hicks
Djelal Kadir
Amy Kaminsky
Lucille Kerr
Howard Mancing
Floyd Merrell
Alberto Moreiras
Randolph D. Pope
Francisco Ruiz Ram n
El bieta Sk odowska
Mario Vald s
Howard Young
volume 57
KNOWING SUBJECTS
Cognitive Cultural Studies and Early Modern Spanish Literature
Barbara Simerka
Purdue University Press West Lafayette, Indiana
Copyright 2013 by Purdue University. All rights reserved.
The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America Design by Anita Noble
Front cover image Copyright Lightspring, 2013. Used under license from Shutterstock.com .
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Simerka, Barbara, 1957-
Knowing subjects : cognitive cultural studies and early modern Spanish literature / by Barbara Simerka.
p. cm.-(Purdue studies in Romance literatures ; v. 57)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-55753-644-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)-ISBN 978-1-61249-267-4 (epdf)-ISBN 978-1-61249-268-1 (epub) 1. Spanish literature-Classical period, 1500-1700-History and criticism. 2. Cognitive learning theory. 3. Picaresque literature, Spanish-History and criticism. I. Title.
PQ6066.S525 2013
860.9-dc23
2012039055
Contents
Preface
List of Abbreviations and Cognitive Terms
Chapter One Introduction: Cognitive Cultural Studies
Theory of Mind and Social Intelligence
Machiavellian Intelligence
Overview
Chapter Two Theory of Mind, Social Intelligence, and Urban Courtship Drama
Wise Women in El conde Partinupl s
Cognitive enredos in Azevedo s El muerto disimulado
An Insightful Martyr: La margarita del Tajo
Machinations of a Female Don Juan: La traici n en la amistad
The Deceiver Deceived: La verdad sospechosa
Mirror Neurons in El desd n con el desd n
Chapter Three Social Intelligence and Foraging: Primates and Early Modern P caros
The P caro s Cognitive Epiphany
Machiavellian Intelligence, Foraging, and Famine
Charity, Poor Laws, and Social Intelligence
Beyond Beef: Social Intelligence and Swindling
Chapter Four Social Intelligence and Social Climbing: P caros and Cortesanos
Graci n, Goffman, and Self-Fashioning
Impression Management among P caros
Social Intelligence and Gender Relations
ToM and Consequences
(Un)reliable Picaresque Narrators
Chapter Five Contextualism, Skepticism, and Honor
Contextualism and Early Modern Skepticism
Skepticism and Female Honor
Gutierre s Skeptical Dilemma: El m dico de su honra
Cognition and Curiosity in Cervantes
Cognitive Malpractice and Wife Murder in Zayas s Novellas
Satisfied Skepticism: Lope s El animal de Hungr a
Too Good to Be True: Zayas Deconstructs Happy Endings
Chapter Six Contextualism and Performance in Lope s Lo fingido verdadero
Moriscos and the Performance of Christian Identity
Metatheater and Skepticism
The Real Genesius: Role Playing and Reality
An Actor Performs Authentic Conversion
Chapter Seven Cognition and Reading in Don Quixote
The Paradox of Fiction
Overactive Reading: Immersion and Participatory Response
ToM and Machiavellian Intelligence in Don Quixote
Source Monitoring and Metacognition
Reading and the Visual Imagination: Radiant Ignition
Conclusion The Practice of Cognitive Cultural Studies
Works Cited
Index
Preface
The seeds for this book were planted at the University of Michigan in the late 1970s. I have a phobia about Bunsen burners and microscopes, so a very understanding advisor allowed me to fulfill my natural science requirement by taking four nonlaboratory classes instead of two lab courses. I chose courses in biological approaches to anthropology and psychology; that was the beginning of a lifelong fascination with the fields of learning theory and primate behavior. When I discovered that current approaches to cognitive studies incorporate both, I was immediately ready to sign on!
As I worked to catch up with twenty years of advances in these fields, Howard Mancing was a constant source of information and encouragement. He shared an early version of his magnum opus on cognitive theory, Voices in Everything, which helped me greatly in developing my focus. I cannot thank him enough. Professor Reid Strieby introduced me to the work of Erving Goffman and has provided many hours of stimulating discussion on psychology and literature. Several people read drafts of individual chapters and provided invaluable feedback; I am grateful to Ellen Spolsky, Bruce Burningham, Cory Reed, and Nieves Romero-Diaz. Christopher Weimer helped me to better frame my explications of cognitive theory for a literary audience. Angela Curran, Amy Williamsen, Catherine Connor, and Lisa Vollendorf have also been valued supporters and sounding boards. Julio Ramirez, a neuro-psychologist, provided important bibliographical suggestions and corrections to my theoretical introduction. I have benefitted from the discussions following numerous conference panels; Sidney Donnell and Emile Bergmann offered especially useful observations at the GEMELA conference at Mt. Holyoke. Mariana Erickson was a dedicated and meticulous research assistant.
In Chapter 6 , a portion of the material, which has now been substantially revised, appeared earlier as Metatheater and Skepticism in Early Modern Representations of the Saint Genesius Legend, Comparative Literature Studies 4.1 (2005): 50-73. Copyright 2008 by the Pennsylvania State UP. Rpt. by permission of the Pennsylvania State University Press.
PSC-CUNY, the union that represents Queens College, recently negotiated a contract that supports full-year sabbaticals. I could not have undertaken such a complex project without the extended release time; additional summer research grants from PSC were also very beneficial. I am grateful to Dean Tamara Evans and my department for approving the sabbatical and for respecting a true reprieve from college responsibilities. Susan Y. Clawson at Purdue Studies in Romance Literatures provided substantial support during the editing process, for which I am truly appreciative.
I thank my parents, Charles and Dorothy Simerka, and my late father-in-law, Ken Smith, for their love and support. My husband, Steve, has provided treasured technical advice, over twenty years of encouragement, and the occasional gourmet meal to keep me going. During the five years that I have been working on this project, my daughter Rachel has been passing through her teenage years with spirit and grace, allowing me to devote sustained attention to scholarship.
List of Abbreviations and Cognitive Terms
AI: Artificial Intelligence
A model of the human mind that arose in the late 1950s that views the mind as mechanistic and likens it to a computer devoted to information processing.
Contextualism
The contextualist model describes cognition as simultaneous, parallel, networked, and interactive nonconscious processes. It is an updated version of the modularity model, based on the most recent advances in brain imaging technologies.
Ecological Cognition
The ecological model proposes an interactive model of evolved brain, individual psyche, and sociocultural environment. This model is embodied but antideterministic, and describes the hardwired and experiential aspects of cognitive functioning as interdependent and mutually sustaining.
Immersion
Cognitive models of reading propose immersion as a common but stigmatized form of excess engagement with fictional characters and story worlds, usually in response to leisure or genre fiction. Immersive reading practice is escapist; the reader does not maintain normative cognitive boundaries between reality and fiction.
MI: Machiavellian Intelligence
A specific form of mind reading, when advanced minds seek to understand mental processes, emotions, or beliefs in order to better deceive or manipulate others for material and/or social advantage.
MR: Mind Reading
The study of how humans living in complex social systems conceptualize the thoughts and rationales behind other people s actions and use those insights to negotiate social relationships. MR enables us to interpret and predict actions, feelings, and motivations. Also known as Theory of Mind (ToM). MR has been proposed as the cognitive activity unique to advance