Engaging Neuroscience to Explore the Interpretive Claims of Cognitive Literary Studies: A Call for Innovative Interdisciplinary Research

Cognitive studies have played an important role in diversifying and revitalizing the field of literary studies over the past twenty-five years, yet not without controversy. There remains a scholarly tension between advocates of philosophically oriented cognitive psychology and those seeking to engage neuroscientific methodologies to understand brain function and operations of the mind in relation to literary analysis. The purpose of this paper is to discuss bringing these two areas together by proposing specific ways of engaging neuroscientific strategies and technologies to analyze the interpretive claims of cognitive literary studies. The paper concludes with a call to develop interdisciplinary research projects.