On Emotion: Exchanges Between Neurosciences and Literary Studies

Abstract

Taking into consideration an intellectual atmosphere attentive to the interchanges between embodied cognition and literature, the objective of this paper is to introduce definitions, mechanisms, and functionalities of bodily reactions to human existence and the production of knowledge based mainly on the investigations of the Portuguese neuroscientist Antonio Damasio. He has published several books and is one of the most influential researchers on the reciprocity among body, brain, mind, and situated experiences. By analyzing his investigations, it becomes possible to develop theoretical and analytical repertoires capable of contemplating emotion resulting from contact with literary fictions as relevant to their understanding.