Telling stories : literature and evolution = Geschichten erzählen : literatur und evolution / edited by/herausgegeben von Carsten Gansel, Dirk Vanderbeke.

Includes bibliographical references.

Text in English and German.

Evolution and Literature. Preface; Evolution und Literatur. Vorbemerkungen; I. Theoretical Approaches / Theoretische Ansätze; How Can Evolutionary Biology Enrich the Study of Literature?; Is Storytelling a Biological Adaptation? Preliminary Thoughts on How to Pose that Question; The Adaptive Function of the Arts. Alternative Evolutionary Hypotheses; Evolution and Literary Response; Storytelling from the Perspective of Evolutionary Theory; The Unlovely Little Sister. Storytelling as an Exaptive Phenomenon; Evolution des Kognitiven. Nervenzellen, Sprache und kulturelle Adaptationen

The essays collected in this volume highlight the narrative as a phenomenon inherent in human nature. They examine the likely purpose of artistic and literary expression and its contribution to survival in an early human environment. They also consider the developing interest in shaping experience through the narrative, and investigate the consequent significance of traits acquired throughout the ages for the production and reception of texts. In doing so, the book provides a highly diverse overview of the latest research and debates in this innovative field of research.

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