Last update:
9 February 2010
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Psyche and the Literary MusesThe contribution of literary content to scientific psychology
2009. xiii, 209 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Hardbound
– In stock
978 90 272 3339 4 / EUR 99.00 / USD 149.00
e-Book
– Available from e-book platforms
Psyche and the Literary Muses focuses on the psychology of literature from an empirical point of view, rather than the more typical psychoanalytic position, and concentrates on literary content rather than readers or writers. The book centers on the author’s quantitative studies of brief literary and quasi-literary forms, ranging from titles of short stories and names of literary characters to clichés and quotations from literary sources, in demonstrating their contribution to the topics of learning, perception, thinking, emotions, creativity, and especially person perception and aging. More broadly, Psyche bears on literary studies, art, and psychology in general, as well as interdisciplinarity. This book deepens the understanding and appreciation of literature for scholars, academics and the general reader.
Table of contents
“This book opens up a welcome prospect: alongside the existing psychology of how language works, Martin Lindauer proposes a thought-provoking new psychology of what language expresses.”
Keith Oatley, University of Toronto
“If you love literature and wonder why, Lindauer shows you how words on a page carry a tone, tug at your feelings, and prompt your moods.”
“Psyche and the Literary Muses is even better than just an interdisciplinary perspective on literature, though it is interdisciplinary and as such offers something for everyone. Any fan of good literature will enjoy this volume, as will the clinician, the rigorous experimental psychologist, and everyone in between. With chapters on quotations, aging, clichés, poetry, and autobiographies, and Lindauer's optimally objective perspective, this is the best book yet on the psychology of literature.”
“This is a book that could potentially become on the cutting edge of literary study. I have been impressed, over the years, with Prof. Lindauer's attempts to integrate the study of imaginative literature and contemporary psychology. As the editor of the literary journal, Style, and myself both an educational psychologist (U of Wisconsin-Madison, 2000) and a literary scholar (U of Illinois, UC, 1971), I am knowledgeable about developments in both fields. Prof Lindauer's book looks like a solid contribution to the developing paradigm of literary study and empirical psychology.”
“While there is growing interest in the psychology of beauty and aesthetics applied to visual art forms, literature is often given the short end of the stick. Psych and the Literary Muses is an example of beautiful writing in itself, with research results sprinkled about. How can the written word stir our souls, awaken our senses, and stimulate our thoughts? What properties of the text can have such an affect on the reader? By looking at the Psychology of literature from the vantage point of the text, Lindauer offers fresh and deep insight into the experience of reading, balancing work being done by psychology of creative writing researchers on the psychological quirks of the writer. Lindauer's broad knowledge base of literature shines through in his writing and only adds to the respectability of his ideas. By connecting the text to such diverse topics as person perception, creativity, learning, and even aging, Lindauer opens up avenues for research that scholars across a variety of fields may not have even known existed. At the same time, he creates bridges across those avenues in a way that scholars, readers, writers, and almost anyone with a healthy (or even unhealthy) dose of interest in the psychology of literature can relate and appreciate.”
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Linguistics