The birth of expectation
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The birth of expectation
（The cognitive revolution in Western culture, v. 1）
Broadview Press, [1995], c1989
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 308-362) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Why are the plots of Shakespeare and his contemporaries so different from those of his predecessors? This book argues that the answer is in part that certain forms of expectation were largely undeveloped in the medieval period. More broadly, it suggests that many of the causal and temporal thought processes that are second nature to us operated very differently or had not been developed in the minds of most medieval people. And conversely, it suggests that other mental faculties (such as the ability to respond to some of the elemental appeal of poetry) may have become dulled by the post-renaissance rationalist emphasis in our culture.
In addition to drawing on a broad range of etymological and literary evidence (from the 10th century Gnomic verses to 16th-century drama) the book delves into medieval history, and draws many anthropological parallels. This is a significant study in the nature of narrative and an important investigation into the mental and cultural worlds of Shakespeare and his predecessors.
Table of Contents
Preface
Part I: The Issue of Cognitive Processes
Anthropological Perspectives
Historical Perspectives
Literary Perspectives
Part II: The Roots of Expectation
Expectation
The Dawn of the Artificial Day: Medieval Temporal Thought Processes
Thinking Across the Past
Thinking into the Future
Causation and Probability
Part III: Literary Expectations
Expectation and Literary Plots
The Ways of Thought of Medieval Literature
Shakespeare and the Revolution in Literary Plotting
Illusion: Expectation's Dramatic By-Product
Simon Forman's Expectations
Postscript: Zimbabwe, 1985
Notes and References
Index
by "Nielsen BookData"