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At the heart of Babuts' book, though, is a brief for bringing literary discussions of memory into the interdisciplinary mix of research in neuroscience, philosophy, evolutionary biology and the social sciences. The most neglected discipline in cognitive circles is literature and literary criticism, he argues. In short, Where's the Proust? --Peter J. Leithart, First Things

-At the heart of Babuts' book, though, is a brief for bringing literary discussions of memory into the interdisciplinary mix of research in neuroscience, philosophy, evolutionary biology and the social sciences. -The most neglected discipline in cognitive circles is literature and literary criticism,- he argues. In short, Where's the Proust? --Peter J. Leithart, First Things -In this slim but convincing volume, Babuts (emer., French, Syracuse Univ.) postulates that memory drives meaning making in the chain of metaphor-aided imagination. He divides the discussion into nine cogent, accessible chapters that progress from theory to literary examples ranging from Homer to Baudelaire, Mallarme, and Proust. Memory, according to Babuts, does not construct or reconstruct meaning; it creates meaning through metaphors that function as a crucial mnemonic device to integrate language and vision in a faithful facsimile of the world transfigured. Thus memory is at the core of a self that actively seeks to create meaning through the metaphoric universe of the mind . Combining incoming stimuli from the outside, metaphor transfigures data to be in harmony with the beliefs and values that dominate the inner universe. In addition to interpreting stimuli, memory assigns value, positive or negative, in accordance with the individual's beliefs . This dynamic interaction reveals a new understanding of reality. This new meaning is subjective, and that subjectivity extends to scientific discoveries, which are by nature the product of an interaction between outside stimuli and rational analysis . Building a solid case for a cognitive theory of literature, Babuts plunges into the philosophical debate on truth, existence, and meaning. Though not easy, the volume is a worthy read.- --K. Liu, CUNY ""At the heart of Babuts' book, though, is a brief for bringing literary discussions of memory into the interdisciplinary mix of research in neuroscience, philosophy, evolutionary biology and the social sciences. ""The most neglected discipline in cognitive circles is literature and literary criticism,"" he argues. In short, Where's the Proust? --Peter J. Leithart, First Things ""In this slim but convincing volume, Babuts (emer., French, Syracuse Univ.) postulates that memory drives meaning making in the chain of metaphor-aided imagination. He divides the discussion into nine cogent, accessible chapters that progress from theory to literary examples ranging from Homer to Baudelaire, Mallarme, and Proust. Memory, according to Babuts, does not construct or reconstruct meaning; it creates meaning through metaphors that function as a crucial mnemonic device to integrate language and vision in a faithful facsimile of the world transfigured. Thus memory is at the core of a self that actively seeks to create meaning through the metaphoric universe of the mind . Combining incoming stimuli from the outside, metaphor transfigures data to be in harmony with the beliefs and values that dominate the inner universe. In addition to interpreting stimuli, memory assigns value, positive or negative, in accordance with the individual's beliefs . This dynamic interaction reveals a new understanding of reality. This new meaning is subjective, and that subjectivity extends to scientific discoveries, which are by nature the product of an interaction between outside stimuli and rational analysis . Building a solid case for a cognitive theory of literature, Babuts plunges into the philosophical debate on truth, existence, and meaning. Though not easy, the volume is a worthy read."" --K. Liu, CUNY ""In this slim but convincing volume, Babuts (emer., French, Syracuse Univ.) postulates that memory drives meaning making in the chain of metaphor-aided imagination. He divides the discussion into nine cogent, accessible chapters that progress from theory to literary examples ranging from Homer to Baudelaire, Mallarme, and Proust. Memory, according to Babuts, does not construct or reconstruct meaning; it creates meaning through metaphors that function as a crucial mnemonic device to integrate language and vision in a faithful facsimile of the world transfigured. Thus memory is at the core of a self that actively seeks to create meaning through the metaphoric universe of the mind . Combining incoming stimuli from the outside, metaphor transfigures data to be in harmony with the beliefs and values that dominate the inner universe. In addition to interpreting stimuli, memory assigns value, positive or negative, in accordance with the individual's beliefs . This dynamic interaction reveals a new understanding of reality. This new meaning is subjective, and that subjectivity extends to scientific discoveries, which are by nature the product of an interaction between outside stimuli and rational analysis . Building a solid case for a cognitive theory of literature, Babuts plunges into the philosophical debate on truth, existence, and meaning. Though not easy, the volume is a worthy read."" --K. Liu, CUNY ""At the heart of Babuts' book, though, is a brief for bringing literary discussions of memory into the interdisciplinary mix of research in neuroscience, philosophy, evolutionary biology and the social sciences. ""The most neglected discipline in cognitive circles is literature and literary criticism,"" he argues. In short, Where's the Proust? --Peter J. Leithart, First Things

In this slim but convincing volume, Babuts (emer., French, Syracuse Univ.) postulates that memory drives meaning making in the chain of metaphor-aided imagination. He divides the discussion into nine cogent, accessible chapters that progress from theory to literary examples ranging from Homer to Baudelaire, Mallarme, and Proust. Memory, according to Babuts, does not construct or reconstruct meaning; it creates meaning through metaphors that function as a crucial mnemonic device to integrate language and vision in a faithful facsimile of the world transfigured. Thus memory is at the core of a self that actively seeks to create meaning through the metaphoric universe of the mind . Combining incoming stimuli from the outside, metaphor transfigures data to be in harmony with the beliefs and values that dominate the inner universe. In addition to interpreting stimuli, memory assigns value, positive or negative, in accordance with the individual's beliefs . This dynamic interaction reveals a new understanding of reality. This new meaning is subjective, and that subjectivity extends to scientific discoveries, which are by nature the product of an interaction between outside stimuli and rational analysis . Building a solid case for a cognitive theory of literature, Babuts plunges into the philosophical debate on truth, existence, and meaning. Though not easy, the volume is a worthy read. --K. Liu, CUNY

-In this slim but convincing volume, Babuts (emer., French, Syracuse Univ.) postulates that memory drives meaning making in the chain of metaphor-aided imagination. He divides the discussion into nine cogent, accessible chapters that progress from theory to literary examples ranging from Homer to Baudelaire, Mallarme, and Proust. Memory, according to Babuts, does not construct or reconstruct meaning; it creates meaning through metaphors that function as a crucial mnemonic device to integrate language and vision in a faithful facsimile of the world transfigured. Thus memory is at the core of a self that actively seeks to create meaning through the metaphoric universe of the mind . Combining incoming stimuli from the outside, metaphor transfigures data to be in harmony with the beliefs and values that dominate the inner universe. In addition to interpreting stimuli, memory assigns value, positive or negative, in accordance with the individual's beliefs . This dynamic interaction reveals a new understanding of reality. This new meaning is subjective, and that subjectivity extends to scientific discoveries, which are by nature the product of an interaction between outside stimuli and rational analysis . Building a solid case for a cognitive theory of literature, Babuts plunges into the philosophical debate on truth, existence, and meaning. Though not easy, the volume is a worthy read.- --K. Liu, CUNY

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Nicolae Babuts is emeritus professor of French at Syracuse University, USA, and author of Mimesis in a Cognitive Perspective and Memory, Metaphors, and Meaning, both published by Transaction, as well as other books and articles.

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