Overview

Integrating research in linguistics, philosophy, semiotics, neurophenomenology, and literary studies, The Communicative Mind presents a thought-provoking and multifaceted investigation into linguistic meaning construction. It explores the various ways in which the intersubjectivity of communicating interactants manifests itself in language structure and use and argues for the indispensability of dialogue as a semantic resource in cognition. The view of the mind as highly conditioned by the domain of interpersonal communication is supported by an extensive range of empirical linguistic data from fiction, poetry and written and spoken everyday language, including rhetorically ""creative"" metaphors and metonymies. The author introduces Cognitive Linguistics to the notion of enunciation, which refers to the situated act of language use, and demonstrates the centrality of subjectivity and turn-taking interaction in natural semantics. The theoretical framework presented takes contextual relevance, viewpoint shifts, dynamicity, and the introduction into discourse of elements with no real-world counterparts (subjective motion, fictivity and other forms of non-actuality) to be vital components in the construction of meaning. The book engages the reader in critical discussions of cognitive-linguistic approaches to semantic construal and addresses the philosophical implications of the identified strengths and limitations. Among the theoretical advances in what Brandt refers to as the cognitive humanities is Fauconnier and Turner's theory of conceptual integration of ""mental spaces"" which has proved widely influential in Cognitive Poetics and Linguistics, offering a philosophy of language bridging the gap between pragmatics and semantics. With its constructive criticism of the ""general mechanism"" hypothesis, according to which ""blending"" can explain everything from the origin of language to binding in perception, Brandt's book brings the scope and applicability of Conceptual Integration Theory into the arena of scientific debate. The book contains five main chapters entitled Enunciation: Aspects of Subjectivity in Meaning Construction, The Subjective Conceptualizer: Non-actuality in Construal, Conceptual Integration in Semiotic Meaning Construction, Meaning Construction in Literary Text, and Effects of Poetic Enunciation: Seven Types of Iconicity.

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9781443841443

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Reviews

This is a significant book. It begins by making a claim for an interdisciplinary collision of linguistics (especially semantics and pragmatics), literary studies, neurophenomenology, cognitive psychology, [and] philosophy [...]. It draws on fiction, poetry, everyday discourse; metaphor, iconicity and readerly effects; rhetoric, grammatical description, and a historical range of thinking about language. The result is an assertion that all of these related dimensions can be resolved into a single over-arching discipline: that of cognitive semiotics. This is an ambitious project, but over 600 pages of surprisingly readable and clear argument, it is exactly what emerges. [...] Brandt's balanced discussion of the advantages and problems in the [conceptual integration] theory is a model of clear thinking. Her project overall is to place the notion of enunciation within conceptual integration theory. After all, it is enunciation itself - the very act of initiation - that works as a space builder, evoking some mental content for consideration. [...] Brandt proposes a typology of different kinds of integration, and develops the argument from everyday spoken and written discourse in the first half of the book, moving on to literary discourse largely in the second half. The book thus moves into what I would recognise as cognitive poetics, and addresses in turn fiction and poetry [...]. The analyses here are in themselves worth the price of the book. Indeed, chapters 4 and 5 could stand alone as required reading for all literary scholars, and as a polemic and demonstration of the intellectual rigour of cognitive poetics. [...] The book [...] stands as an example of a communicating mind, and its success as an act of communication seems to me to be evident from the first page to the last. -Professor Peter Stockwell, School of English University of Nottingham, UK, Journal of Literary Theory, 2014 The Communicative Mind is written with passion. In reading the book, one is embraced by the warm and personal tone which shows how deeply its author cares about the topics. The creativity and novelty in language use and meaning creation is presented with fascination, fervor, and a profound admiration. The subject's place in language is treated with the respect it deserves. However, empathy and passion never invade on analytical precision, conceptual clarity, or scientific rigor. Here, The Communicative Mind is like the clinical incisions of a surgeon and unlike the slashing cuts of a butcher. - Johan Blomberg, Centre for Languages and Literature, Lund University, Journal of Cognitive Semiotics 2014, 7(1): 144-147 The Communicative Mind represents an extensive and highly original contribution to a cognitive theory of meaning within the emerging paradigm of cognitive semiotics (aiming at combining theories and methods from the cognitive sciences and the humanities) by articulating a synthesis of hitherto unconnected traditions in linguistics and semiotics: enunciation theory and cognitive linguistics, as well as bringing in insights from phenomenology and neuroscience. It resituates meaning construction in its actual, social or intersubjective contexts, and thus avoids the limitations of a reductive analysis focusing on the processing of 'linguistic stimuli'. The theoretical framework is applied to investigations of fictive interaction, fiction and poetry, thereby showing its value for cognitive poetics. In sum, the book is an excellent illustration of the present 'cognitive turn' in the humanities, without falling into the reductionist pitfall, since it highlights the essential roles of human subjectivity and sociality. - Jordan Zlatev, Professor of General Linguistics, Lund University; author of Situated Embodiment; co-editor of The Shared Mind and Moving Ourselves, Moving Others Brandt brings together a remarkably diverse set of methodologies to elucidate the ways in which language depicts conceptualizers and enunciation. This work shows us new and useful directions in analyzing literary texts as complex subjective networks of mental spaces - and challenges psychologists and neuroscientists to tackle cognitive complexities which are at present beyond them. - Eve Sweetser, Professor of Linguistics, University of California, Berkeley; author of From Etymology to Pragmatics: Metaphorical and Cultural Aspects of Semantic Structure; co-author of Mental Spaces in Grammar: Conditional Constructions The Communicative Mind presents the semiotics community with one of the most original investigations into the relationship between cognition and language in recent memory. Brandt's study covers topics as diverse as syntactic constituents, fictivity and other non-actual construal of events, acts, and relations, as well as enunciation in literature and poetry. Her treatment of these topics is so rich and provocative that it will influence generations of scholars and researchers working at the intersections of cognitive science, phenomenology, and linguistic pragmatics. - Todd Oakley, Professor and Chair of Cognitive Science, Case Western Reserve University; author of Elements of Attention: A New Approach to Meaning Construction in the Human Sciences; co-editor of Mental Spaces in Discourse and Interaction

Author Information

Dr Line Brandt is an interdisciplinary scholar, teacher, translator, and editor of literary and academic books and journals. She holds a Doctorate degree in Cognitive Semiotics and a Master's degree in Philosophy and English. Brandt is a former Fulbright recipient and co-founder of Cognitive Semiotics – Multidisciplinary Journal of Meaning and Mind. Her publications include translations of literature and literary theory (works include My Life by L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poet Lyn Hejinian), an introduction to the field of cognitive poetics (Kognitiv Poetik, edited volume, 2009), and academic papers on topics in cognitive linguistics and philosophy.

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