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Why Do We Care about Literary Characters? by Blakey Vermeule is a nonfiction available to read on EtoBox.

What is Why Do We Care about Literary Characters? about?

<p>Blakey Vermeule wonders how readers become involved in the lives of fictional characters, people they know do not exist.</p> <p>Vermeule examines the ways in which readers’ experiences of literature are affected by the emotional attachments they form to fictional characters and how those experiences then influence their social relationships in real life. She focuses on a range of topics, from intimate articulations of sexual desire, gender identity, ambition, and rivalry to larger issues brought on by rapid historical and economic change. Vermeule discusses the phenomenon of emotional attachment to literary characters primarily in terms of 18th-century British fiction but also considers the postmodern work of Thomas Mann, J. M. Coetzee, Ian McEwan, and Chinua Achebe.</p> <p>From the perspective of cognitive science, Vermeule finds that caring about literary characters is not all that different from caring about other people, especially strangers. The tools used by literary authors to sharpen and focus reader interest tap into evolved neural mechanisms that trigger a caring response.</p> <p>This book contributes to the emerging field of evolutionary literary criticism. Vermeule d

Who reads Why Do We Care about Literary Characters??

Author

Blakey Vermeule

Publisher

The Johns Hopkins University Press; Johns Hopkins University Press

Published

2011

Language

EN

ISBN

9780801893605

Category

nonfiction

Subjects

Literary Fiction, Poetry, Psychology

Rating

3.65 / 5 (38 ratings)

Updated

2026-03-14