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Cognition in Action: Goethe’s Märchen

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

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Type

Article

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Authors

Lee, C 

Abstract

This essay explores the role of physical movement and sensation in Goethe’s Märchen, with particular emphasis on the figure of the snake. Movement is essential to the moral resolution of the tale, and the depiction of movement to the inspiration of the reader. Cognitive approaches are deployed to tease out the symbolic significance of the depiction of embodied life in the text, and, moreover, to give a more detailed understanding of the effects of the piece on the reader. The article also traces in brief the lineage of modern cognitive approaches, with a particular focus on eighteenth-century aesthetics.

Description

Keywords

Movement, sensation, cognition, embodiment, kinaesthetic empathy, aesthetics

Journal Title

Publications of the English Goethe Society

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0959-3683
1749-6284

Volume Title

87

Publisher

Informa UK Limited