Title
On the Origin of Stories : Evolution, Cognition, and Fiction / Brian Boyd.
ISBN
9780674053595
Published
Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2010]
Copyright
©2009
Language
English
Language Note
In English.
Description
1 online resource (560 p.)
Item Number
10.4159/9780674053595 doi
Dewey Decimal Classification
809.3
Summary
A century and a half after the publication of Origin of Species, evolutionary thinking has expanded beyond the field of biology to include virtually all human-related subjects-anthropology, archeology, psychology, economics, religion, morality, politics, culture, and art. Now a distinguished scholar offers the first comprehensive account of the evolutionary origins of art and storytelling. Brian Boyd explains why we tell stories, how our minds are shaped to understand them, and what difference an evolutionary understanding of human nature makes to stories we love. Art is a specifically human adaptation, Boyd argues. It offers tangible advantages for human survival, and it derives from play, itself an adaptation widespread among more intelligent animals. More particularly, our fondness for storytelling has sharpened social cognition, encouraged cooperation, and fostered creativity. After considering art as adaptation, Boyd examines Homer's Odyssey and Dr. Seuss's Horton Hears a Who! demonstrating how an evolutionary lens can offer new understanding and appreciation of specific works. What triggers our emotional engagement with these works? What patterns facilitate our responses? The need to hold an audience's attention, Boyd underscores, is the fundamental problem facing all storytellers. Enduring artists arrive at solutions that appeal to cognitive universals: an insight out of step with contemporary criticism, which obscures both the individual and universal. Published for the bicentenary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of Origin of Species, Boyd's study embraces a Darwinian view of human nature and art, and offers a credo for a new humanism.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
System Details Note
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
Digital File Characteristics
text file PDF
Source of Description
Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 08. Aug 2023)
Available in Other Form
print 9780674033573
Frontmatter
CONTENTS
Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Animal, Human, Art, Story
Book I Evolution, art, and fiction
Introduction
Part 1 Evolution and Nature
Part 2 Evolution and Art
Part 3 Evolution and Fiction
Book II From Zeus to Seuss: origins of stories
Introduction
Part 4 Phylogeny: The Odyssey
Part 5 Ontogeny: Horton Hears a Who!
Conclusion. Retrospect and Prospects: Evolution, Literature, Criticism
Afterword. Evolution, Art, Story, Purpose
Notes
Bibliography
Index
