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General Introduction:

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I.  Background: 

At the time of writing, the term ”cognitive narratology”  itself has been in

use for only about a decade. As Eder (2003: 283 n.10) notes, the term appears

to have been first used by Jahn (1997). However, the issues and concerns

encompassed by the term have been live ones for a considerably longer period.

The ter m ”cognitive narratology” is an umbrella term which covers a

variety of approches coming from various disciplines: neurology, artificial

intelligence, various kinds of psychology evolutionary, social and cognitive-

linguistics and philosophy of mind. This can help foster the development of

"postclassical" approaches to the study of narrative.

Cognitive narratology can be defined as the study of mind-relevant aspects

of storytelling practices, wherever  — and by whatever means — those practices

occur.

 Narratology refers to both the theory and the study of narrative and

narrative structure and the ways that these affect our perception.

“Narrative as a mode of thinking” shifts the focus of attention from the

mind that decodes the story to the mind that conceives it. This mind can be the

mind of the author, if there is a text and an over act of communication, but, for

many researchers, a story can be a representation that never leaves the mind of

the subject. This is particularly the case for those psychologists who conceive

of the self of as a narrative construct, for having a self is not the exclusive

 privilege of those write autobiographies.

The focus on narrative as a mode of thinking covers not only the

activity of telling stories to oneself or to others, but it also directs attention to

the importance of narrative communication for the development of human

mind and for the creation of social relations.

The study of verbal art can and must overcome the divorce between an

abstract ”formal” approach and an equally abstract ”ideological” approach.

Form and content in discourse are one, once we understand that verbal

discourse is a social phenomenon — social throughout its entire range and in

each and every in its factors, from the sound image to the furthest reaches of

the abstact meaning.

Mikhail Bakhtin( 1981, 259)

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General Introduction:

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For Bakhtin, monological language is a corruption of an underlying

dialogism. All signifying practices (i.e. use of language and symbols) have an

ultimately dialogical aim. Human consciousness is not a unified entity, but

rather, is always conflict-ridden between different consciousnesses. Indeed, a

single consciousness separate from interaction with other consciousnesses is

impossible.

II.  Statement of purpose:

The purpose of this text is to summarise in a concise manner some aspects and

elements of a dialogical approach to narratlogy and cognition, and to explain how does

Bakhtin state the relevance and the applications of Dialogism in Cignitive Narratology .

III.  Statement of problem:

The problem raised in this study is presented in these following questions: 

1)  What are the principal characteristics and elements of the dialogical approach to

Cognitive Narratology?

2)  What is the relevance and the applications of Dialogism to Cognitive Narratology in

the opinion of Bakhtin?

IV.  Hypothesis:

1) 2) 

V.  The structure of the dessertation:

This dissertation includes two chapters. The first one is about the ”Narratology” as a cognitive

science. The second is about ”Dialogism” as a crucial element of Cognitive narratology.