Pub Date : 2019-06-30DOI: 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474438131.003.0002
Miranda Anderson
The purpose of this chapter is to provide a background to current research in medieval and Renaissance studies on topics related to distributed cognition and to consider how the various chapters in this volume represent, reflect and advance work in this area. The volume brings together 14 chapters by international specialists working in the period between the ninth and the seventeenth century in the fields of law, history, drama, literature, art, music, philosophy, science and medicine. The chapters revitalise our reading of medieval and Renaissance works by bringing to bear recent insights in cognitive science and philosophy of mind on the distributed nature of cognition. Together the chapters make evident the ways in which particular notions and practices of distributed cognition emerged from the particular range of sociocultural and technological contexts that existed during this period. This chapter attempts to put these contributions in their wider research context by examining how such topics have been approached by mainstream scholarship, earlier work in the cognitive sciences and by existing applications of distributed cognition theory. It draws out both more general features of distributed cognition and what was distinctive about medieval and Renaissance insights into (and superstitions about) the cognitive roles of the body and environment. Throughout this chapter, I reference the chapters in this volume that provide further information on topics covered or take forward the issues in question. In the concluding section, I turn to a fuller overview of the chapters themselves
{"title":"Distributed Cognition in Medieval and Renaissance Studies","authors":"Miranda Anderson","doi":"10.3366/edinburgh/9781474438131.003.0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474438131.003.0002","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this chapter is to provide a background to current research in medieval and Renaissance studies on topics related to distributed cognition and to consider how the various chapters in this volume represent, reflect and advance work in this area. The volume brings together 14 chapters by international specialists working in the period between the ninth and the seventeenth century in the fields of law, history, drama, literature, art, music, philosophy, science and medicine. The chapters revitalise our reading of medieval and Renaissance works by bringing to bear recent insights in cognitive science and philosophy of mind on the distributed nature of cognition. Together the chapters make evident the ways in which particular notions and practices of distributed cognition emerged from the particular range of sociocultural and technological contexts that existed during this period. This chapter attempts to put these contributions in their wider research context by examining how such topics have been approached by mainstream scholarship, earlier work in the cognitive sciences and by existing applications of distributed cognition theory. It draws out both more general features of distributed cognition and what was distinctive about medieval and Renaissance insights into (and superstitions about) the cognitive roles of the body and environment. Throughout this chapter, I reference the chapters in this volume that provide further information on topics covered or take forward the issues in question. In the concluding section, I turn to a fuller overview of the chapters themselves","PeriodicalId":419206,"journal":{"name":"Distributed Cognition in Medieval and Renaissance Culture","volume":"41 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115814840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-01DOI: 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474438131.003.0005
E. Elliott
In the Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy, poetic invective raises provocative questions about the nature of an authentic Scottish identity, pitting the lowland Dunbar and his heritage of ‘Inglis’ or English poetry against Kennedy and his association with the Gaelic-speaking region of Carrick. This chapter examines the poem in light of current extended mind theories, as part of a distributed cognitive system in which conceptions of national identity are constructed through ongoing processes of collaboration, circulation, and reception that make thinking nation part of everyday life. Rather than functioning divisively, the Flyting’s antagonistic presentation of a debate over cultural authenticity reflects the dynamic character of national culture, shaping the idea of a Scottish nation whose borders contain diverse voices and cultures.
{"title":"Cognitive Ecology and the Idea of Nation in Late-Medieval Scotland: The Flyting of William Dunbar and Walter Kennedy","authors":"E. Elliott","doi":"10.3366/edinburgh/9781474438131.003.0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474438131.003.0005","url":null,"abstract":"In the Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy, poetic invective raises provocative questions about the nature of an authentic Scottish identity, pitting the lowland Dunbar and his heritage of ‘Inglis’ or English poetry against Kennedy and his association with the Gaelic-speaking region of Carrick. This chapter examines the poem in light of current extended mind theories, as part of a distributed cognitive system in which conceptions of national identity are constructed through ongoing processes of collaboration, circulation, and reception that make thinking nation part of everyday life. Rather than functioning divisively, the Flyting’s antagonistic presentation of a debate over cultural authenticity reflects the dynamic character of national culture, shaping the idea of a Scottish nation whose borders contain diverse voices and cultures.","PeriodicalId":419206,"journal":{"name":"Distributed Cognition in Medieval and Renaissance Culture","volume":"20 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121382336","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-01DOI: 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474438131.003.0006
Hannah Burrows
This chapter examines the Old Norse myth of the mead of poetry in light of the distributed cognition hypothesis. It explains how Norse skaldic poetry scaffolds various cognitive processes, and then argues that the myth of the poetic mead, which sees poetry as an alcoholic substance, is exploited by Old Norse poets to understand and describe poetry’s effect on the mind. Examples are given that suggest poets saw poetry as ‘mind altering’ in ways that resonate with certain aspects of the distributed cognition hypothesis: in particular, that poetry is cognition-enabling through feedback-loop processes; that the mind can be extended into the world and over time in poetry; that cognition can be shared and/or furthered by engaging with other minds; that the body plays a non-trivial role; and that poetry performs mental and affective work in the world.
{"title":"The Mead of Poetry: Old Norse Poetry as a Mind-Altering Substance","authors":"Hannah Burrows","doi":"10.3366/edinburgh/9781474438131.003.0006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474438131.003.0006","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter examines the Old Norse myth of the mead of poetry in light of the distributed cognition hypothesis. It explains how Norse skaldic poetry scaffolds various cognitive processes, and then argues that the myth of the poetic mead, which sees poetry as an alcoholic substance, is exploited by Old Norse poets to understand and describe poetry’s effect on the mind. Examples are given that suggest poets saw poetry as ‘mind altering’ in ways that resonate with certain aspects of the distributed cognition hypothesis: in particular, that poetry is cognition-enabling through feedback-loop processes; that the mind can be extended into the world and over time in poetry; that cognition can be shared and/or furthered by engaging with other minds; that the body plays a non-trivial role; and that poetry performs mental and affective work in the world.","PeriodicalId":419206,"journal":{"name":"Distributed Cognition in Medieval and Renaissance Culture","volume":"6 4","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114127078","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2016-09-01DOI: 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474438131.003.0007
C. Wright
Highlighting the embodied, collaborative, and spatially and temporally divers nature of medieval English plays, this essay argues that the cognitive work of medieval drama is best understood through the theory of cognitive integration, and in particular niche construction. Using the famous fifteenth-century York Play of the Crucifixion as a case study, the essay illustrates how this pageant constructed its particular niche, and its reliance on social as well as spatial and material affordances. The Play of the Crucifixion, it is argued, created opportunities for highly personal, individual devotional responses in the midst of what was fundamentally, and necessarily, a social and collaborative act. What is more, as a niche created for the purpose of devotion, it was focused on stimulating emotion and feeling, rather than supporting rational problem solving. It also overlapped with, and perhaps influenced, other devotional niches active beyond the frame of performance, contributing to extensive feedback cycles to which it was also subject.
{"title":"Enculturated, Embodied, Social: Medieval Drama and Cognitive Integration","authors":"C. Wright","doi":"10.3366/edinburgh/9781474438131.003.0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474438131.003.0007","url":null,"abstract":"Highlighting the embodied, collaborative, and spatially and temporally divers nature of medieval English plays, this essay argues that the cognitive work of medieval drama is best understood through the theory of cognitive integration, and in particular niche construction. Using the famous fifteenth-century York Play of the Crucifixion as a case study, the essay illustrates how this pageant constructed its particular niche, and its reliance on social as well as spatial and material affordances. The Play of the Crucifixion, it is argued, created opportunities for highly personal, individual devotional responses in the midst of what was fundamentally, and necessarily, a social and collaborative act. What is more, as a niche created for the purpose of devotion, it was focused on stimulating emotion and feeling, rather than supporting rational problem solving. It also overlapped with, and perhaps influenced, other devotional niches active beyond the frame of performance, contributing to extensive feedback cycles to which it was also subject.","PeriodicalId":419206,"journal":{"name":"Distributed Cognition in Medieval and Renaissance Culture","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130500358","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 1900-01-01DOI: 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474438131.003.0004
G. Bolens
The taming of horses changed humans’ relation to space, movement, and speed. It increased their social agency and environmental impact. In fourteenth-century England, Geoffrey Chaucer writes about the storytelling contest of a group of men and women travelling together on horseback to Canterbury. Bringing an enactive practice of language together with the dynamic of horse-riding, TheCanterbury Tales characterizes its storytelling pilgrims by the way they ride their horses and speak to each other. The pilgrims’ kinesis, narrative skills and cognitive styles are linked to a use of artefacts (e.g., clothing, weapons, stirrups) which defines them as characters. Chaucer conveys such distributed information by working with language in a way that successfully induces readers’ cognitive engagement, and triggers perceptual-motor simulations of situated actions in meaningful ways.
{"title":"Horse-Riding Storytellers and Distributed Cognition in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales","authors":"G. Bolens","doi":"10.3366/edinburgh/9781474438131.003.0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474438131.003.0004","url":null,"abstract":"The taming of horses changed humans’ relation to space, movement, and speed. It increased their social agency and environmental impact. In fourteenth-century England, Geoffrey Chaucer writes about the storytelling contest of a group of men and women travelling together on horseback to Canterbury. Bringing an enactive practice of language together with the dynamic of horse-riding, TheCanterbury Tales characterizes its storytelling pilgrims by the way they ride their horses and speak to each other. The pilgrims’ kinesis, narrative skills and cognitive styles are linked to a use of artefacts (e.g., clothing, weapons, stirrups) which defines them as characters. Chaucer conveys such distributed information by working with language in a way that successfully induces readers’ cognitive engagement, and triggers perceptual-motor simulations of situated actions in meaningful ways.","PeriodicalId":419206,"journal":{"name":"Distributed Cognition in Medieval and Renaissance Culture","volume":"42 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128402643","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：