Evolution and the Cognitive Function of Fictional Narrative: A Darwinian Perspective

Literary Darwinism is a recent approach in literary studies that makes extensive use of evolutionary psychology and cognitive science to explain and make sense of literary phenomena. In this paper, I have done two interrelated things: 1. I have given a brief account of literary Darwinism and its epistemological foundations which puts it in direct opposition to the current constructivist paradigm of literary theory or simply “theory”, and 2. I have given a Darwinian account of fictional narrative. To do the latter, I have adopted an anti-constructivist stance and have drawn on the ideas of Brian Boyd, Joseph Carroll, Jonathan Gottschall and Steven Pinker to explain the cognitive aspect of fictional narrative. I have gone so far as to formulate the idea that the fictional narrative constructs a possible world and a model of reality significantly analogous to the world in which we are living, in such a way that makes it possible for us homo sapiens to understand the biological and social challenges that lie ahead of us and experience them vicariously and at almost no cost. Successful fictional narratives, thus, beyond their structural and genric dimensions, have a cognitive significance, and making sense of them in an inter-subjective world is an adaptation for the the literary animal that in turn explains their functionality and universality.
 
Extended Abstract
 
1. Introduction
Literary Darwinism is a recent approach in literary studies that makes extensive use of evolutionary psychology and cognitive science to explain and make sense of literary phenomena naturalistically. In this paper, I have done two interrelated things: 1. I have given a brief account of literary Darwinism and its epistemological foundations. I have, thus, put it in direct opposition to the current constructivist paradigm of literary theory or simply “theory”, and 2. I have given a Darwinian account of fictional narrative.
 
2. Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework of this paper is informed by literary Darwinism. Literary Darwinism seeks to transcend and transform literary theory by bridging the chasm between humanities, on the one side, and the natural sciences, on the other. If the study of literature, as put by Gottschall, is ultimately the study of the human mind – for the human mind both creates and makes sense of literary works – then the study of literature cannot be secluded from evolutionary psychology and other Darwinian sciences, for evolution has not only shaped our physiological traits but has also built our mental and psychological features. I have also borrowed Lamarque and Olsen’s definition of fictional narrative, but I have gone on to reshape and reuse this working definition within the paradigm of Darwinian or evolutionary literary theory.
 
3. Methodology
I have followed the standard method of speculative theoretical academic papers, that is, I have focused on valid reasoning, conceptual clarity and conceptual analysis. The data provided by the sources underwent the process of critical scrutiny and assessment before becoming part of the overall structure of my paper.
 
4. Findings
In my paper, I have adopted an anti-constructivist stance and have drawn on the ideas of Brian Boyd, Joseph Carroll, Jonathan Gottschall and Steven Pinker to explain the cognitive aspect of the fictional narrative. I have gone so far as to formulate the idea that the fictional narrative constructs a possible world and a model of reality significantly analogous to the world in which we are living, in such a way that makes it possible for us, homo sapiens, to understand the biological and social challenges that lie ahead of us and experience them vicariously and at almost no cost. I have also highlighted Joseph Carroll’s idea that literature helps us learn and sharpen social and communication skills and that, pace Pinker, literature is not simply a byproduct of evolution but an adaptation. It is my contention that Carroll’s ideas on this issue are better supported and justified by evidence.
 
5. Conclusion
Fictional narratives are a human universal. The creation and reception of them are an adaptation. Successful fictional narratives, beyond their structural and generic dimensions, have a cognitive significance. They imitate reality and build mental models of reality for us. By reading fiction, we learn about our social environment and the complexity of social and moral life. In short, they navigate us through our social and cultural life. Making sense of fictional narratives in an inter-subjective world is an adaptation for the literary animal. Literary Darwinism can arguably explain their functionality and universality in a cogent manner, a task much neglected by the common and current methods of literary analysis.
 
Select Bibliography
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Carroll, J. 2004. Literary Darwinism: Evolution, Human Nature and Literature. New York and London: Routledge.
Carroll, J. 2011. Reading Human Nature: Literary Darwinism in Theory and  Practice. Albany and New York: State University of New York Press.  
Darwin, Ch. 1981 [1871]. The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex. With an Intrduction by John Tyler Bonner and Robert M. May. Princeton: Pinceton Univesity Press.
Dennett, D. C. 1995. Darwin’s Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life. London: Penguin Books.
Gottschall, J. 2008. Literature, Science and a New Humanities. NewYork: Palgrave Macmillan.
Gottschall, J. 2012. The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Lamarque, P. and Stein, H. O. 1994. Truth, Fiction and Literature: A Philosophical Perspective. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Pinker, S. 1998. How the Mind Works. London: Penguin Books.
Wilson, E. O. 2005. “Forword from the Scientific Side.” In: Jonathan Gottschall and David Sloan Wilson (eds.). The Literary Animal: Evolution and the Nature of Narrative. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, vii-xi.