Description, the Novel and the Senses
Author: Alryyes, Ala
Source: The Senses and Society, Volume 1, Number 1, March 2006 , pp. 53-70(18)
Publisher: Berg Publishers
Abstract:
The realist novel depicts both consciousness and the world by privileging precise descriptions of objects. In fact, attention to Defoe's "formal realism" explains his twentieth-century critical reassessment. Alryyes concentrates on how Defoe's exquisite depiction of his characters' sensual observations underlies his realist art. The article postulates that Defoe often used "accidental details," visual aspects of objects that did not inhere in them but were the result of human and natural disasters, to imbue his scenes with motion and psychological depth. Defoe's attention to how accidents highlight the work of the senses echoes the manner in which several Enlightenment cognitive texts not only emphasized the epistemological role of the senses, but also studied their operations by examining, in both thought experiments and real-life cases, the effects of the senses' injuries on human consciousness.Document Type: Research article
DOI: 10.2752/174589206778055583
Key:
- Free Content
- New Content
- Subscribed Content
- Free Trial Content
- Free Content
- New Content
- Subscribed Content
- Free Trial Content
Click here for Page Help