Defining The Relation Between Cognitive Neuroscience And Discourse Studies

In contemporary linguistics, both cognitive and critical approaches to language have been elaborated in some detail. Unfortunately, the two perspectives have seldom converged, despite the potential theoretical advances such collaboration offers. Although historically and sociologically understandable, this separation of fields is bound to block progress. Only a handful of researchers and scholars in literature, music, film, esthetics, and art history have been attempting to follow and engage with developments in cognitive neuroscience. This represents a lost opportunity for scientists no less than for humanists, as critics and theorists of the arts are uniquely trained to pose questions and adduce examples that could bring more rigor and refinement, as well as cultural resonance, to the new sciences of mind.