The origins of emotion and language from the perspective of developmental neuropsychology
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Iain McGilchrist
Abstract
The divided brain evolved to enable focused, detailed attention, in the service of manipulation of the environment, to co-exist with broad, open attention, in the service of understanding the environment, and in particular one’s relationship with fellow creatures. This has important consequences for the nature of human experience, underwriting a practical “I–It” relationship alongside a more intimate “I-thou” relationship with the world, both being elaborated through language. The musical aspects of language, expressive of its embodied, metaphoric and emotional nature as understood by the right hemisphere, are related to the developing sense in the growing child of a separate self which is nonetheless never wholly discrete, and the origins of which remain intersubjective, strongly guided by emotions shared with companions.
Abstract
The divided brain evolved to enable focused, detailed attention, in the service of manipulation of the environment, to co-exist with broad, open attention, in the service of understanding the environment, and in particular one’s relationship with fellow creatures. This has important consequences for the nature of human experience, underwriting a practical “I–It” relationship alongside a more intimate “I-thou” relationship with the world, both being elaborated through language. The musical aspects of language, expressive of its embodied, metaphoric and emotional nature as understood by the right hemisphere, are related to the developing sense in the growing child of a separate self which is nonetheless never wholly discrete, and the origins of which remain intersubjective, strongly guided by emotions shared with companions.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
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Theory
- The developmental psychology and neuropsychology of emotion in language 3
- Primal emotions and cultural evolution of language: 27
- Emotion on board 49
- The origins of emotion and language from the perspective of developmental neuropsychology 69
- Language and emotion in Merleau-Ponty 99
- Enkinaesthetic polyphony: 113
- Emotion in language 135
- Language and emotion 157
- Prosodic clustering in speech: From emotional to semantic processes 175
- Embodied language and the process of language learning and teaching 191
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Research
- Research on the relationship between language and emotion - A descriptive overview 211
- Word valence and its effects 241
- The occurrence of idioms in the emotion lexicon of children 257
- "Without language, everything is chaos and confusion ..." 273
- Giving horror a name 289
- Mediated emotions 305
- Silences as a linguistic strategy Remarks on the role of the unsaid in romantic relationships on the internet 325
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Application
- Gradients of plasticity 343
- Mood, aphasia, and affective language comprehension 367
- What words can’t tell: 399
- Affective and internal state language in high-functioning autism 421
- Epilogue 445
- Index 453
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
-
Theory
- The developmental psychology and neuropsychology of emotion in language 3
- Primal emotions and cultural evolution of language: 27
- Emotion on board 49
- The origins of emotion and language from the perspective of developmental neuropsychology 69
- Language and emotion in Merleau-Ponty 99
- Enkinaesthetic polyphony: 113
- Emotion in language 135
- Language and emotion 157
- Prosodic clustering in speech: From emotional to semantic processes 175
- Embodied language and the process of language learning and teaching 191
-
Research
- Research on the relationship between language and emotion - A descriptive overview 211
- Word valence and its effects 241
- The occurrence of idioms in the emotion lexicon of children 257
- "Without language, everything is chaos and confusion ..." 273
- Giving horror a name 289
- Mediated emotions 305
- Silences as a linguistic strategy Remarks on the role of the unsaid in romantic relationships on the internet 325
-
Application
- Gradients of plasticity 343
- Mood, aphasia, and affective language comprehension 367
- What words can’t tell: 399
- Affective and internal state language in high-functioning autism 421
- Epilogue 445
- Index 453
