故事与认知——简论认知诗学的文学功用观

Story and Cognition:Remarks on Functions of Literature in the View of Cognitive Poetics

认知诗学是一种诗学而不仅仅是一种源自语言学的文学分析方法,其诗学的主要特征就是对文学一般命题的关注,探讨了文学的功用等基本问题,认为文学是一种特殊的认知和交际形式,其特殊性使得它对于发展人的认知能力具有特殊作用,认知诗学的研究目的就是力图在探讨文学与人类交际和思维的关系方面做出贡献。而在关于文学与认知之间关系的讨论中,认知诗学的研究者们更多地关注故事这一样式,认为故事是基本的认知能力,在我们对世界的理解中具有根本的意义。这一基于认知的文学功用观把文学艺术视为发现、创新的方式和知识增长的方式,在一定程度上提升了文学及文学研究的地位,同时,认知诗学的逐渐成熟和文学认知研究的不断深入也可以对人类认知与思维关系的探索做出贡献。

Being a kind of poetics rather than an analytical methodology taken from cognitive hngnistics, cognitive poetics investigates such general issue as the functions of literature, which characterizes it as being a poetics. Taking literature as a special form of cognition and communication with its special influence upon the development of human cognitive ability, cognitive poetics tries to make contribution to the investigation into the relation between literature and human cognition and communication. In the investigation cognitive poetics especially focuses on the genre of story, and brings forth the idea that story is a basic cognitive ability and this ability helps us to understand the world. This cognition-based idea helps to some extent promote hterature and its studies by taking literature as ways of discovery, creation and increase of knowledge. Meanwhile with its development cognitive poetics may contribute more and more to the field of literature and human cognition.