Abstract

Cognitive literary studies, in its various forms, is burgeoning into an important interdisciplinary research paradigm. This field attaches much importance to the actual reader’s engagement, emotional and cognitive. While many cognitive literary studies focus on the normal mind in literature, few attend to the abnormal. Against this background, Xinran Yang initiates a cognitive narratological study of the madness-narrative nexus with special reference to Ken Kessy’s magnum opus One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, published by the Viking Press in 1962. Yang’s efforts on fictional madness have theoretically and methodologically blazed new trails in cognitive narratology, cognitive poetics and madness narratives, enlightened the normality from the abnormality, and offered insights for future cognitive literary studies. This article first reviews and then re-evaluates the relevant issues.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.