Date Thesis Awarded
5-2008
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Arts (BA)
Department
English
Advisor
Colleen Kennedy
Committee Members
Monica Brzezinski Potkay
John Gamber
Kathleen Joan Bragdon
Abstract
This project uses the framework of mental space theory, a recent development in the field of cognitive linguistics, and applies it in an analysis and comparison of the fiction of Kurt Vonnegut and Gabriel García Márquez. Both authors utilize explicitly fictional techniques in their body of work (science fiction and magical realism) and nevertheless offer solutions to real-world problems. All three novels result in some sort of an apocalypse, forcing the reader to readjust their schematic frameworks to cope with them in order to produce a meaningful reading. A cognitive approach to "Cat's Cradle," "Galápagos," and "One Hundred Years of Solitude" will elucidate the intricate play between the textual language and the reader's personal context: how individuals make sense of fiction and how these interpretations direct cultural discourse.
Recommended Citation
Gertzog, James Michael, ""Beauty, Enlightenment, and Comfort at Top Speed" : Cognitive spaces and blending in the fictional universes of Kurt Vonnegut and Gabriel García Márquez" (2008). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 834.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/834
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Comments
Thesis is part of Honors ETD pilot project, 2008-2013. Migrated from Dspace in 2016.