Literature, Cognition and Emotions

By Literature, Cognition and Emotions group at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Oslo

What's Literature, Cognition and Emotions about?

Literature shapes our thoughts and feelings. But how do signs on a page have an effect on our minds? And why does fiction sometimes feel more real than the world around us? Members from the Literature

, Cognition and Emotions group discuss their research with Karin Kukkonen.

Podcast production: Vera Syrovatskaya. Sound engineer: Joakim Magnus Taraldsen (USIT). Original jingle composition: Jonas Meyer.

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Literature, Cognition and Emotions episodes:

03.17.2023
S3 – 6. Thomas Schubert: The Experience of “Being Moved”
In this episode Thomas Schubert, Professor of Social Psychology at University of Oslo talks to Karin Kukkonen about the emotion of "being moved". Learn more about natural and cultural situations of social bonding, and why crying should be considered "normal"...
03.03.2023
S3 – 5. Silvio Bär: Ancient Greek Literature and Heroes without Texts
Silvio Bär, Professor of Classics at the University of Oslo, speaks to Karin Kukkonen about Ancient Greek literature and its heroes. Learn how the “epic memory” works, why cognitive dissonance can help us understand ancient texts better, and the major...
02.17.2023
S3 – 4. Stefka Eriksen: The Old Norse Sagas
In this episode, you can listen to a conversation between Stefka Eriksen, Research Professor at the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research, and Karin Kukkonen about the emotional world of Vikings, Old Norse manuscripts, and international book culture in the...
02.03.2023
S3 – 3. Tone Selboe: The 19th-Century Novel and Situations of Sympathy
In this episode, Karin Kukkonen interviews Tone Selboe, Professor in Comparative Literature at the University of Oslo, about her research on feelings in the "big" 19th-century novels, such as Anna Karenina. They adress so-called 'situations of sympathy', how these novels relate...
01.20.2023
S3 – 2. Hugo Lundhaug: The Coptic Apocrypha
Hugo Lundhaug, Professor of Biblical Reception and Early Christian Literature, joins Karin Kukkonen in conversation about Coptic Apocrypha and their relationship with the canonical Bible. Learn more about the way the “Biblical storyworld” has evolved, how cognitive approaches help us...
01.09.2023
S3 – 1. Sarah Bro Trasmundi: In Search of an Ideal Reader
The ideal reader is usually presented as someone engrossed in a book, sitting still and not turning their gaze from the page. But how does this image correspond to modern cognitive science, and why do we actually lose the joy...
08.05.2022
S2 – 5. Karin Kukkonen: Probability Designs
How do readers respond to, experience, and make sense of a literary text? In this podcast, Karin Kukkonen, professor in comparative literature at the University of Oslo, speaks to Stijn Vervaet about how a text's probability design ties in with...
07.22.2022
S2 – 4. Olivia Fialho: Transformative Reading
Can reading fiction change us? In this podcast, Olivia Fialho, postdoctoral researcher at the Huyghens-ING/KNAW, Lecturer of Comparative Literature at Utrecht University, and Affiliated Researcher at LCE, explains the concept of transformative reading, from its roots in Aristotle through Russian...
07.08.2022
S2 – 3. Alexandra Effe: Autofiction from a Cognitive Perspective
Life writing continues to be popular, both judging by the titles sold in bookshops and the books that receive literary awards. With many recent life-writing texts, bookshops arguably have a hard time, if they want to shelve them within distinct...
06.24.2022
S2 – 2. Natalia Igl: The Materiality and Multimodality of Literature
What is a multimodal novel? And why is the genre on its return in our digital age? How should we understand the notion of the embodied reader? And why bother about rhythm and rhyme in the 21st century? Books are more...
06.13.2022
S2 – 1. Yasemin Hacıoğlu: Thinking through Poems in Romantic-Era Novels
The Gothic novel calls to mind abandoned castles, ghosts and vampires. But perhaps it is time to look beyond these familiar tropes. Often taking their inspiration from Ann Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), there exists an interesting and understudied...
03.18.2021
S1 – 6. Rolf Reber: Literature and the Artful Mind
Rolf Reber, Professor in Cognitive Psychology at the University of Oslo, speaks to Karin Kukkonen about reading and emotional engagement, and the ways in which readers find pleasure in literature through “critical feeling.” Listen as Rolf Reber describes how “the artful mind” appreciates...
03.04.2021
S1 – 5. Stephan Guth: The Literature of the Middle East
Stephan Guth, Professor of Middle East Studies, talks to Karin Kukkonen about the Arab novel in the context of social and political reform in Middle East countries. He explains how reading novels could “teach” people how to feel in modern...
02.18.2021
S1 – 4. Stijn Vervaet: Cultural Memory in Balkan Literature
Stijn Vervaet is Associate Professor in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian and Balkan Studies at the University of Oslo. In this episode, he joins Karin Kukkonen in a conversation about constructions of cultural memory and visions of the past in the Balkan literary tradition. They...
02.03.2021
S1 – 3. Beate Seibt: Kama Muta or The Feeling of Being Moved
We often express the feeling of ‘being moved’ in everyday language – but what does it mean? Beate Seibt, Professor in Social Psychology at The University of Oslo, has developed a scientific framework for the study of ‘kama muta’ or, the...
01.14.2021
S1 – 2. Halvor Eifring: The Power of the Wandering Mind
Halvor Eifring, Professor of Chinese studies at the University of Oslo, joins Karin Kukkonen in a conversation about what mind-wandering and non-directive meditation have in common with literary reading. Learn more about the meditative dimension of long Chinese novels, and...
12.14.2020
S1 – 1. Reiko Abe Auestad: Emotions and Affect in Japanese Literature
Does one feel differently in Japanese novels? When Western novels came to Japan, they brought with them new ways for telling about the self and new models of feeling. Reiko Abe Auestad, Professor of Japanese Studies, talks to Karin Kukkonen...
12.11.2020
Welcome to Literature, Cognition and Emotions (LCE) Podcast
In "Literature, Cognition and Emotions" podcast, Karin Kukkonen discusses topics on the edge of literature and psychology with colleagues from the LCE group. In the coming month you can hear how literature leads to new ways of feeling and new ways of conceiving...

What's Literature, Cognition and Emotions about?

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Literature, Cognition and Emotions episodes:

S3 – 6. Thomas Schubert: The Experience of “Being Moved”

S3 – 5. Silvio Bär: Ancient Greek Literature and Heroes without Texts

S3 – 4. Stefka Eriksen: The Old Norse Sagas

S3 – 3. Tone Selboe: The 19th-Century Novel and Situations of Sympathy

S3 – 2. Hugo Lundhaug: The Coptic Apocrypha

S3 – 1. Sarah Bro Trasmundi: In Search of an Ideal Reader

S2 – 5. Karin Kukkonen: Probability Designs

S2 – 4. Olivia Fialho: Transformative Reading

S2 – 3. Alexandra Effe: Autofiction from a Cognitive Perspective

S2 – 2. Natalia Igl: The Materiality and Multimodality of Literature

S2 – 1. Yasemin Hacıoğlu: Thinking through Poems in Romantic-Era Novels

S1 – 6. Rolf Reber: Literature and the Artful Mind

S1 – 5. Stephan Guth: The Literature of the Middle East

S1 – 4. Stijn Vervaet: Cultural Memory in Balkan Literature

S1 – 3. Beate Seibt: Kama Muta or The Feeling of Being Moved

S1 – 2. Halvor Eifring: The Power of the Wandering Mind

S1 – 1. Reiko Abe Auestad: Emotions and Affect in Japanese Literature

Welcome to Literature, Cognition and Emotions (LCE) Podcast