In recent years, scholars have extensively explored the function of
the miraculous and wondrous in ancient narratives, mostly pondering on
how ancient authors view wondrous accounts, i.e. the treatment of the
descriptions of wondrous occurrences as true events or their use. More
precisely, these narratives investigate whether the wondrous pursues a
display of erudition or merely provides stylistic variety; sometimes,
such narratives even represent the wish of the author to grant a
“rational explanation” to extraordinary actions. At present,
however, two aspects of the topic have not been fully examined: a) the
ability of the wondrous/miraculous to set cognitive mechanisms in
motion and b) the power of the wondrous/miraculous to contribute to
the construction of an authorial identity (that of kings, gods, or
narrators). To this extent, the volume approaches miracles and wonders
as counter intuitive phenomena, beyond cognitive grasp, which
challenge the authenticity of human experience and knowledge and push
forward the frontiers of intellectual and aesthetic experience. Some
of the articles of the volume examine miracles on the basis of
bewilderment that could lead to new factual knowledge; the
supernatural is here registered as something natural (although
strange); the rest of the articles treat miracles as an endpoint,
where human knowledge stops and the unknown divine begins (here the
supernatural is confirmed). Thence, questions like whether the
experience of a miracle or wonder as a counter intuitive phenomenon
could be part of long-term memory, i.e. if miracles could be
transformed into solid knowledge and what mental functions are
encompassed in this process, are central in the discussion.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9783110562613
Publisert
2019
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
De Gruyter
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter