English 680V: Visual Rhetoric in a Technological Age (Purdue)

I have chosen as my general topic an exploration of how brain and cognitive processes intersect with rhetoric, metaphor, and language use. It should be no surprise that I have chosen this project largely on Nathaniel's influence, and owe much of my knowledge on the subject to him.

However, I did read a text this summer which may tangentially inform this project: The First Idea by Greenspan and Shanker. The book argues that human language processes are owed more to institutions and traditions than actual genetic coding, which is a direct counterposition to someone like Pinkert who believe in the language gene. They also argue that human cognition is as dependent on functional emotional development as it is on rational and logical development.

I have also read a bit of George Lakoff's Don't Think of an Elephant as well as his book Metaphors We Live By. Lakoff is a linguistic turned liberal analyst who argues that metaphors make up the basics of perception and cognition, and that language based in metaphors works as a frame that orders thoughts, both defining and limiting human perception.

Lastly, I have a passing familiarity with the idea of mirror neurons, which are the neurons in the brain, active as soon as 45 minutes after birth, that cause humans to experience empathy by mirroring the emotions and actions of others they witness. This concept was presented in a paper by Diane Davis at the IDIS rhetoric lecture series, as well as in a paper at the Semiotics Conference held at Purdue last fall. I think that mirror neurons will play into my research as a possible physical manifestation of Burke's identification as well as a basis for non-rational cognition (though it should be noted that Davis argues that mirror neurons actually complicate and invalidate some of Burke's arguments about identification.)