Poetry goes beyond the limits of language and thought, according to Laurent Dubreuil, a professor of comparative literature and Romance studies, and a member of the Cognitive Science Program. In a Chats in the Stacks talk, he will discuss his book Poetry and Mind: Tractatus Poetico-Philosophicus (Fordham University Press, 2018) which draws from literary theory, philosophy, and cognitive science to argue that poetry transcends syntactic structures, cognitive binding, and mental regulations. The broad literary scope of Poetry and Mind encompasses oral and written traditions from all continents—from ancient times to the contemporary era—and includes close analyses of poems in 20 different languages.

This book talk is sponsored by Olin Library. Light refreshments will be served.