{"product_id":"distraction-9781421420127","title":"Distraction","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe draws a direct link between the disparate theories of focus articulated in eighteenth-century literature and modern experiments in neuroscience, revealing that contemporary questions surrounding short attention spans are grounded in long conversations over the nature and limits of focus.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThoroughly informed by engagement with 17th- and 18th-century philosophies of mind, the book is also impressive for its periodic forays into modern cognitive science... Distraction is an important addition to the literature on 18th-century fiction and cognition. Highly recommended. Choice It reads... as a manifesto for the possibility of a kind of research in which disciplines are combined not in the sense of serving each other, or borrowing from each other, but in true synergy. From all the aspects of Phillips's book that are commendable - and there are many from its originality and clarity of argumentation through to its powers of interpretation - this is the most significant. Literature and science are on an equal footing here and the fruits of their combination are remarkable. British Society for Literature and Science\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePreface  Introduction. The Literary History of Distraction The Unifocal and the Multifocal The Rise of the Distracted CharacterAttention, Distraction, and Enlightenment Philosophy of MindA Swiftly Tilting MadnessCategorizing Distraction  1. Mind Wandering: Forms of Distraction in the Eighteenth-Century EssayDistraction and the Eighteenth-Century Essay The Rhetoric of Attention: Appealing to Pathos and Brevitas The Essay as a Tool of Focus Training Attention to Attention Strengthening Focus: Repetition and Dramatic Irony Economies of Attention The History of Attention Span  2. Lapses of Concentration: Distracted Vigilance and the Female MindEnvironment and Mind: Urban Diversion and the Distracted Brain The Problem of a Soft Female Mind  Sex, Environment, and the Multifocal Coquette The Challenges of Situational Awareness Philosophizing Multiplicity: Cognitive Bottlenecks and Sorting Gloves Strained Omniscience and the Distracted Heroine  The Crowded Syntax of Sexual Inattention \"Might as Well Be Passed Over as Read:\" Indulging the Diverted Reader 3. Scattered Attention: Distraction and the Rhythm of Cognitive Overload Rhythms of Narrative, Rhythms of Mind The Scattered Rhythms of Cognitive Overload Susannah and the Vexed Situation of Madam Reader The Anatomy of Parallel Processing The Sermon: Asynchronous Rhythms of Prose Hobbyhorses and the Individual Beat of Interest Irregular Distraction: The Tempo of Cognitive Overload Rhythms of the Brain: Creativity and the Timing of Distraction  4. Fixated Attention: The Gothic Pathology of Single-Minded FocusMicroscope and Mind Scientific Metaphors and the Madness of Attention The Politics and Poetics of Fixation Involuntary Attention: A Multifocal Selective Blindness Sympathy and the Benefits of Distraction  Rewriting Suspense: Interruption and the Gothic Sublime  Fixation and the Science of Obsession 5. Divided Attention: Characterization and Cognitive Richness in Jane Austen The Power of Multitasking in Pride and Prejudice  The Singular Importance of Inattentive Characters Mr. Hurst: The Limited Capacity of the Undivided Mind Mrs. Jenkinson: Narrow Bandwidth and the Creation of Depth Lydia and Miss Bingley: Caricaturing Cognitive Vacancy The Dangers of Too Much Attention Distraction as Liveliness of Mind Mary Bennet: Hyperfocus and Cognitive Immobility Lady Catherine de Bourgh: The Problem of Excess Vigilance Elizabeth Bennet: The Benefits of Diversion Characterizing Reading: Maps of Distraction and Interest  Coda: History of Mind and Literary Neuroscience Interdisciplinarity: From Theory to Practice  Literary Attention: An fMRI Study of Reading Jane Austen The Value of Literary History  NotesBibliographyIndex","brand":"Johns Hopkins University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49408119636311,"sku":"9781421420127","price":38.7,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781421420127.jpg?v=1730501655","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/distraction-9781421420127","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}