Please tell us about your research at LCE, Andrea.
My research focuses on the role of different types of character movement within particular narrative spaces for empathy mechanisms in fiction. I suggest that characters’ bodily and mental movements in material and non-material spaces generate so-called ‘empathic spaces’: non-material spaces which provide insight into the ways by which characters empathise with others and which may ultimately also help readers to connect with particular storyworld participants. The term ‘empathic space’ has emerged in the field of architectural design which has increasingly begun to aim at the construction of spaces based on user experience, proposing that we experience space kinesthetically – with a sense of our bodily position and movement – and not simply as an abstract geometric structure. I aim to introduce the concept of ‘empathic space’ to literary studies by considering recent insights into empathy theory from the cognitive- and neurosciences, theories revolving around the spatial turn in the humanities, and, most importantly, empathy’s roots in German psychological aesthetics and the concept of Einfühlung or ‘feeling-into’.
In order to analyse ‘empathic spaces’ in fiction, I look at patterns of active physical movement, as well as moments of ‘being moved’ by others’ movements, by emotions, or by different means of transportation. Similarly, I consider instances of mental movement such as mind-wandering, dreaming, reminiscing, or imagining and how these movements affect the (bodily) flexibility of characters and their capacity to empathise. I currently focus on modernist texts, taking a selection of novellas and short stories by Virginia Woolf and Henry James as case studies to establish a taxonomy of different types of ‘empathic spaces’.
What is your favourite kind of reading experience? Are there any specific literary works that you would like to recommend to us?
Since my research revolves around literature from the beginning to the mid-twentieth century, I am presently delving into the works of Henry James and Virginia Woolf. I am particularly intrigued by the way both authors experiment with both different storyworld spaces and spaces of self and other, exploring the potential of getting into other minds even across physical divides. Woolf’s short story “The Lady in the Looking-Glass” explores the possibility of deciphering the thoughts and feelings of a character existing within the reflective realm of a mirror, prompting us to reconsider our proficiency in ‘reading’ literary characters. I also enjoy James’s short story “The Jolly Corner” which immerses us in the imaginative realm of a dual self. I have only recently discovered my enthusiasm for climate fiction and how these narratives have the power to disorient us by placing characters in radically shifting environments precipitated by the climate crisis, as, for example, in Antonia Honeywell’s debut The Ship.