ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book begins with a discussion of the theoretical issues that dominated the way for deconstruction and other theories over the second half of the last century. The summary of mnemonic principles at work is meant to place memory at the center of reading and writing and to indicate the basis for a cognitive approach to interpretation. The book presents examples of dynamic patterns chosen from literary texts show that writers treat them as units, by remembering them from their own readings. It offers an analysis of the five modes in which a dynamic pattern manifests itself: the semantic, the syntactic, the acoustic, and the dynamic or metaphoric modes. The book shows how signs, both outside language and in language, point to and define, the interpretation of events. It focuses on modern renderings of Greek mythical figures.
