ABSTRACT
The centrality of emotion to literature and literary experience has been recognized throughout literary history and across literary traditions. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explicates Sara Ahmed's ideas, seeking to extend them by means of integration with affective science, an integration which of course expands affective science in the process. It begins with theoretical outlines of just what is involved in the topic—just how emotion might undergo historical change and just what it means for an author to express his or her emotions in a work of art. The book outlines different types of emotion and affective response as they bear on implied readers. It examines the empathic implications of literature, addressing both empirical and theoretical considerations, as well as real and implied readers. The book considers storyworlds, stories and also deals with settings, drawing in part on narratological treatments and in part on ecocritical approaches.
