Description: This book examines Thomas De Quincey's notion of the unconscious in the light of modern cognitive science and nineteenth-century science. It challenges Freudian theories as the default methodology in order to understand De Quincey's oeuvre and the unconscious in literature more generally.
Review Quotes:
"Much more than a significant addition to De Quincey studies, Thomas de Quincey and the Cognitive Unconscious makes a key intervention into British Romantic scholarship as a whole, adding greatly to our understanding of the interrelations among science and literature in the period while powerfully enriching the key concept of "the unconscious." Original, lively, provocative, and scholarly, Markus Iseli's book makes essential reading for students of nineteenth-century literature, culture, science, and psychology." Alan Richardson, Professor of English, Boston College, USA, author of The Neural Sublime