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An Exploration of Literary Mimesis through the Perspective of Mirror Neurons

He Huibin   

  1. the Department of English Language and Literature of School of International Studies, Zhejiang University
  • Online:2017-11-25 Published:2017-10-18
  • About author:He Huibin, Ph.D., is a professor of English and American literature at the Department of English Language and Literature of School of International Studies, Zhejiang University.

Abstract: Mirror neurons are discovered by Italian scientists Giacomo Rizzolatti and his colleagues, which are not only active while people are acting, but also active when they are observing others' action. Mirror neurons, which imitate the action of others just like mirrors, can lead to "motor equivalence" between readers and characters. Human imitation, which is often accompanied by anthropocentrism and egocentrism, can be divided into simple ones and complex ones, and can also be divided into imitation of content and imitation of form. Mimesis, which traditionally means the writer's imitation of the world, can by extended into the field of the reader's imitation of the characters by applying the theory of mirror neurons.

Key words: mirror neurons, mimesis, literature