The mental processes stimulated in the reader by literary texts are Essay

The mental processes stimulated in the reader by literary texts are distinctly different from those required in the interpretati - Essay Example First we must examine the mental processes that are being inferred in this premise. While the brain and the ‘little black box’ of language acquisition certainly supply the rudiments by which we as human beings interpret language as communication, it is also our experience that helps us interpret not only non-literary data correctly, but also give us the insight to interpret literary and creative communication in a multitude of ways as well. Noam Chomsky (1968), and others, have posited that we all possess a Language Acquisition Device (LAD) often referred to as the ‘little black box’ which starts up in infancy and runs till about five or six years old. There is a universal grammar that is possess that allows us to pick up language quickly through imitation and observation. As time passes this device appears to shut down and learning language become a much more complex process, intellectual rather than subconscious. However, after this time we process languag e itself at higher and more complex levels, allowing literature to be created and understood, well beyond the simple rules of grammar. Context is certainly the key when trying to perceive the way the mind perceives and differentiates between literary and non-literary texts. ... However these packets are often not so clear-cut and can also vary dependent upon one’s own persona experience, ‘†¦ this involves not only knowledge of language but also organised knowledge of the world.’ (Goodman and O’Halloran 2006: 371) This knowledge can also vary from culture to culture as well as on an individual basis. Take for instance scripts which are defined as ‘†¦knowledge of a stereotypical situation or activity.’ (Goodman and O’Halloran 2006: 362) These evolve over time and are based solely on individual experience within a cultural or social context. ‘Separating schemata into scripts, plans, goals and themes can sometimes be tricky because boundaries are not always so clear-cut. This is why Cook (1994) uses the expression â€Å"interpretative schemata† rather than just â€Å"schemata†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢. (Goodman and O’Halloran 2006: 373) Relevance theory, on the other hand, is part of the branch of linguistics known as ‘pragmatics’ (Goodman and O’Halloran 2006: 377) that is also closely related to philosophy. Simply stated, this theory relies on the assumption that any packet of language has an ‘in-built guarantee’ (Goodman and O’Halloran 2006: 366) that it is relevant the reader will seek that relevance. Here, oddly enough, is where relevance of content and context play a major difference in the reader’s perception and further interpretation of the text. A reader will assume a maximum amount of relevance given the context of the text. In the instance given in the text, the reader will only give so much time to a commercial advert deeming its relevance to be clear by the specification of the