Experiencing Poetry. A Guidebook to Psychopoetics

While generations of poets around the world have taken direct inspiration from Plato’s contemplation of beauty and truth, the Greek philosopher fiercely criticized poets and even insisted to expel them from his ideal state. He believed that poetry “feeds and waters passions instead of drying them up; she lets them rule”; consequently, society risks at being ruled by “pleasure and pain.” But is there any evidence for his assumptions? Is there proof that linguistic elements cause emotional reactions? Does poetry about pain really make us suffer? And how can we collect independent data to confront different assumptions about the effects that poetry has on its recipients? For those who find these questions interesting or troublesome, Experiencing Poetry. A Guide to Psychopoetics by Willie van Peer and Anna Chesnokova will help find reliable answers.

The term psychopoetics is used here in a different sense from that adopted by Felman or Bal,...