I graduated with a Master of Arts degree in German Studies from the University of Manitoba on October 19, 2011. My work incorporates neuroscience and cognitive science as disciplines with widely applicable, cross-contextual potential, into a literary analysis of a reader’s mental and emotional interaction with a textual narrative.

Neuroscientific research on neurological activity of the reading brain (Castro-Caldas, Frith) is applied to the question of whether or not it is probable that a reader could have an empathetic and learning experience of a historical event to which they otherwise would have no personal physical, emotional or mental access facilitated in their mind through text alone. The probable neurological states of the reading brain are initially determined in order to analyze the potential of narrative elements present in historical and fictional literature for stimulating learning and empathy in the reader.

Uwe Timm’s historical fiction novel Morenga which addresses issues such as colonialism and genocide is then subjected to a close reading according to the neuroscientific development of a reader’s mental experiences during the reading process. The probability of the reader experiencing empathy and learning in a fashion that affects their perspectives on both inter-textual events and extra-textual events of a similar nature is then analysed.