Literature has always honored the power of the imagination in shaping our experience of the world. Current developments in psychoanalysis, psychology, philosophy, cognitive science and neurobiology confirm the profound importance of language in structuring the mind's representations and re-workings of reality. Study of the mind is now one of our most exciting and inventive fields of interdisciplinary research, informed by and informing not only literary criticism and theory but also the study of cultural and social practice. Language is to play a central role in creating memories, processing emotions, and thinking. Verbal creativity and interpretation are vital to our survival and well-being; constructing narrative, analyzing the past, or creating fictional models are crucial to all human activity, from technological invention to falling in love to planning revolutions. This is why we have always needed, and always loved, literature. When we try to speak the unspeakable--we call it poetry. When our wishes are unfulfilled, we create legends. When we are terrified by one another, we put ourselves, and our conflicts, on stage, and try to learn empathy.
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