The “big bang” of narratives: causality

Abstract

At the origins of literature, the great cosmogonic cycles conceived of the world as the result of a series of primordial and sacred events, rather than as an ongoing process with a defined purpose: everything is determined by the beginning, the cause; historical developments follow from this, and explanations of reality are diagnostic. If, on the other hand, we look at modern literature, it is the sense of the end that has determined plot lines that are precisely target-oriented: here, causes have lost value in favour of effects. This contribution analyses neuro-cognitivist studies of causal logic and defines a framework for the ontogenetic development of causal logic, then demonstrates how each era resorts to a specific causal combination in terms of adaptability, so that it is useful for the growth of the individual. The final part of the case study consists of the naturalist novel.