Narrative and the unthought known: The immaterial intelligence of form

Abstract

Reflecting upon the evolution of my fractured novel The Earth Does Not Get Fat (2018), this article asks how narrative form represents underlying ideas. This inquiry reflects an abiding interest in the concept of ideasthesia, or ‘sensing concepts’ (Nikolić 2016). Ideasthesia is a means for deconstructing the ways in which writers sense concepts or ideas in metaphorical or associative ways. As I investigate the development of the fractured form and polyphonic voice in my novel, I take an interest in form as a metaphorical map, a ‘linguistic bridge’ (Cacciari 2008) between the brain and the mind. With reference to Christopher Bollas’ concept of the unthought known (Bollas 2014; 2017), I probe the relationship between narrative structure and latent themes. This extends contemporary debates about form and theme, investigating how fiction writers use cross-sensory modalities and experiential knowledge to plot concepts or ideas. Further, this analysis invites discussion about how ideasthetic practices in narrative represent creative problem-solving. This article focuses on the realist text as a sensory narrative image, a form of abstracted realism.