Conceptual Blending and Emergent Character in Children Literature

The present article focuses on the role of mental cognitive processes in creating novel imaginative characters in stories. To do this we apply the basic concepts of Conceptual Blending Theory (CBT) i. e. Input Spaces and Blending Networks. CBT accounts can provide a methodological tool for cognitive analysis of literal texts. Fauconnier and Turner (2002) provide an overview of how blending affects the course of a human life, and more specifically, how young children are engaged in building complex blends in very early stages of their life. In the present article we determine to show the cognitive bases for creation of "emergent characters" in stories of elementary studentschr('39') textbooks (Farsi Khandari). Our main question is what are novel/emergent characters in stories introduced in each grade and what are the available cognitive tools for the writers of each grade to make theirs characters creatively different from other writers. The result can provide a methodological cognitive framework for cognitive analysis of the process of novel character creation in children literature.