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Geography of the Narrative Self in Stuart Turton’s The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

Authors: Perkowska-Gawlik Elżbieta

Year: 2025

Type of publication: článek v odborném periodiku

Name of source: American and British Studies Annual

Page from-to: 125-140

Titles:

Language	Name	Abstract	Keywords
cze	Krajina narativního subjektu v detektivním románu The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Stuarta Turtona	Článek analyzuje detektivní román The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Stuarta Turtona z hlediska současných diskusí o povaze vtěleného vědomí, osobní identity a propojení těla a mysli. Využívá k tomu přístup neurověd, narativní teorii subjektu, pojetí pre-narativního sebevědomí, transpersonální psychologii a východní filozofické přístupy. Ukazuje tak možnosti populárního žánru reflektovat a zpracovávat filozofické otázky vztahu těla a mysli k alternativnímu chápání vtěleného vědomí.	detektivka; vtělené vědomí; vztah tělo-mysl; narativní subjekt; subjektivní vědomí
eng	Geography of the Narrative Self in Stuart Turton’s The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle	This paper examines how Stuart Turton’s The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (2018) engages in ongoing debates concerning embodied consciousness and personal identity yet to be resolved by current theories linking mind and body. The analysis integrates a neuroscientific approach (Greenfield), narrative self theory (Dennett, Schechtman), pre-narrative self-consciousness (Zahavi), embodied narrative (Brandon), transpersonal psychology (Grof), and Eastern philosophical concepts (Blackmore, Watts) with close textual analysis to study how Turton’s protagonist navigates self-definition across multiple bodily experiences. His behaviour and actions are influenced by emotions, skills and reasoning that he perceives as temporarily acquired from the body and mind of his current ‘host’. Although initially it may appear paradoxical, Turton’s narrative constructs a complex geography of personal identity, suggesting that consciousness persists independently of specific embodiment, while remaining fundamentally shaped by bodily experience. This paper examines the capacity of speculative fiction to engage with philosophical problems of the mind-body relationship and to advocate for alternative approaches to selfhood and embodied consciousness.	crime fiction; embodiment; mind-body relationship; narrative self; speculative; subjective consciousness