Department of "Stick to sawing animals in half, please."

Notes on Christine Boyko-Head 's review of Brian Boyd's "On the Origin of Stories: Evolution, Cognition and Fiction (2009)"

New book on evolutionary theory of art. (reviewed by Boyko-Head at the Arbuturian)

...his evolutionary criticism provides a fresh lens through which readers can critically engage with art. But, more significantly, he provides scientific justification for practitioners working to save art from the financial chopping block. Esoteric arguments for art in education, the value of play in schools, creativity in the workforce and in communities now can rest upon a biocultural theory that states such practices “aid the evolution of cooperation and the growth of human mental flexibility”

Written on the book jacket is the statement that the ability to hold an audience’s attention is the fundamental challenge facing all storytellers. Later in the book, Boyd says “works of art need to attract and arouse audiences before they mean”