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Destigmatising mental illness through mind style: A cognitive stylistic analysis of Matthew Quick’s Silver Linings Playbook (2008)
Author(s)
Date Issued
2026
Conference
Citation
Cheung, K. Y. (16 Jan 2026). Destigmatising mental illness through mind style: A cognitive stylistic analysis of Matthew Quick’s Silver Linings Playbook (2008). Applied Stylistics Symposium 2026, Aston University, UK.
Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
This paper explores the value of applying cognitive stylistics to health humanities and anti-stigma work through an analysis of Matthew Quick’s novel Silver Linings Playbook (2008), placed in specific contrast to the 2012 film adaptation. Nadel & Negra (2014) show how the film spectacularises the protagonist’s distress, framing him as an exotic object of study through voyeuristic devices. This paper explores how, by contrast, the novel’s sustained first-person narration, with its distinctive mind-style features, evokes different reader responses, enabling them to empathise with the protagonist’s undiagnosed neurodivergent consciousness.
Mind-style features discussed in the paper include repetitive syntax, language of sensory overload, personal causal conditional reasoning, and pragmatic failure. Using a three-layer framework (interpersonal/social, intrapersonal/psychological, meta-narrative) informed by Mad Studies and neurodiversity scholarship, the analysis considers how these mind-style features (1) authenticate lived experience without medical labelling, (2) expose everyday linguistic stigma, and (3) trigger epistemic shifts for character and reader.
On a larger scale, the paper suggests that cognitive stylistic analysis can help mental health professionals and educators notice how literary language shapes perceptions of neurodivergence. By examining specific mind-style features in the novel, it offers practical examples of how narrative perspective impacts empathy and reader response.
Mind-style features discussed in the paper include repetitive syntax, language of sensory overload, personal causal conditional reasoning, and pragmatic failure. Using a three-layer framework (interpersonal/social, intrapersonal/psychological, meta-narrative) informed by Mad Studies and neurodiversity scholarship, the analysis considers how these mind-style features (1) authenticate lived experience without medical labelling, (2) expose everyday linguistic stigma, and (3) trigger epistemic shifts for character and reader.
On a larger scale, the paper suggests that cognitive stylistic analysis can help mental health professionals and educators notice how literary language shapes perceptions of neurodivergence. By examining specific mind-style features in the novel, it offers practical examples of how narrative perspective impacts empathy and reader response.
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