Books by Per Durst-Andersen

The book offers a completely new view of language and of languages such as Russian, Chinese, Bulgarian, Georgian, Danish and English by dividing them into three supertypes on the basis of a step-by-step examination of their relationship to perception and cognition, their representation of situations and their use in oral and written discourse. The dynamic processing of visual stimuli involves three stages: input (experience), intake (understanding) and outcome (a combination). The very choice among three modalities of existence gives a language a certain voice -- either the voice of reality based on situations, the speaker's voice involving experiences or the hearer's voice grounded on information. This makes grammar a prime index: all symbols are static and impotent and need a vehicle, i.e. grammar, which can bring them to the proper point of reference. Language is shown to be a living organism with a determinant category, aspect, mood or tense, which conquers territory from other potential competitors trying to create harmony between verbal and nominal categories. It is demonstrated that the communication processes are different in the three supertypes, although in all three cases the speaker must choose between a public and a private voice before the grammar is put into use.

Mentality and Thought – North, South, East and West presents the reader with an informed pluri-disciplinary discussion of the concept of mentality, its relevance and its interconnection with culture past and present, on the one hand, and cognition and mental frames on the other. Each of the four parts of the book offers insights gained from applying a particular perspective: historiography and linguistics in “Part One: Towards an Understanding of Mentality and Its Foundations”; Indian and European epistemology and ontology in “Part Two: Fundamentals of Mentality”; cultural and political representations in “Part Three: Area Studies in Mentality” and in “Part Four: National studies in Mentality”. The book is of relevance to scholars as well as students interested in the interplay between culture, mentality and cognition. The authors all belong to the faculty of the Copenhagen business school: Per Durst-Andersen and Søren Brier of the center for language, cognition and mentality; Liv Egholm Feldt, Per Øhrgaard and Jacob Egholm Feldt of the international center for business and politics; Michael Herslund of the center for the study of Europe; Niels Bjerre-Poulsen and Jan Gustafsson from the center for the study of the Americas; Malene Djursaa, Lisbeth Verstraete-Hansen, Mette Skovgaard-Andersen and Carsten Humlebæk from the department of international culture and communication studies, and Verner Worm of the Asia research center.