Geography of the Narrative Self in Stuart Turton’s The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
American & British Studies Annual December 16, 2025 Elzbieta Perkowska-Gawlik
Speculative fiction can engage with unresolved philosophical debates about embodied consciousness and personal identity. An analysis of Stuart Turton's novel The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle integrates neuroscientific, narrative self, pre-narrative self-consciousness, embodied narrative, transpersonal psychology, and Eastern philosophical concepts. The protagonist's behavior is influenced by emotions, skills, and reasoning temporarily acquired from each host's body and mind. The narrative constructs a complex geography of personal identity, suggesting that consciousness persists independently of specific embodiment while remaining fundamentally shaped by bodily experience. The paper advocates for alternative approaches to selfhood and embodied consciousness through speculative fiction.