COGNITIVE OSCILLATIONS IN LATE-CENTURY FICTION: A QUANTITATIVE AFFECTIVE ANALYSIS OF POST-IRONY AND THE SUBLIME IN STEPHEN KING'S THE GREEN MILE

Abstract

This article examines the interaction of cognitive oscillation, post-ironic sensibility, and the sublime in Stephen King’s The Green Mile. It investigates how narrative shifts between skepticism, compassion, horror, and wonder shape readers’ interpretations of justice, suffering, and moral responsibility. Drawing on affect theory, irony studies, and aesthetic theories of the sublime, the analysis combines close reading with a structured affective coding framework. Particular attention is paid to John Coffey’s healing abilities, the execution chamber, and Paul Edgecombe’s retrospective narration. The study argues that emotional contradictions destabilize conventional distinctions between horror and tenderness, encouraging readers to reconsider institutional authority and ethical judgment