Ethos and narrative interpretation : the negotiation of values in fiction / Liesbeth Korthals Altes ; designed by A. Shahan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Korthals Altes, Liesbeth, author.

Contributor:

Shahan, A., designer.

Series:

Frontiers of narrative series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fiction--History and criticism.

Fiction.

Values in literature.

Narration (Rhetoric).

Rhetoric--Moral and ethical aspects.

Rhetoric.

Literature and morals.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (619 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Lincoln, [Nebraska] : University of Nebraska Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"Examines the relevance of the concept of ethos for analyzing processes of literary interpretation to address the question of what exactly narratology does, or should want to do"-- Provided by publisher.

"Ethos and Narrative Interpretation examines the fruitfulness of the concept of ethos for the theory and analysis of literary narrative. The notion of ethos refers to the broadly persuasive effects of the image one may have of a speaker's psychology, world view, and emotional or ethical stance. How and why do readers attribute an ethos (of, for example, sincerity, reliability, authority, or irony) to literary characters, narrators, and even to authors? Are there particular conditions under which it is more appropriate for interpreters to attribute an ethos to authors, rather than to narrators? In the answer Liesbeth Korthals Altes proposes to such questions, ethos attributions are deeply implicated in the process of interpreting and evaluating narrative texts. Demonstrating the extent to which ethos attributions, and hence, interpretive acts, play a tacit role in many methods of narratological analysis, Korthals Altes also questions the agenda and epistemological status of various narratologies, both classical and post-classical. Her approach, rooted in a broad understanding of the role and circulation of narrative art in culture, rehabilitates interpretation, both as a tool and as an object of investigation in narrative studies. "-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover; Series Page; Title Page; Copyright Page; Contents; Preface; Why Ethos?; Part 1. Ethos, Narrative, and the Social Construction of Meanings and Values; 1. Literary Interpretation, Ethos Attributions, and the Negotiation of Values in Culture; 2. Ethos as a Social Construction; Part 2. Ethos in Narratology; 3. Narratology between Hermeneutics and Cognitive Science; 4. Key Concepts Revised; 5. Whose Ethos?; Part 3. Further Explorations; 6. Generic Framing and Authorial Ethos; 7. Sincerity and Other Ironies; On Narrative, Ethos, and Ethics; Notes; Works Cited; Index; About the Author

Series List

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780803255609

0803255608

9780803255593

0803255594

OCLC:

880964196