Only imagine : fiction, interpretation and imagination / Kathleen Stock.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stock, Kathleen, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fiction--History and criticism--Theory, etc.

Fiction.

Imagination in literature.

Truth in literature.

Physical Description:

222 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2017.

Summary:

Only Imagine offers a new theory of fictional content or, as it is sometimes known, 'fictional truth', which will be of interest to philosophers, those working in literary studies, and anyone else interested in the theoretical side of fiction. Kathleen Stock argues for a controversial view known as 'extreme intentionalism'; the idea that the content of a particular work of fiction is equivalent to exactly what the author of the work intended the reader to imagine. Historically this sort of view has been unpopular with both literary theorists and philosophers. The first half of this book argues that this should be taken very seriously as an adequate account of fictional truth: better, in fact, than many of its more popular rivals. The second half explores various explanatory benefits of extreme intentionalism for other issues in the philosophy of fiction and imagination, engaging in contemporary debates whilst describing these clearly for the uninitiated. For example, can fiction give us reliable knowledge? Why do we 'resist' imagining certain fictions? Are there any limits to what we can imagine? What, in fact, is a fiction? And how should the imagination be characterized? Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Extreme Intentionalism about Fictional Content 13

2 Intentionalist Strategies of Interpretation 45

3 Extreme Intentionalism and its Rivals 82

4 Fiction, Belief, and 'Imaginative Resistance' 114

5 The Nature of Fiction 145

6 Back to the Imagination 175.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version : Stock, Kathleen, Only imagine : fiction, interpretation and imagination

ISBN:

0198798342

9780198798347

OCLC:

987358926