Fictional Worlds

In this beautiful book Pavel provides a poetics of the imaginary worlds of fiction, their properties and their reason for being. He notes that structuralism started as a project to infuse new life into literary studies through the devices of linguistics. That project undercut referential issues, however, and is now obsolete. Pavel argues that what matters about fiction is its relation to the human capacity of invention and the complex requirements of imagination. He moves decisively beyond the constraints of formalism and textualism toward a diverse theory of fiction that is sensitive to both literary and philosophical concerns. Along the way he takes its through special landscapes that reveal the inextricability of art, religion, and myth.

Publisher: Harvard University Press
Date Published: 1986 (1st Ed.)
Book Condition: Near fine hardcover with minimal wear to board edges. Minor surface, edge wear and corner chipping to dust jacket. Otherwise, a near fine and unmarked copy internally.