Fiction and Narrative

by Derek Matravers

For the past twenty years there has been a virtual consensus in philosophy that there is a special link between fiction and the imagination. In particular, fiction has been defined in terms of the what it is for something to be fictional is that there is some requirement that a reader imagine it. Derek Matravers argues that this rests on a mistake; the proffered definitions of 'the imagination' do not link it with fiction but with representations more generally. In place of the flawed consensus, he offers an account of what it is to read, listen to, or watch a narrative whether that narrative is fictional or non-fictional. The view that emerges, which draws extensively on work in psychology, downgrades the divide between fiction and non-fiction and largely dispenses with the imagination. In the process, he casts new light on a succession of on the 'paradox of fiction', on the issue of fictional narrators, on the problem of 'imaginative resistance', and on the
nature of our engagement with film.

180 pages, Hardcover

First published April 21, 2014

Reviews

[Zach Rzicznek · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do not normally write reviews, but I feel obligated to do so, here. Though the information presented in this book is certainly interesting and useful, its organization, or lack thereof, made its reading unnecessarily frustrating. It almost seems as if Matravers converted a dissertation, albeit poorly, into this work. If you are a scholar of narrative and fiction, or are interested in a heavy critique of philosopher, Kendall Walton, then I suggest at least skimming through it. I do not see myself using this book again at any point in my future.