Why Fiction? (Hardcover)

In Why Fiction?—one of the most important works of narrative theory to come out of France in recent years—Jean-Marie Schaeffer understands fiction not as a literary genre but, in contrast to all other literary theorists, as a genre of life. The result is arguably the first systematic refutation of Plato’s polemic against fiction and a persuasive argument for regarding fiction as having a cognitive function. For Schaeffer fiction includes not only narrative fiction but also children’s games, videos, film, drama, certain kinds of painting, opera—in short, all the intentional structures arising from shared imaginative reality. Because video games and cyber-technologies are the new sites of entry for many children into such an imagined universe, studying these cyber-fictions has become integral to our understanding of fiction. Through these avenues, Schaeffer also explores the foundations of mimeticism in order to explain the important effect fiction has on human beings. His work thus establishes fiction as a universal aspect of human culture and offers a profound and resounding answer to the question: Why fiction?

General

Imprint:	University of Nebraska Press
Country of origin:	United States
Series:	Stages
Release date:	July 2010
First published:	July 2010
Authors:	Jean-Marie Schaeffer
Translators:	Dorrit Cohn
Dimensions:	216 x 140 x 31mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover - Cloth over boards
Pages:	384
ISBN-13:	978-0-8032-1758-4
Categories:	Books Promotions
LSN:	0-8032-1758-7
Barcode:	9780803217584

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!