Possible Worlds Theory and Contemporary Narratology (Frontiers of Narrative)

Possible Worlds Theory and Contemporary Narratology (Frontiers of Narrative)

by Alice Bell (Editor), Alice Bell (Editor), Marie-Laure Ryan (Editor)

Synopsis

The notion of possible worlds has played a decisive role in postclassical narratology by awakening interest in the nature of fictionality and in emphasizing the notion of world as a source of aesthetic experience in narrative texts. As a theory concerned with the opposition between the actual world that we belong to and possible worlds created by the imagination, possible worlds theory has made significant contributions to narratology.

Possible Worlds Theory and Contemporary Narratology updates the field of possible worlds theory and postclassical narratology by developing this theoretical framework further and applying it to a range of contemporary literary narratives. This volume systematically outlines the theoretical underpinnings of the possible worlds approach, provides updated methods for analyzing fictional narrative, and profiles those methods via the analysis of a range of different texts, including contemporary fiction, digital fiction, video games, graphic novels, historical narratives, and dramatic texts. Through the variety of its contributions, including those by three originators of the subject area-Lubomir Dolezel, Thomas Pavel, and Marie-Laure Ryan-Possible Worlds Theory and Contemporary Narratology demonstrates the vitality and versatility of one of the most vibrant strands of contemporary narrative theory.

$76.59

Quantity

20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Illustrated
Pages: 354
Edition: Illustrated
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Published: 01 Jan 2019

ISBN 10: 0803294999
ISBN 13: 9780803294998

Media Reviews
This book is a masterly summary of the progress made so far in the application of possible worlds theory to narratology and a valuable indicator of the many fascinating and thought-provoking directions in which research can be taken in the future. This book should be read by everyone with an interest in narrative theory. -Alan Palmer, author of Fictional Minds -- Alan Palmer
This collection is likely to become a kind of one-stop shop for scholars working on a range of related problems at the forefront of current narrative research: fictionality, digital media, transfictionality and transmediality, post-postmodernism, the poetics of science fiction and fantasy, [and more]. -Brian McHale, Distinguished Humanities Professor of English at Ohio State University -- Brian McHale
Author Bio
Alice Bell is a reader in English language and literature at Sheffield Hallam University in England. She is the author of The Possible Worlds of Hypertext Fiction and the coeditor of Analyzing Digital Fiction. Marie-Laure Ryan is an independent scholar and the laureate of the 2017 Wayne Booth Prize for Lifetime Achievement from the International Society for the Study of Narrative. She is the author and editor of numerous books and is the coauthor of Storyworlds across Media: Toward a Media-Conscious Narratology (Nebraska, 2014).