With Possible Worlds of Fiction and History, Lubomir Dole el reexamines the claim-made first by Roland Barthes and then popularized by Hayden White-that "there is no fundamental distinction between fiction and history." Dole el rejects this assertion and demonstrates how literary and discourse theory can help the historian to restate the difference between fiction and history. He challenges scholars to reassess the postmodern viewpoint by reintroducing the idea of possible worlds. Possible-worlds semantics reveals that possible worlds of fiction and possible worlds of history differ in their origins, cultural functions, and structural and semantic features. Dole el's book is the first systematic application of this idea to the theory and philosophy of history. Possible Worlds of Fiction and History is the crowning work of one of literary theory's most engaged thinkers.
About the AuthorLubomir Dole el is professor emeritus of comparative literature at the University of Toronto and author of Heterocosmica: Fiction and Possible Worlds, also published by Johns Hopkins.
Book InformationISBN 9780801894633
Author Lubomir DolezelFormat Hardback
Page Count 184
Imprint Johns Hopkins University PressPublisher Johns Hopkins University Press
Weight(grams) 386g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 18mm