Göran Rossholm Livres

The present volume is a contribution to the theory of narrative by scholars from various disciplines, mainly scholars from Comparative Literature but also contributors from Philosophy, Psychology and the languages. The essays focus on central terms and concepts in narrative theory over the last forty years. Established narratological concepts, such as narrative, narrator, story, fiction, character, narrative (un)reliability and point of view, but also relational concepts motivated by the expansion of narratology, such as narrative and non-verbal media, narrative and personal identity and narrative and literary genre, are themes dealt with. In addition to presenting a critical examination of the core concepts of narrative theory, the volume is a demonstration of the vigour of contemporary Nordic narrative theory. The authors work at universities in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway and Sweden, and they all belong to the Nordic Network of Narrative Studies.

This study explores the interrelated concepts of interpretation, iconicity, and fiction in art and literary narratives. It adopts two perspectives: a semiotic approach that examines what a work of art represents and a psychological perspective that considers audience interpretation. The book engages with contemporary research in analytic aesthetics and narratology, drawing particularly on Nelson Goodman’s symbol theory to develop new concepts related to interpretation, iconicity, and fictionality. The first section addresses key literary theory questions, including the meaning of "intentional interpretation," the connection between literary interpretation and everyday discourse as analyzed by Paul Grice, and the placement of aesthetic interpretation within broader interpretive practices. These discussions provide conceptual tools for the subsequent sections. The second part introduces the idea of pictorial representation, extending it to verbal and literary contexts, such as temporal matching, quotation, and narrative point of view. The final section examines recent philosophical perspectives on fictionality, contributing to a deeper understanding of these interconnected themes.