Narrativity and Fictionality: Are Storytellers Telling the Truth?
Narrativity and Fictionality: Are Storytellers Telling the Truth?

Summary/Abstract: The article introduces a few theoretical proposals concerning the problem of truth in fiction, an aspect imported into literary theory from a philosophical context. From a “picture picture” of language to language as a game, the referential power of language is debated with a view to establishing its relevance for a theory of fiction. The segregationist approach proposed by Frege and Russell is balanced by that of Searle and offered a satisfactory resolution from Lewis’ possible world perspective. Moreover, a pragmatist such as Rorty sees the mutual benefit deriving from a Parmenidean tradition of factuality for a literary culture whose experimental nature constantly questions a seemingly solid relationship between language and the world.

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