Fiction and Art

Ananta Sukla is a former Professor and Head of the Department of English at Sambalpur University and Visiting Professor at the Institute of Aesthetics, University of Uppsala, Sweden. His publications include Art and Representation (2001), Art and Experience (2003), Art and Essence (2003), and Art and Expression (2011).

In recent years, philosophers have devoted increasing attention to issues in the conceptuality of fiction. What is fiction? How does it differ from other forms of writing? To what extent can works of fiction convey truth? These are just some questions taken up in Fiction and Art—a collection that brings together 26 original essays by scholars of philosophy, literature, performing arts, and classical studies. Organized into four parts, the volume considers the role fiction plays not only in our conscious lives but also as a bearer of truth. Part 1 is devoted to historical perspectives; part 2, to interdisciplinary perspectives; part 3 examines the role of fiction in aesthetic culture; and part 4 looks at fiction in four Eastern cultures—Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic. One strength of this collection is the wide range of the contributors' backgrounds. As one might expect, analytic philosophy is well represented, but so too are Continental philosophy, postmodernism, and feminism. Sukla (English, Sambalpur Univ., India) has done a wonderful job of bringing together truly diverse essays. The collection will be of special interest to those doing interdisciplinary work on contemporary philosophy of art and fiction. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

• DedicationAcknowledgementsIntroductionAnanta SuklaI. Historical Perspectives1. Fiction’s False StartDavid Konstan2. The Poetic Pragmatics of Greek Myths: Referential Fiction and Ritual Performance Claude CalameII. Interdisciplinary Perspectives3. Fictionality of the Absolute:On Truth and Lie in the Metaphysical and Aesthetic SensePeter Heron4. Mathematical FictionsJody Azzouni5. Why Suicide Bomber Bombs: Fictionality of RitualsIvan Strenski6. Fiction and HistoryAllen Speight7. Cognitive Value of (Literary) FictionRobert Stecker 8. Fiction, Cognition, and ConfusionJukka Mikkonen9. Epistemology and Fiction: Thought Experiments in Personal IdentityAleks Zarnitsyn10. Semantics of Fiction: Naming and Metonymy Carl Ehrett11. The Fictional Truth: Nonfiction and NarrationSarah Worth12. Fiction as a Creative ProcessAmanda Garcia 13. Fiction and Emotion:The Relation of Consciousness to the Economy of EvolutionSamuel Kimball III. Aesthetic Perspectives14. How to Reach Fictional WorldsLubomír Doležel15. Literature, Fictionality, and the Illusion of Self-PresenceSamuel Kimball16. Judicial Fiction and Literary Fiction: The Example of the Factum Christian Biet17. Pictorial Fiction: Imagination and Power of Picasso’s ImagesCharles Altieri18. Sonic Fiction: The Truth in MusicGeraldine Finn19. Gestural Fiction: DanceRenee Conroy20. Fictionality of theTheatrical PerformanceRoderick Nicholls21. Fictionality in Film and PhotographyDavid Fenner22. Fictions Sharing SubjectivityRob van GerwenIV. Oriental Perspectives23. Fundamentals of Fiction in Indian Mythology, Poetics and DramaturgyAnanta Sukla24. Fiction in the Chinese Mythical and Literary TraditionsAmy Lee25. Truth and Fiction in the Japanese Narrative:Sakaguchi Ango’s Critique of the I-Novel Robert Steen26. Fiction in the Medieval Arabic Literary TraditionArkady NedelA Concluding NoteAnanta SuklaIntegrated Bibliography and Works CitedIndex