Essentials of the Theory of Fiction
3rd Edition
Published on 6. July 2005
Book
Paperback/Softback
520 pages
978-0-8223-3521-4 (ISBN)
Description
What accounts for the power of stories to both entertain and illuminate? This question has long compelled the attention of storytellers and students of literature alike, and over the past several decades it has opened up broader dialogues about the nature of culture and interpretation. This third edition of the bestselling Essentials of the Theory of Fiction provides a comprehensive view of the theory of fiction from the nineteenth century through modernism and postmodernism to the present. It offers a sample of major theories of fictional technique while emphasizing recent developments in literary criticism. The essays cover a variety of topics, including voice, point of view, narration, sequencing, gender, and race. Ten new selections address issues such as oral memory in African American fiction, temporality, queer theory, magical realism, interactive narratives, and the effect of virtual technologies on literature. For students and generalists alike, Essentials of the Theory of Fiction is an invaluable resource for understanding how fiction works.Contributors. M. M. Bakhtin, John Barth, Roland Barthes, Wayne Booth, John Brenkman, Peter Brooks, Catherine Burgass, Seymour Chatman, J. Yellowlees Douglas, Rachel Blau DuPlessis, Wendy B. Faris, Barbara Foley, E. M. Forster, Joseph Frank, Joanne S. Frye, William H. Gass, Henry Louis Gates Jr., GErard Genette, Ursula K. Heise, Michael J. Hoffman, Linda Hutcheon, Henry James, Susan S. Lanser, Helen Lock, Georg LukAcs, Patrick D. Murphy, Ruth Ronen, Joseph Tabbi, Jon Thiem, Tzvetan Todorov, Virginia Woolf
More details
Edition
Third Edition, Revised
Language
English
Place of publication
North Carolina
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
New edition
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
787 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8223-3521-4 (9780822335214)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Michael J. Hoffman | Patrick D. Murphy
Essentials of the Theory of Fiction
E-Book
07/2005
1st Edition
De Gruyter
€238.99
Available for download
Previous edition
Patrick D. Murphy | Michael J. Hoffman
Essentials of the Theory of Fiction, 2nd ed.
Book
11/1996
Duke University Press
€52.18
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Persons
Michael J. Hoffman is Professor Emeritus of English at the University of California, Davis. Among his books are Critical Essays on Gertrude Stein and The Subversive Vision: American Romanticism in Literature.
Patrick D. Murphy is Professor of English at the University of Central Florida, Orlando. His most recent books are Farther Afield in the Study of Nature-Oriented Literature and A Place for Wayfaring: The Poetry and Prose of Gary Snyder.
Patrick D. Murphy is Professor of English at the University of Central Florida, Orlando. His most recent books are Farther Afield in the Study of Nature-Oriented Literature and A Place for Wayfaring: The Poetry and Prose of Gary Snyder.
Content
Preface to the Third Edition vii
Introduction 1
1. The Art of Fiction / Henry James 13
2. Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown / Virginia Woolf 21
3. Flat and Round Characters / E. M. Forster 35
4. Epic and Novel / M. M. Bakhtin 43
5. Spatial Form in Modern Literature / Joseph Frank 61
6. Writing and the Novel / Roland Barthes 75
7. Distance and Point of View: An Essay in Classification / Wayne Booth 83
8. Marxist Aesthetics and Literary Realism / Georg Lukas 101
9. The Concept of Character in Fiction / William H. Gass 113
10. Time and Narrative in A la recherche du temps perdu / Gerard Genette 212
11. Discourse: Nonnarrated Stories / Seymour Chatman 139
12. Reading as Construction / Tzvetan Todorov 152
13. The Literature of Replenishment / John Barth 165
14. The Blackness of Blackness: A Critique on the Sign and the
Signifying Monkey / Henry Louis Gates Jr. 177
15. Reading for the Plot / Peter Brooks 201
16. Breaking the Sentence; Breaking the Sequence / Rachel Blau Duplessis 221
17. The Documentary Novel and the Problem of Borders / Barbara Foley 239
18. Politics, Literary Form, and a Feminist Poetics of the Novel / Joanne S. Frye 255
19. "The Pastime of Past Time": Fiction, History, Historiographical
Metafiction / Linda Hutcheon 275
20. "Building Up from Fragments": The Oral Memory Process in Some Recent African-American Written Narratives / Helen Lock 297
21. Scheherazade's Children: Magical Realism and Postmodern Fiction / Wendy B. Faris 311
22. The Textualization of the Reader in Magical Realist Fiction / Jon Thiem 339
23. Are Fictional Worlds Possible? / Ruth Ronen 351
24. Chronoschisms / Ursula K. Heise 361
25. Queering Narratology / Susan S. Lanser 387
26. A Brief Story of Postmodern Plot / Cathrine Burgass 399
27. On Voice / John Brenkman 411
28. What Interactive Narratives Do That Print Narratives Cannot / J. Yellowlees Douglas 443
29. A Media Migration: Toward a Potential Literature / Joseph Tabbi 471
Biographical Notes 491
Permissions 495
Index 499
Introduction 1
1. The Art of Fiction / Henry James 13
2. Mr. Bennett and Mrs. Brown / Virginia Woolf 21
3. Flat and Round Characters / E. M. Forster 35
4. Epic and Novel / M. M. Bakhtin 43
5. Spatial Form in Modern Literature / Joseph Frank 61
6. Writing and the Novel / Roland Barthes 75
7. Distance and Point of View: An Essay in Classification / Wayne Booth 83
8. Marxist Aesthetics and Literary Realism / Georg Lukas 101
9. The Concept of Character in Fiction / William H. Gass 113
10. Time and Narrative in A la recherche du temps perdu / Gerard Genette 212
11. Discourse: Nonnarrated Stories / Seymour Chatman 139
12. Reading as Construction / Tzvetan Todorov 152
13. The Literature of Replenishment / John Barth 165
14. The Blackness of Blackness: A Critique on the Sign and the
Signifying Monkey / Henry Louis Gates Jr. 177
15. Reading for the Plot / Peter Brooks 201
16. Breaking the Sentence; Breaking the Sequence / Rachel Blau Duplessis 221
17. The Documentary Novel and the Problem of Borders / Barbara Foley 239
18. Politics, Literary Form, and a Feminist Poetics of the Novel / Joanne S. Frye 255
19. "The Pastime of Past Time": Fiction, History, Historiographical
Metafiction / Linda Hutcheon 275
20. "Building Up from Fragments": The Oral Memory Process in Some Recent African-American Written Narratives / Helen Lock 297
21. Scheherazade's Children: Magical Realism and Postmodern Fiction / Wendy B. Faris 311
22. The Textualization of the Reader in Magical Realist Fiction / Jon Thiem 339
23. Are Fictional Worlds Possible? / Ruth Ronen 351
24. Chronoschisms / Ursula K. Heise 361
25. Queering Narratology / Susan S. Lanser 387
26. A Brief Story of Postmodern Plot / Cathrine Burgass 399
27. On Voice / John Brenkman 411
28. What Interactive Narratives Do That Print Narratives Cannot / J. Yellowlees Douglas 443
29. A Media Migration: Toward a Potential Literature / Joseph Tabbi 471
Biographical Notes 491
Permissions 495
Index 499