Imagining a Sequel to The Rhetoric of Fiction (original) (raw)
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Literary Fictions as Utterances and Artworks
During the last decades, there has been a debate on the question whether literary works are utterances, or have utterance meaning, and whether it is reasonable to approach them as such. Proponents of the utterance model in literary interpretation, whom I will refer to as "utterance theorists", such as Noël Carroll and especially Robert Stecker, suggest that because of their nature as linguistic products of intentional human action, literary works are utterances similar to those used in everyday discourse. Conversely, those whom I will refer to as "appreciation theorists", such as Stein Haugom Olsen and Peter Lamarque, argue that literary works are by no means comparable to conversational utterances, and treating them in terms of utterances mistakenly dismisses their literary features. The aim of this article is twofold: to defend a central aspect of the utterance theory and to reconcile the two main positions about central issues in the debate on the meaning of literary works. On the one hand, I shall argue that it is both legitimate and reasonable to discuss the utterance meaning of a literary work on the basis of an interpretative approach interested in the author's "message". My aim is to show that literary works should be considered utterances in a conversational approach which aims at examining the illocutionary actions conveyed through the work. On the other hand, I attempt both to show that there are various legitimate interpretative approaches which are governed by the interpreter's purposes, and to suggest that the debate between utterance theorists and appreciation theorists is actually about merely different emphases.
2002
I wish to thank many people for their support and assistance in the writing of this thesis. I would like to thank my supervisor, Kate Lilley, for her advice, encouragement, and detailed and constructive comments on my work. I am indebted to her for providing the intellectual environment in which I was able to develop an eclectic and interdisciplinary thesis. I thank Melissa Hardie, who was a helpful acting supervisor, and valuable discussant throughout, and Dr Margaret Rogerson and Dr Adrian Mitchell for their assistance. Meaghan Morris has given me tremendous support and sage advice over this period and I thank her also. I wish to thank my parents, John Docker and Ann Curthoys, for their tremendous intellectual and emotional support over a long period. I could not have done this thesis without them. I feel special gratitude to Sarah Irving for all her love and inspiration over the critical latter stages of this project. Jane Bennett and Bill Connolly provided stimulating and timely suggestions, and were generous hosts during my research on Hannah Arendt in the United States. I thank Desley Deacon for her friendship and her abiding interest in my ideas. Many people have played a role in bringing this thesis about, through their friendship, conversation, and feedback. I would like to thank Alex Wolfson for our long friendship, his good humour and support. I thank my good friend Zora Simic for reading and providing insightful commentary on sections of the thesis and Monique Rooney for her continuing assistance. Many thanks to Dirk Moses, who has consistently provided me with research materials and enthusiastic intellectual conversation, and to Marina Bollinger, who has been an enthusiastic participant in discussions about rhetoric, and has greatly contributed to my historical approach.
Narrative as rhetoric: Technique, audiences, ethics, ideology
1996
In Narrative as Rhetoric, James Phelan explores the Preface xiii Preston. These people have each provided crucial material support and invaluable criticism and advice; without them, this book would be a lesser thing. To Peter J. Rabinowitz, I owe a special thanks: he read it all-much of it more than once-with a wonderful combina tion of generosity and rigor, and then took the time to walk me through his responses. In short, he exemplified what it means to enter into an authorial audience without losing oneself in the process. Fi nally, I am thankful for the rhetorical community in which I find most favor, that provided by my wife, Betty Menaghan, and our two chil dren, Katie and Mike; this one is for all of you. Different versions of the following chapters have appeared, in whole or in part, in the following publications. I thank all of them for permis sion to reprint. Chapter 1 as "Character and Judgment in Narrative and in Lyric: Toward an Understanding of Audience Engagement in The Waves."