Verbal Art : A Philosophy of Literature and Literary Experience

Anders Pettersson presents a comprehensive account of the foundations of literature, grounded in an original analysis of the interactions between author and reader. Drawing on post-Gricean pragmatics and Nicholas Wolterstorff's notion of presentationality, Pettersson develops the idea of the verbal text and conveys an integrated and nuanced understanding of literary experience, its conditions, and the values it affords. In the second part of Verbal Art he systematically examines the cognitive, affective, and formal aspects of the literary work and explores their interrelations.Pettersson demonstrates the implications and applications of the theory through a series of detailed studies of literary works, taking care to show that his theory is compatible with a broad variety of perspectives. Combining an intimate knowledge of modern literary theory and the aesthetics of literature with innovative applications of linguistics and cognitive psychology to the literary work, he provides a thorough treatment of fundamental problems in the area, including the concept of a text or work, the concept of form, and the distinctiveness of the literary use of language. Contents 5 Figures 7 Acknowledgments 9 Introduction 13 1 Psychological Considerations 29 2 LiteratureÌs Relevance to the Reader 45 3 Presentational Communication 70 4 Meaning and Text 93 5 Conveyed Thoughts in Literature 115 6 The ReaderÌs Thematization and Application 156 7 Literature and Feelings 192 8 A Poem: Gunnar EkelàfÌs Ï But Somewhere ElseÓ 239 9 Form in Literature 261 10 Traditional Ideas about Literary Form 276 Concluding Remarks: On the Nature of LiteratureÌs Autonomy 294 Notes 311 Bibliography 359 Index 377 Anders Pettersson. Includes (p. [349]-366) And Index.