Combining Possible-Worlds Theory and Cognitive Theory: Towards an Explanatory Model for Ironic-Unreliable Narration, Ironic-Unreliable Focalization, Ambiguous- Unreliable and Alterated-Unreliable Narration in Literary Fiction

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Vogt
Keyword(s):  
Possible Worlds ◽  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
Explanatory Model ◽  
Literary Fiction ◽  
Possible Worlds Theory ◽  
Unreliable Narration

scholarly journals ‘Your duplicitous point of view’: Delayed revelations of hypothetical focalisation in Ian McEwan’s Atonement and Sweet Tooth

2021 ◽  
pp. 096394702110097
Author(s):  
Naomi Adam
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Possible Worlds ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Possible Worlds Theory ◽  
Ian Mcewan

Framed by cognitive-poetic and possible worlds theories, this article explores two 21st century novels by the British postmodernist author Ian McEwan. Building upon Ryan’s (1991) seminal conceptualisation of the theory in relation to literature and using the novels as case studies, possible worlds theory is used to explain the unique and destabilising stylistic effects at play in the texts, which result in a ‘duplicitous point of view’ and consequent disorientation for the reader. With reference to the stylistically deviant texts of McEwan, it is argued that revisions to current theoretical frameworks are warranted. Most significantly, the concepts of suppositious text-possible worlds and (total) frame readjustment are introduced. Further to this, neuropsychiatric research is applied to the novels, highlighting the potential for interdisciplinary overlap in the study of narrative focalisation. It is concluded that the duplicity integral to both novels’ themes and texture is effected through artful use of hypothetical focalisation and suppositious text-possible worlds.

Miracula s. Willehadi: Prospects for Studying “Unreliable” Sources

Istoriya ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8 (106)) ◽  
pp. 0
Author(s):  
Yulia Arnautova
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
Literary Fiction ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Communicative Intent ◽  
Pragmatic Function

The article deals with the heuristic potential of early medieval collections of saints' miracles (libri miraculorum, miracula) which are rarely studied in anthropologically oriented historiography, because they are literary fiction and, unlike the 12—17th century miracula, cannot serve as sources for studying folk piety or everyday life. Using the example of St. Willehadi's miracles (Miracula s. Willehadi, 860—865) by Bishop Ansgar of Bremen, the article analyzes the possibility of involving texts considered “unreliable” in terms of the facts described in them, within the framework of the cognitive theory of communication. The approach to the miraculous text as a message containing meaning-generating representations, which have a distinctly expressed communicative intent, allows to reassess its content, which in traditional studies is usually devalued as “hagiographic topics”, and to establish the pragmatic function of the text (causa scribendi), which is not always limited to the proof of the sanctity of the hero.

The Evil That Free Will Does: Plantinga’s Dubious Defense

Metaphysica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Maller
Keyword(s):  
Modal Logic ◽  
Free Will ◽  
Possible Worlds ◽  
Problem Of Evil ◽  
Freedom Of Will ◽  
The Problem Of Evil ◽  
Possible Worlds Theory ◽  
Free Will Defense

Abstract Alvin Plantinga’s controversial free will defense (FWD) for the problem of evil is an important attempt to show with certainty that moral evils are compatible and justifiable with God’s omnipotence and omniscience. I agree with critics who argue that it is untenable and the FWD fails. This paper proposes new criticisms by analyzing Plantinga’s presuppositions and objectionable assumptions in God, Freedom and Evil. Notably, his limited concept of omnipotence, and possible worlds theory lack rigorous argument and are subjectively biased with irrelevant weak examples. My ontological possible worlds theory (Possible Conditional Timelines) shows that it is very likely that the omnipotent God exists of necessity in some worlds but perhaps not this one. Omnipotence is total and absolute, and should imply the freedom of will to actualize all worlds God chooses. Plantinga’s position regarding God’s omniscience of future counterfactuals is implausible based on modal logic conjecture.

Metaphysics

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin McGinn
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Analysis ◽  
Possible Worlds ◽  
A Priori ◽  
A Posteriori ◽  
De Re ◽  
Necessary Truth ◽  
Possible Worlds Theory ◽  
De Dicto

This chapter explores philosophical issues in metaphysics. It begins by distinguishing between de re and de dicto necessity. All necessity is uniformly de re; there is simply no such thing as de dicto necessity. Indeed, in the glory days of positivism, all necessity was understood as uniformly the same: a necessary truth was always an a priori truth, while contingent truths were always a posteriori. The chapter then assesses the concept of antirealism. Antirealism is always an error theory: there is some sort of mistake or distortion or sloppiness embedded in the usual discourse. The chapter also considers paradoxes, causation, conceptual analysis, scientific mysteries, the possible worlds theory of modality, the concept of a person, the nature of existence, and logic and propositions.

The Magician, the Savior, and the Cyborg

2021 ◽  
pp. 194-212
Author(s):  
Lucia-Mihaela Grosu-Rădulescu
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Possible Worlds ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
Harry Potter ◽  
His Dark Materials ◽  
Female Protagonists ◽  
Behavioral Psychology ◽  
Visual Text ◽  
Gender Specific

The chapter analyses female protagonists in recent young adult movies with a focus on the educational side of such productions. The text approaches femininity and empowerment of three well-known heroines: Hermione (from the Harry Potter series), Lyra (from His Dark Materials Season 1 TV series), and Alita (from Alita: Battle Angel). The chapter centers on the roles played by the three characters in the economy of the respective cinematic productions and on how their girlhood is framed by the visual text. The author's purpose is to unearth interpretations of gender-specific roles that impact the young viewers and their understanding of femininity. The chapter intends to open a conversation about the implication of possible worlds theory and social cognitive theory in interpreting depictions of girlhood in fantasy and Sci-Fi young adult movies. From the magician (Hermione) to the (supernatural) savior (Lyra) and ending with the cyborg (Alita), the analysis will also take into account tenets of feminism, Techno Feminism, and behavioral psychology.

Discordia Concors. Immersion and Artifice in the Lyric

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Zettelmann
Keyword(s):  
Possible Worlds ◽  
Cognitive Mapping ◽  
Vantage Point ◽  
Conditioning Factors ◽  
Formal Equivalence ◽  
Conceptual Innovation ◽  
The World ◽  
Possible Worlds Theory ◽  
Sound Patterns ◽  
Marked Tendency

AbstractDescriptions of the lyric have been stressing its artificial, self-referential character, constructing it as an intrinsically a-temporal, non-kinetic, non-mimetic and anti-illusionist mode. While the lyric certainly derives much of its effect from its horizontally superimposed patterns of formal equivalence, our pleasure as readers does not solely derive from the physical re-enactment of a poem’s sound patterns or the cognitive appreciation of its formal mastery. Many lyric texts are immersive; they project a fictional universe and prompt readers to emulate a speaker’s strongly perspectivized vision and subjective vantage point. This paper examines the lyric’s world building potential. It investigates the conditioning factors and referential components of lyric illusion, reviewing in particular the genre’s alleged inability to produce narrative sequence, embodiment and experientiality (Fludernik). Conceiving of the lyric speaker as an innovative cognitive blend (Turner/Fauconnier) provides a possible alternative to biographical constructions of the lyric self. Possible worlds theory (Ryan) is used as a way to approach the genre’s marked tendency towards cognitive mapping and conceptual innovation, towards foregrounding the human endeavour of mentally grasping and representing the world.

scholarly journals Interpretation of Possible Worlds of The Buddha of Suburb and Its Multi-themes

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 1535
Author(s):  
Jun Chen
Keyword(s):  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Possible Worlds ◽  
Reading Process ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Cognitive Poetics ◽  
Possible Worlds Theory ◽  
The Times ◽  
The Buddha

The article attempts to use cognitive poetics’ possible worlds theory to explore how the novel The Buddha of Suburbia narrates stories with its unique skills and how readers participate in the reading process and form possible worlds about the novel so as to understand such multiple themes as identity, racial discrimination and features of the times in it.

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