Description
Book SynopsisThe notion of aesthetic illusion relates to a number of art forms and media. Defined as a pleasurable mental state that emerges during the reception of texts and artefacts, it amounts to the reader's or viewer's sense of having entered the represented world while at the same time keeping a distance from it.
Aesthetic Illusion in Literature and the Arts is an in-depth study of the main questions surrounding this experience of art as reality.Beginning with an introduction providing historical background to modern discussions of illusion, it deals with a wide range of theoretical issues. The collection explores the nature and function of the aesthetic illusion as well as the role of affect and emotion, the implications of aesthetic illusion for the theory of fiction, the variable forms of aesthetic illusion and its relationship to other components of aesthetic response.
Aesthetic Illusion in Literature and the Arts brings together a team of scholars from philosophy, literatu
Trade Review[A] valuable contribution to the developing philosophical literature on immersion. If you're interested in the topic, or in closely-related issues such as "fictional worlds," it should be on your reading list. * Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *
This comprehensive outlook on the familiar yet elusive phenomenon of being absorbed, perceptually stimulated, or even deceived by art will be appreciated by academics, art practitioners, and arts audiences alike. The essays are well-referenced and conceptually precise, and the authors' appetite for polemics is exemplary, making the collection as a whole a rich and enjoyable read. * Anežka Kuzmicová, Research Fellow, Stockholm University, Sweden *
A fascinating array of reflections on the place of the concept of illusion in theorizing about the arts and aesthetic experience. Central to the sort of illusion of most concern here is an experience of an artwork that has a double character, being at once both absorbing and immersive, on the one hand, and distanced and detached, on the other. That there is illumination of this phenomenon to be had for readers of this volume is no illusion. * Jerrold Levinson, Distinguished University Professor, University of Maryland, USA *
Table of Contents1. Introduction Tomáš Koblížek (Institute of Philosophy, The Czech Academy of Sciences)
PART I: Illusion and Media 2. Aesthetic Illusion(s)? Werner Wolf (Centre for Intermediality Studies, University of Graz) 3. More Than Meets the Eye: Layers of Artistic Representation Thomas G. Pavel (Department of Comparative Literature, University of Chicago) 4. Mediating Immediacy Göran Rossholm (Department of Culture and Aesthetics, Stockholm University) 5. Neither Here nor There, but Now. Film Experience and the Aesthetic Illusion Enrico Terrone (Department of Philosophy, University of Torino)
PART II: Illusion and the Mind 6. Reading for the Mind: Aesthetic Illusion, Fictional Characters, and the Role of Interpretation Marco Caracciolo (Comparative Literature, University of Freiburg) 7. A Puzzle of Fiction and Cognitive Impenetrability Fredrik Stjernberg (Department of Culture and Communication, Linköping University) 8. Illusion, Distance and Appropriation Martin Pokorný (Comparative Literature, Charles University, Prague) 9. Fact, Fiction and Projection: The Inescapability of Austerlitz’s Impulse Josep Corbí (Department of Metaphysics and Theory of Knowledge, University of Valencia)
PART III: Illusive Worlds 10. La Comédie Humaine and the Illusion of Reality Lubomir Doležel (Comparative Literature, University of Toronto) 11. Fiction, Illusion, Reality and Radical Narration Petr Kotátko (Institute of Philosophy, The Czech Academy of Sciences) 12. A Moral Life of Things: Making and Breaking of Aesthetic Illusion in Lyric Poetry Karel Thein (Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague) 13. The Novel and the Aesthetic Illusion Jirí Koten (Faculty of Education, University of Usti nad Labem)
PART IV: Questioning Illusion 14. How Should We Talk About Reading Experiences? Arguments and Empirical Evidence Emily Troscianko (Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, University of Oxford) 15. Aesthetic Illusion between the Prague School and Fictional Worlds Theory Bohumil Fort (Language Institute, The Czech Academy of Sciences) 16. Skeptical Reflections on the Concept of Aesthetic Illusion Anders Pettersson (Department of Culture and Media Studies, Umea University) List of Contributors Index of Names Index of Topics
