Research Catalog

Title

Such stuff as dreams : the psychology of fiction / Keith Oatley.

Author

Oatley, Keith.

Publication

Chichester, West Sussex, U.K. ; Malden, MA : Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

275 p. : ill.; 23 cm.

Summary

"Such Stuff as Dreams: The Psychology of Fiction" explores how fiction works in the brains and imagination of both readers and writers. Demonstrates how reading fiction can contribute to a greater understanding of, and the ability to change, ourselves. Informed by the latest psychological research which focuses on, for example, how identification with fictional characters occurs, and how literature can improve social abilities. Explores traditional aspects of fiction, including character, plot, setting, and theme, as well as a number of classic techniques, such as metaphor, metonymy, defamiliarization, and cues. Includes extensive end-notes, which ground the work in psychological studies. Features excerpts from fiction which are discussed throughout the text, including works by William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Kate Chopin, Anton Chekhov, James Baldwin, and others.

Subject

• Fiction > Theory, etc
• Fiction > Psychological aspects
• Psychology and literature
• Literature > Psychology

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Fiction as dream: models, world-building, simulation -- The space-in-between: childhood play as the entrance to fiction -- Creativity: imagined worlds -- Character, action, incident: mental models of people and their doings -- Emotions: scenes in the imagination -- Writing fiction: cues for the reader -- Effects of fiction: is fiction good for you? -- Talking about fiction: interpretation in conversation.

ISBN

9780470974575 (pbk.)

LCCN

^^2011002207

OCLC

698170939

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library