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The Routledge Handbook of Fiction and Belief book cover

1st Edition

The Routledge Handbook of Fiction and Belief

Edited By Alison James, Akihiro Kubo, Françoise Lavocat Copyright 2023
    522 Pages 14 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    522 Pages 14 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge
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    The Routledge Handbook of Fiction and Belief offers a fresh reevaluation of the relationship between fiction and belief, surveying key debates and perspectives from a range of disciplines including narrative and cultural studies, science, religion, and politics. This volume draws on global, cutting edge research and theory to investigate the historically variable understandings of fictionality, and allows readers to grasp the role of fictions in our understanding of the world.

    This interdisciplinary approach provides a thorough introduction to the fundamental themes of:

    • Theoretical and Philosophical Perspectives on Fiction
    • Fiction, Fact, and Science
    • Social Effects and Uses of Fiction
    • Fiction and Politics
    • Fiction and Religion

    Questioning how fictions in fact shape, mediate or distort our beliefs about the real world, essays in this volume outline the state of theoretical debates from the perspectives of literary theory, philosophy, sociology, religious studies, history, and the cognitive sciences. It aims to take stock of the real or supposed effects that fiction has on the world, and to offer a wide-reaching reflection on the implications of belief in fictions in the so-called “post-truth” era.

    Introduction

    Alison James, Akihiro Kubo, and Françoise Lavocat

    Part I: Believing in Fiction: Philosophical and Theoretical Perspectives

    1. Belief, Imagination, and the Nature of Fiction

      2. Stacie Friend

    2. The "Willing Suspension of Disbelief": The Long History of a Short Phrase

      3. Nicholas Paige

    3. The Fictionality of Games and the Ludic Nature of Fiction: Make-believe, Immersion, Play

      4. Marie-Laure Ryan

    4. Fictional Emotions and Belief

      5. Eva-Maria Konrad

    5. Fictional Characters and Belief

      6. Thomas Pavel

    6. Fictionality, the Zone of Generic Fiction, and the Allure of Unreliable Narration

      7. James Phelan

    7. Belief is a Mess. That Makes it Good for Fiction. (A Perspective from Cognitive Literary Theory)

      8. Lisa Zunshine

    8. Fiction and Historiography

      9. Annick Louis

    9. Fiction and Scientific Knowledge

      10. Adam Toon

    10. Learning from Fiction

      11. Gregory Currie, Heather Ferguson, Jacopo Frascaroli, Stacie Friend, Kayleigh Green, and Lena Wimmer

      　

      Part II: From Fiction to Belief: Social and Political Effects

    11. Do Fictions Impact People’s Beliefs? A Critical View

      12. Nicolas Baumard and Edgar Dubourg

    12. The Impact of Fiction on Beliefs about Gender

      13. Vera Nünning

    13. Implicit Bias, Fiction, and Belief

      14. Kris Goffin and Agnes Moors

    14. Children’s Ideas about Stories and about Reality

      15. Ayse Payir and Paul L. Harris

    15. From Suspension of Disbelief to Production of Belief: The Case of Alternate Reality Games

      16. Patrick Jagoda

    16. Interactive Environments and Fictional Engagement

      17. Olivier Caïra

    17. Fake News and Fictional News

      18. Jessica Pepp, Rachel Sterken and Eliot Michaelson

    18. Trust, Credulity, and Speech

      19. Philippe Roussin

    19. Literature on Credit: Fiction and the Fiduciary Paradigm

      20. Emmanuel Bouju

    20. Fifth Generation Fictionality? Fiction, Politics, War

      21. Henrik Zetterberg-Nielsen

    21. Uses of Fantasy Fiction in Contemporary Political Mobilization

      22. Anne Besson

    22. Fiction, Belief, and Postcolonial Criticism

      23. Alok Yadav

    23. Can Fictions Predict the Future?

      24. Anne Duprat

    24. Dystopian Fictions and Contemporary Fears

      25. Jean-Paul Engélibert

    25. Fiction, Belief, and Climate Change: Paratexts, Skeptics, and Objects of Care

      26. Erin James

      　

      Part III: Fiction and Religious Belief

    26. Greek Mythology: Discourse, Belief, and Ritual Action

      27. Claude Calame

    27. Fiction and Belief: Approaching Medieval Latin Christendom

      28. Julie Orlemanski

    28. Literary Fictions, Religious "Fables," and Unbelief in the West

      29. Nicolas Correard

    29. Saints, Between Faith, Belief, and Fiction

      30. Barbara Selmeci Castioni

    30. The Role of Fiction in Buddhist Hagiography: The Case of Shinran

      31. Markus Rüsch

    31. Fiction and Belief in Ancient and Early Medieval India

      32. Isabelle Ratié

    32. Fiction, Religion, and Pre-Modern Arab-Islamic Literature (8th–18th Centuries)

      33. Aboubakr Chraïbi

    33. Fiction against Belief and Belief in Fiction in Modern Arabic Literature

      34. Ève de Dampierre-Noiray

    34. On Jewish Fiction and Belief: Duplicity, Parables, Confession

      35. Sarah Hammerschlag

    35. Religious Uses of Fantasy Fiction

      36. Markus Altena Davidsen

    36. Fake Cults, Hyper-Real Religions, Virtual Beliefs at the Crossroads of Fiction, the Sacred, and Technology

    Lionel Obadia

    Biography

    Alison James is Professor of French at the University of Chicago. Her research interests include the Oulipo group, the contemporary novel, theories and representations of everyday life, documentary literature, and questions of fact and fiction.

    Akihiro Kubo is Professor of French Literature at Kwansei Gakuin University. His research interests focus on twentieth-century French literature and theories of literature.

    Françoise Lavocat is Professor of Comparative Literature at the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle. She received an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from the University of Chicago, and is a member of the Institut Universitaire de France as well as a member and section chair in the Academia Europaea.

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