Simulation and identification

pp. 105-124

in: Anders Pettersson, The concept of literary application, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012

Abstract

Literary theories of transportation and empathy foreground the reader's experience of the fictional world that he or she constructs, or reconstructs, during the act of reading. Explicitly or implicitly, such theories understand that world as being rich in sensual impressions and having a strong impact on the reader. The fictional world is thought to possess the capacity to affect the reader's beliefs and to invite participation by the reader and empathetic feelings vis-à-vis the fictional characters.