Fictional Minds suggests that readers understand
novels primarily by following the functioning of the
minds of characters in the novel storyworlds. Despite
the importance of this aspect of the reading process,
traditional narrative theory does not include a complete
and coherent theory of fictional minds. Readers create a
continuing consciousness out of scattered references to
a particular character and read this consciousness as an
"embedded narrative" within the whole narrative of the
novel. The combination of these embedded narratives
forms the plot. This perspective on narrative enables us
to explore hitherto neglected aspects of fictional minds
such as dispositions, emotions, and action. It also
highlights the social, public, and dialogic mind and the
"mind beyond the skin." For example, much of our thought
is "intermental," or joint, group, or shared; even our
identity is, to an extent, socially distributed. Written
in a clear and accessible style, Fictional Minds
analyzes constructions of characters' minds in the
fictional texts of a wide range of authors, from Aphra
Behn and Henry Fielding to Evelyn Waugh and Thomas
Pynchon. In its innovative and groundbreaking
explorations, this interdisciplinary project also makes
substantial use of "real-mind" disciplines such as
philosophy, psychology, psycholinguistics, and cognitive
science. Alan Palmer is an independent scholar living in
London, England. He has a PhD from the University of
East London.
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