Style Journal

This present study revisits the role of the subject in the light of mimesis theory and the urgency of the questions it raises in the theory of fictional worlds, mainly following the model that Lubomír Doležel has “canonized,” after many years’ reflection, in his essential book, Heterocosmica (1998). The study measures the shift within this theory that has occurred under the influence of the subject, sketches the complex of problems that it raises, and shows how the subject itself, conversely, demands redefinition in the light of the theory of fictional worlds. Because this area is very wide, the study is limited to that part of it defined by the pairing of subject and mimesis as literary categories. And it indicates that it is precisely the theory of fictional worlds that can prove how ambiguous the simple dichotomy of subject and object is.

Ondrej Sládek. "Types of Worlds: On Relations between the Prague School and the Theory of Fictional Worlds"
Examining the relationship between Lubomír Doležel’s theory of fictional worlds and the structural poetics of the Prague School (especially in Felix Vodicka), I focus on the analysis of Vodi…ka’s and Doležel’s concepts of “worlds,” in particular on the relationships between “fictional-fictive worlds” and “fictional worlds.” I show that they cannot be seen as pure synonyms, as they differ by diverse references. With respect to a deeper analysis of the differences between these concepts it also seems to be important to direct our attention to Vodi…ka’s concept of theme. Comparing it with Doležel’s, I find a certain similarity between them. In the second part of my study I concentrate on the specific understanding of fantastic poetry and imaginary (fantastic) worlds given a remarkably profound expression in the work of a Czech scholar, Josef Jungmann (1773–1847). I pay special attention to the comparison of Jungmann’s and Doležel’s proposals of the fictional-fictive and fictional worlds’ typologies. My analysis of the relationships of Doležel’s concept of fictional worlds and Vodi…ka’s and Jungmann’s concepts of fictional-fictive worlds does not result in a direct and uncomplicated solution. It rather stresses that this relationship should be studied again and again, not be reduced to simple solutions.
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Dalibor Turecek. "The Theory of Fictional Worlds, Aesthetic Function, and the Future of Literary History"
The theory of fictional worlds has proved to be a useful tool in modern narrative semantics. Based on the theory of communication, and thus able to reflect the creation as well as the reception of literary works, the semantics of fictional worlds may be considered an important tool of inquiry into literary history. Nevertheless, its validity and usefulness for literary historical discourse has not yet been deeply explored. One of the most challenging tasks of literary history remains the demarcation of literariness, which in structuralist discourse is connected with the criteria of the language and aesthetic function of the literary work. The introduction of the notion of fictionality may be considered a third possible criterion. Thus, by employing those classical terms, the study tries to examine how the fictional-worlds semantics meets the specific preconditions and needs of literary historical investigation.
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Vladimír Papou. "Representation of Being and Existence in an Epistemically Limited Fictional World"
This study investigates the historical paradigm of insecure existence as it occurs in the vast body of European and American literary texts of the late nineteenth and whole twentieth centuries. It inquires into the relation between this hypothetical paradigm and the logical-ontological system of fictional worlds as introduced by Lubomír Doležel. The aim of my comparative study is to find out whether fictional worlds can be regarded as entities of an operational system, that is, as timeless, or whether they are historically variable. Thorough analyses indicate that every fictional world has its specific historical characteristics.
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Miroslav Cervenka. "'Discovering' the Fictional Worlds of Lyric Poetry"
Consideration of fictional worlds has become an important part of modern literary research. However, the semantics of fictional worlds seems to be exclusively connected with the domain of narrative. Its application to a work of lyric poetry requires a substantial redefinition of some of the terms used in fictional-worlds semantics for the specific needs of analyzing lyric poetry. One of them is the notion of the lyrical subject, which plays a crucial role in the inquiry into works of lyric poetry and their meaning. Considering the subject an alternative fictional world, the study connects fictional-worlds semantics with the theoretical heritage of the Prague school, its terminological system and its structuration of a literary artwork.
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Petr A. Bílek. "Reading Prague: Narrative Domains of the Image of the City in Fiction"
Focusing on the occurrences and functions of the proper locality name Prague in selected works by Franz Kafka and Milan Kundera, the article attempts to analyze more generalized rules of building the image of a city in fiction. It takes into account the inevitable mimetic potential of such locality names, the meaning of locality names produced by a “cultural encyclopedia,” and inner textual constraints that limit the image of the city in fictional worlds. Two radical oppositions are considered: quite a detailed specification of the textual image of the city without any explicit naming in Kafka’s fiction and, on the contrary, Kundera’s way of using the name Prague without any detailed specification of the meaning and referential flow.
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Alice Jedlicková. "'From Otherworldliness and a Two-World Scheme to ‘Heterocosmica': A Visit to a Museum with Cortázar and Nabokov"
Inspired by the aim of this special issue of Style, that is, to display the impact of possible-worlds theory on Czech literary criticism and thus its specific contribution to discussion on the topic, my intention is to avoid two attitudes that are frequently observed: mere code-switching between two essentially disparate methods of analyzing a work of fiction on the one hand, and overestimating the interpretive range of possible-worlds theory on the other hand. In general, the number of theoretical studies still seems to exceed that of individual literary analyses. Thus to demonstrate the specific tools the theory of fictional worlds provides, I present a comparative analysis of two short stories: Julio Cortázar’s “The End of a Phase” and Vladimir Nabokov’s “The Visit to the Museum.” Disclosing the “global design” of the fictional worlds (and thus implementing the notions introduced by Lubomír Doležel in particular) of both narratives results in understanding the kindred principles of a multiple-worlds’ scheme that is usually called “fantastic” in Cortázar and “otherworldly” in Nabokov.

Semantics of fictional worlds, today fully established in modern literary theory, has strongly influenced the Czech literary theoretical enviroment; the semantics is especially connected with the works of Lubomír Doležel and Miroslav „ervenka. The former is known as a co-founder of the so-called narrative semantics of fictional worlds; the latter was a prominent Czech scholar in the field of literary theory and versology. The study introduces and compares Doležel’s narrative worlds (Heterocosmica) with „ervenka’s worlds of lyric poetry (Fictional Worlds of Lyric Poetry) and views both different approaches against the background of the Czech literary structuralist tradition.
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	Volume 40, Number 3 Fall 2006
	Style Home Call for Papers Current Issue Subscription Information Submission Information Archives Editorial Staff Editorial Board Back Issue Order Form English Department at NIU Northern Illinois University	Bohumil Fort Are Fictional Worlds Really Possible? A Short Contribution to Their Semantics Tomás Kubícek Mimesis and the Subject in the Light of the Cognitive Impulse and the Theory of Fictional Worlds Ondrej Sládek Types of Worlds: On Relations between the Prague School and the Theory of Fictional Worlds Dalibor Turecek The Theory of Fictional Worlds, Aesthetic Function, and the Future of Literary History Vladimír Papousek Representation of Being and Existence in an Epistemically Limited Fictional World Miroslav Cervenka "Discovering" the Fictional Worlds of Lyric Poetry Petr A. Bílek Reading Prague: Narrative Domains of the Image of the City in Fiction Alice Jedlicková From Otherworldliness and a Two-World Scheme to 'Heterocosmica': A Visit to a Museum with Cortázar and Nabokov Bohumil Fort How Many (Different) Kinds of Fictional Worlds Are There?
	Bohumil Fort. "Are Fictional Worlds Really Possible? A Short Contribution to Their Semantics" Undoubtedly it would be useless to once again mention the fact that fictional worlds of modern literary theory have been primarily inspired by possible worlds of modern logic; on the other hand, there have been many studies and analyses on the topic of the difference between the possible worlds used in modern logic and the fictional worlds used in modern literary semantics. In general, fictional worlds differ from possible worlds in many ways and on many levels, and the difference between the two types of worlds has already been successfully explained by a number of theoreticians. Rather than repeating all aspects of these differences, I stress the basic, mainly epistemological distinctions and display the crucial semantic consequences of the mutual incompatibilty of possible and fictional worlds. back to top Tomás Kubícek. "Mimesis and the Subject in the Light of the Cognitive Impulse and the Theory of Fictional Worlds" This present study revisits the role of the subject in the light of mimesis theory and the urgency of the questions it raises in the theory of fictional worlds, mainly following the model that Lubomír Doležel has “canonized,” after many years’ reflection, in his essential book, Heterocosmica (1998). The study measures the shift within this theory that has occurred under the influence of the subject, sketches the complex of problems that it raises, and shows how the subject itself, conversely, demands redefinition in the light of the theory of fictional worlds. Because this area is very wide, the study is limited to that part of it defined by the pairing of subject and mimesis as literary categories. And it indicates that it is precisely the theory of fictional worlds that can prove how ambiguous the simple dichotomy of subject and object is. back to top Ondrej Sládek. "Types of Worlds: On Relations between the Prague School and the Theory of Fictional Worlds" Examining the relationship between Lubomír Doležel’s theory of fictional worlds and the structural poetics of the Prague School (especially in Felix Vodicka), I focus on the analysis of Vodi…ka’s and Doležel’s concepts of “worlds,” in particular on the relationships between “fictional-fictive worlds” and “fictional worlds.” I show that they cannot be seen as pure synonyms, as they differ by diverse references. With respect to a deeper analysis of the differences between these concepts it also seems to be important to direct our attention to Vodi…ka’s concept of theme. Comparing it with Doležel’s, I find a certain similarity between them. In the second part of my study I concentrate on the specific understanding of fantastic poetry and imaginary (fantastic) worlds given a remarkably profound expression in the work of a Czech scholar, Josef Jungmann (1773–1847). I pay special attention to the comparison of Jungmann’s and Doležel’s proposals of the fictional-fictive and fictional worlds’ typologies. My analysis of the relationships of Doležel’s concept of fictional worlds and Vodi…ka’s and Jungmann’s concepts of fictional-fictive worlds does not result in a direct and uncomplicated solution. It rather stresses that this relationship should be studied again and again, not be reduced to simple solutions. back to top Dalibor Turecek. "The Theory of Fictional Worlds, Aesthetic Function, and the Future of Literary History" The theory of fictional worlds has proved to be a useful tool in modern narrative semantics. Based on the theory of communication, and thus able to reflect the creation as well as the reception of literary works, the semantics of fictional worlds may be considered an important tool of inquiry into literary history. Nevertheless, its validity and usefulness for literary historical discourse has not yet been deeply explored. One of the most challenging tasks of literary history remains the demarcation of literariness, which in structuralist discourse is connected with the criteria of the language and aesthetic function of the literary work. The introduction of the notion of fictionality may be considered a third possible criterion. Thus, by employing those classical terms, the study tries to examine how the fictional-worlds semantics meets the specific preconditions and needs of literary historical investigation. back to top Vladimír Papou. "Representation of Being and Existence in an Epistemically Limited Fictional World" This study investigates the historical paradigm of insecure existence as it occurs in the vast body of European and American literary texts of the late nineteenth and whole twentieth centuries. It inquires into the relation between this hypothetical paradigm and the logical-ontological system of fictional worlds as introduced by Lubomír Doležel. The aim of my comparative study is to find out whether fictional worlds can be regarded as entities of an operational system, that is, as timeless, or whether they are historically variable. Thorough analyses indicate that every fictional world has its specific historical characteristics. back to top Miroslav Cervenka. "'Discovering' the Fictional Worlds of Lyric Poetry" Consideration of fictional worlds has become an important part of modern literary research. However, the semantics of fictional worlds seems to be exclusively connected with the domain of narrative. Its application to a work of lyric poetry requires a substantial redefinition of some of the terms used in fictional-worlds semantics for the specific needs of analyzing lyric poetry. One of them is the notion of the lyrical subject, which plays a crucial role in the inquiry into works of lyric poetry and their meaning. Considering the subject an alternative fictional world, the study connects fictional-worlds semantics with the theoretical heritage of the Prague school, its terminological system and its structuration of a literary artwork. back to top Petr A. Bílek. "Reading Prague: Narrative Domains of the Image of the City in Fiction" Focusing on the occurrences and functions of the proper locality name Prague in selected works by Franz Kafka and Milan Kundera, the article attempts to analyze more generalized rules of building the image of a city in fiction. It takes into account the inevitable mimetic potential of such locality names, the meaning of locality names produced by a “cultural encyclopedia,” and inner textual constraints that limit the image of the city in fictional worlds. Two radical oppositions are considered: quite a detailed specification of the textual image of the city without any explicit naming in Kafka’s fiction and, on the contrary, Kundera’s way of using the name Prague without any detailed specification of the meaning and referential flow. back to top Alice Jedlicková. "'From Otherworldliness and a Two-World Scheme to ‘Heterocosmica': A Visit to a Museum with Cortázar and Nabokov" Inspired by the aim of this special issue of Style, that is, to display the impact of possible-worlds theory on Czech literary criticism and thus its specific contribution to discussion on the topic, my intention is to avoid two attitudes that are frequently observed: mere code-switching between two essentially disparate methods of analyzing a work of fiction on the one hand, and overestimating the interpretive range of possible-worlds theory on the other hand. In general, the number of theoretical studies still seems to exceed that of individual literary analyses. Thus to demonstrate the specific tools the theory of fictional worlds provides, I present a comparative analysis of two short stories: Julio Cortázar’s “The End of a Phase” and Vladimir Nabokov’s “The Visit to the Museum.” Disclosing the “global design” of the fictional worlds (and thus implementing the notions introduced by Lubomír Doležel in particular) of both narratives results in understanding the kindred principles of a multiple-worlds’ scheme that is usually called “fantastic” in Cortázar and “otherworldly” in Nabokov. back to top Bohumil Fort. "How Many (Different) Kinds of Fictional Worlds Are There?" Semantics of fictional worlds, today fully established in modern literary theory, has strongly influenced the Czech literary theoretical enviroment; the semantics is especially connected with the works of Lubomír Doležel and Miroslav „ervenka. The former is known as a co-founder of the so-called narrative semantics of fictional worlds; the latter was a prominent Czech scholar in the field of literary theory and versology. The study introduces and compares Doležel’s narrative worlds (Heterocosmica) with „ervenka’s worlds of lyric poetry (Fictional Worlds of Lyric Poetry) and views both different approaches against the background of the Czech literary structuralist tradition. back to top