Rowman & Littlefield Publishers The Opacity of Narrative

What is narrative? What is distinctive about the great literary narratives? In virtue of what is a narrative fictional or non-fictional? In this important new book Peter Lamarque, one of the leading philosophers of literature at work today, explores these and related questions to bring new clarity and insight to debates about narrative in philosophy, critical theory, and narratology. He highlights 'opacity' as a feature of literary narratives and examines the implications for our understanding of fictional worlds and fictional characters. Throughout he challenges received views about narrative, questioning the indispensability of narrative in an individual's self-conception and the importance of both truth and emotion as measures of literary greatness. He reflects on the 'non-fiction' novel arguing that it does not weaken the distinction between fiction and no-fiction. The book offers a compelling and original account of these and other issues, making a critical contribution to topical and wide-ranging debates. Review Despite the difficulties that the idea of opacity brings with it, [this book] labels a persuasive account of what makes literary narratives special. On this view, literary narratives have distinct, inherent values independently of any actual reader's reaction to them. In order to benefit from the valuable literariness of these narratives, the reader has to attune him- or herself and assume the proper literary attitude that these texts demand. As a book built around this main tenet, The Opacity of Narrative is an invaluable collection for anyone interested in how to think about narratives.-- "British Journal of Aesthetics" Lamarque not only outlines the most important recent debates in the area of aesthetics and philosophy of literature -- his reasoning is also conclusive, cogent and ingenious with respect to any topic he brings into focus. Thorough reading of this excellent and elegantly written book will be profitable and enriching for anyone, no matter whether one is already familiar with Lamarque's thinking or not.-- "Mind: A Quarterly Review of Philosophy" Most readers will never step back to question the supposed merit of an imaginative exploration of the psyche; Lamarque, however, does just this, referencing thinkers as varied as Daniel Dennett and Alasdair MacIntyre, to set up his own claims concerning life narratives, claims that challenge rather than affirm their presumed goodness.-- "Christianity and Literature" The ten essays of this volume address a myriad of interlocking themes in the philosophy of literature, among them: distinguishing fiction from nonfiction, the sources of literary value, truth in fiction, affective response, and narrative models of personal identity. [T]aken together [Lamarque's theoretical interventions] offer a highly rewarding theoretical framework for understanding and evaluating literary narratives: a framework Lamarque calls opacity ... One of the many merits of this book, a volume that anyone interested in the philosophy of literature must contend with, is a strong defense of a conception of literary fiction in which its distinctive values and experiences are made plain.-- "The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 73 Issue 3" The Opacity of Narrative sets out with admirable lucidity the questions and queries and the tricky issues in the fields of epistemology, philosophy and aesthetics that arise when narrative loses any claim to transparency.-- "Irish Left Review" This welcome volume collects together eight of Peter Lamarque's published papers on narrative as well as adding two that have not been previously published. They re-express, clarify, and in some places supplement the view expressed in the book he co-wrote with Olsen (1994) .... Having the essays together, as well as being a great convenience, brings out some of the depth and complexity of Lamarque's account .... The laudatory claims on the back cover get it right; this is