The Fictive And The Imaginary: Charting Literar... -

: Literature "stages" the interaction between the real and the imaginary. This staging creates a "virtual" space where the reader can bridge gaps or blanks in the text to generate meaning.

: The pool of mental images and fantasies within the reader. It provides the "flesh" to fill out the fictive structures during the act of reading . Key Concepts and Themes The Fictive and the Imaginary: Charting Literar...

(1993), written by influential literary critic Wolfgang Iser , is a seminal work that seeks to explain why humans have a fundamental need for literature. Iser moves beyond traditional debates of "fiction vs. reality," proposing instead that literature is a "particular form of make-believe" that reveals essential aspects of our anthropological makeup . The Triadic Relationship : Literature "stages" the interaction between the real