Is Literary Fiction about Truth or Meaning?
In this paper, I develop an alternative account of the novel’s cognitive value, based on the distinction Hannah Arendt made between truth (the result of the ‘need to know’) and meaning (the result of the ‘need to think’), claiming that the latter is better able to explain the novel’s cognitive value...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nederlands Genootschap voor Esthetica (Dutch Association of Aesthetics)
2019-12-01
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| Series: | Aesthetic Investigations |
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| Online Access: | https://www.aestheticinvestigations.eu/index.php/journal/article/view/158 |
| _version_ | 1818407878054117376 |
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| author | Leen Verheyen |
| author_facet | Leen Verheyen |
| author_sort | Leen Verheyen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this paper, I develop an alternative account of the novel’s cognitive value, based on the distinction Hannah Arendt made between truth (the result of the ‘need to know’) and meaning (the result of the ‘need to think’), claiming that the latter is better able to explain the novel’s cognitive value. To do this, I focus on a twofold movement I consider central to our experience of literary works, namely the fact that literary works always invite us to come to an interpretation of the work, but at the same time resist interpretation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T09:34:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1b039a242e0045a7af0e807f9ac60f90 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2352-2704 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T09:34:50Z |
| publishDate | 2019-12-01 |
| publisher | Nederlands Genootschap voor Esthetica (Dutch Association of Aesthetics) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Aesthetic Investigations |
| spelling | doaj.art-1b039a242e0045a7af0e807f9ac60f902022-12-21T23:07:57ZengNederlands Genootschap voor Esthetica (Dutch Association of Aesthetics)Aesthetic Investigations2352-27042019-12-013110.5281/zenodo.4067767Is Literary Fiction about Truth or Meaning?Leen Verheyen0University of AntwerpIn this paper, I develop an alternative account of the novel’s cognitive value, based on the distinction Hannah Arendt made between truth (the result of the ‘need to know’) and meaning (the result of the ‘need to think’), claiming that the latter is better able to explain the novel’s cognitive value. To do this, I focus on a twofold movement I consider central to our experience of literary works, namely the fact that literary works always invite us to come to an interpretation of the work, but at the same time resist interpretation.https://www.aestheticinvestigations.eu/index.php/journal/article/view/158literature truth |
| spellingShingle | Leen Verheyen Is Literary Fiction about Truth or Meaning? Aesthetic Investigations literature truth |
| title | Is Literary Fiction about Truth or Meaning? |
| title_full | Is Literary Fiction about Truth or Meaning? |
| title_fullStr | Is Literary Fiction about Truth or Meaning? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Is Literary Fiction about Truth or Meaning? |
| title_short | Is Literary Fiction about Truth or Meaning? |
| title_sort | is literary fiction about truth or meaning |
| topic | literature truth |
| url | https://www.aestheticinvestigations.eu/index.php/journal/article/view/158 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT leenverheyen isliteraryfictionabouttruthormeaning |