 |
The Ohio State University Press
Open Access Initiative |
|
|
The Ohio State University Press
Open Access Initiative |
| This title is no longer available in a traditional print edition. Nevertheless, the following PDF files contain the complete text of the book and may be used for any non-commercial purpose. The text remains © 1987 by the author, and the introduction is © 1998 by The Ohio State University. | Open access is better with open dialogue. Click here to leave or read comments and critiques about this book |
Frontmatter
Foreword: Before Reading in Its Own Terms, by James Phelan
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I: Narrative Conventions
1: Starting Points
What Is Reading?
Who Is Reading?
The Value(s) of Authorial Reading
The Difficulties of Authorial Reading
Rules of Reading
2: Trumpets, Please!: Rules of Notice
The Hierarchy of Detail
Basic Gestures of Noticeability
Privileged Positions
Rules of Rupture
3: The Biggest Black Eyes I Ever Saw: Rules of Signification
Signification Defined
Rules of Source
Good Guys and Bad Guys: Rules of Snap Moral Judgment
Truth and the Narrative Audience: The Rule of Realism
Post Hoc and Propter Hoc: Rules of Cause
4: The Black Cloud on the Horizon: Rules of Configuration
Configuration vs. Coherence
Basic Rules of Configuration
Rules of Undermining
Rules of Balance: Focus
Rules of Balance: Action
5: The Austere Simplicity of Fiction: Rules of Coherence
The Nature of Coherence
License to Fill
Rules of Surplus
Rules of Naming, Bundling, and Thematizing
Part II: The Politics of Interpretation
6: Through The Glass Key Darkly: Presupposition and Misunderstanding
Presuppositions and the Ambiguity of Interpretation
Getting to the Bottom of Things
Popular Fiction as a Genre
Scapegoating Carmen: Reading Misreadings
7: Some Have Greatness Thrust upon Them: The Politics of Canon Formation