The Wolf: Ingarden to the narratological rescue. A few remarks on a messy situation within the theory of fiction
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Nikolaj Zeuthen
Nikolaj Zeuthen (b. 1977) is postdoctoral researcher at Aarhus University 〈nikolajzeuthen@gmail.com〉. His research interests include narratology, Roman Ingarden, ideality, and comics. His publications include “Simultaneous narration: A closer look” (2010).
Abstract
In the movie Pulp Fiction by Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Keitel plays the role of “The Wolf,” a man who “solves problems.” He is brought in at a late point where the two protagonists, Vincent and Jules, find themselves in a truly messy situation, having by accident killed an associate in their car by shooting him in the head.
In this paper, we must also face a messy situation; not one, however, involving blood and brain mass, but one that concerns the semiotics of the sentences we find in narrative fiction. How should we regard the utterance act behind them and how should we regard their meaning? The roles of Jules and Vincent are played by the narratologists Dorrit Cohn and Gerard Genette. The accident in the car is John R. Searle's pretense-theory of fiction, which Cohn and Genette do not really know how to approach. Actually they disagree fundamentally as to the correct understanding thereof. As there are indeed some areas in Searle's theory that are not easily cleaned up, we find ourselves in the need of a real problem solver. In a late entry, Roman Ingarden is cast in the role of The Wolf.
About the author
Nikolaj Zeuthen (b. 1977) is postdoctoral researcher at Aarhus University 〈nikolajzeuthen@gmail.com〉. His research interests include narratology, Roman Ingarden, ideality, and comics. His publications include “Simultaneous narration: A closer look” (2010).
©[2013] by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Introduction
- Approaching the abstract: Building blocks for an epistemology of abstract objects
- The ideal as real and as purely intentional: Ingarden-based reflections
- Making sense together: A dynamical account of linguistic meaning-making
- An example of the “synthetic a priori”: On how it helps us to widen our philosophical horizons
- The generality of signs: The actual relevance of anti-psychologism
- Sensory imagination and narrative perspective: Explaining perceptual focalization
- The basic distinctions in Der Streit
- The Wolf: Ingarden to the narratological rescue. A few remarks on a messy situation within the theory of fiction
- Roman Ingarden's theory of reader experience: A critical assessment
- Varieties of intentional objects
- More than an attitude: Roman Ingarden's aesthetics
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Introduction
- Approaching the abstract: Building blocks for an epistemology of abstract objects
- The ideal as real and as purely intentional: Ingarden-based reflections
- Making sense together: A dynamical account of linguistic meaning-making
- An example of the “synthetic a priori”: On how it helps us to widen our philosophical horizons
- The generality of signs: The actual relevance of anti-psychologism
- Sensory imagination and narrative perspective: Explaining perceptual focalization
- The basic distinctions in Der Streit
- The Wolf: Ingarden to the narratological rescue. A few remarks on a messy situation within the theory of fiction
- Roman Ingarden's theory of reader experience: A critical assessment
- Varieties of intentional objects
- More than an attitude: Roman Ingarden's aesthetics
