The Puzzle of Historical Criticism
Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 70 (2):213-222 (2012)
| Abstract | Works of fiction are often criticized for their historical inaccuracies. But this practice poses a problem: why would we criticize a work of fiction for its historical inaccuracy given that it is a work of fiction? There is an intuition that historical inaccuracies in works of fiction diminish their value as works of fiction; and yet, given that they are works of fiction, there is also an intuition that such works should be free from the constraints of historical truth. The puzzle of historical criticism is that these intuitions are obviously in conflict, and yet we wish to give up neither. In this essay, I address the shortcomings of two seemingly intuitive strategies for solving the puzzle: the puzzle cannot be solved by appealing to historical constraints of a work’s genre, nor can it be explained as an instance of imaginative resistance. Given the failure of these two strategies, I suggest that there is no easy way to account for our conflicting intuitions and that the puzzle is deserving of greater attention. | |||||||||
| Keywords | Aesthetics Literature Fiction Historical inaccuracy Truth in fiction imaginative resistance | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,701 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesDustin R. Stokes (2006). The Evaluative Character of Imaginative Resistance. British Journal of Aesthetics 46 (4):287-405.
Timothy Rayner (2003). Between Fiction and Reflection: Foucault and the Experience-Book. Continental Philosophy Review 36 (1):27-43.
Stavroula Glezakos (forthcoming). Truth and Reference in Fiction. In Gillian Russell & Delia Graff Fara (eds.), Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Language. Routledge.
Sarah E. Worth (2007). The Dangers of da Vinci, or the Power of Popular Fiction. Philosophy in the Contemporary World 14 (1):134-143.
Amy Kind (2011). The Puzzle of Imaginative Desire. Australasian Journal of Philosophy 89 (3):421-439.
Jukka Mikkonen (2013). The Cognitive Value of Philosophical Fiction. Bloomsbury Academic.
Shameem Black (2009). Fiction Across Borders: Imagining the Lives of Others in Late-Twentieth-Century Novels. Columbia University Press.
Kate Fullbrook (1990). Free Women: Ethics and Aesthetics in Twentieth-Century Women's Fiction. Temple University Press.
Cain Samuel Todd (2009). Imaginability, Morality, and Fictional Truth: Dissolving the Puzzle of 'Imaginative Resistance'. Philosophical Studies 143 (2):187-211.
Bijoy H. Boruah (1988). Fiction and Emotion: A Study in Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Mind. Oxford University Press.
Jukka Mikkonen (2009). Truth-Claiming in Fiction: Towards a Poetics of Literary Assertion. Nordic Journal of Aesthetics 38 (18):34.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2012-05-03Total downloads11 ( #99,573 of 549,122 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,361 of 549,122 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
