Imagining Stories about Other Characters in Virginia Woolf and Graham Swift: The Role of Imagination in Creating Fiction

Irina-Ana DROBOT
Imagining Stories about Other Characters in Virginia Woolf and Graham Swift: The Role of Imagination in Creating Fiction
Institution: 
Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest, Department of Foreign Languages and Communication
Author's email: 
anadrobot@yahoo.com
Abstract: 

The paper aims to analyze when characters in Woolf and Swift imagine stories about other characters and why, as well as what the other implications of this are. What part does imagination play in creating fiction? What theories of imagination best explain their characters’ attitude? How is imagination connected with lyricism?

I try to find the occasions which lead to characters’ imagining stories about other characters in both Woolf and Swift. It seems that in both authors we may speak about common aspects such as metafictional concerns or about the creative imagination of the Romantics. Imagining stories about other characters (in fact, brief scenes) leads to the underlining of the subjective aspect in both authors which is a feature of lyricism. Poetic aspects of prose are highlighted by the use of imagination, artistic creation, and subjectivity.

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