French Literature Reviews - 2026
To Be And Not to Be : On Interpretation, Iconicity and Fiction
Literary Theory, Linguistics and Stylistics
Göran Rossholm, To Be And Not to Be : On Interpretation, Iconicity and Fiction, Peter Lang Publishing Group, 2004, 382 p.
ISBN: 3-03910-047-5
Publisher's abstract:
To Be And Not to Be is a study of the interrelated concepts interpretation, iconicity and fiction as applied to works of art in general and literary narratives in particular. Two perspectives run through the book: a semiotic one, focusing on the work of art and what it stands for - represents, expresses, alludes to, etc. - and a psychological one, focusing on the audience's interpretation of the work.
The book establishes an ongoing dialogue with recent research within analytic aesthetics, narratology and other relevant fields. In particular, the philosopher Nelson Goodman's theory of symbols has proved to be fruitful in the development of new and original concept formations with respect to interpretation, iconicity and fictionality.
In the first part some fundamental questions of literary theory are focused on, foremost what is meant by «intentional interpretation», the relation between literary interpretation and understanding of everyday spontaneous discourse as analyzed by Paul Grice, and how to locate aesthetic interpretation within the wider scope of interpretive practices. These discussions yield some conceptual tools deployed in the two following parts of the book. The second part opens with a suggestion on the concept of pictorial representation. This is generalized to apply to verbal and literary phenomena such as temporal matching, quotation, and uses of point of view in narratives. In the final part recent philosophical accounts of fictionality are discussed.
Subjects covered:
Theory of interpretation - Theory of iconicity - Theory of fiction - Narrative theory - The concept of intentional interpretation in the aesthetic disciplines - The discussion about aesthetic interpretation and truth-value - Narrative levels - Gérard Genette's and Seymour Chatman's notions of point of view in narratives - Nelson Goodman's and Donald Davidson's ideas about quotation and indirect quotation - Free indirect discourse in narratives - The concept of narrator in narrative theory - Nelson Goodman's book Languages of Art - David Lewis's (and others') ideas about «truth in fiction» - Kendall Walton's theory of fiction - Gregory Currie's book The Nature of Fiction - Goodman's theory of symbols versus Continental semiotics.
Göran Rossholm is Professor at the Department of Literature, Stockholm University. His dissertation was an analysis of Ibsen's last play When We Dead Awaken, for which he received a PhD in 1987. Since then he has produced scholarly editions of August Strindberg, and articles in Swedish and international press on semiotics and theory of literature.
The volume explores the complex relationships connecting artistic representation, reader reception, and theoretical frameworks within literary studies. By examining semiotic dimensions alongside audience interpretation, the author engages with broader debates in analytic aesthetics and narratology. Such inquiries belong to a long-standing tradition in literary theory that seeks to clarify how meaning is constructed across different types of discourse. Readers interested in narrative theory and philosophical approaches to art may find it relevant to their own investigations.
The discussion draws upon established frameworks concerning intentionality, pictorial representation, and the mechanics of fictional worlds. By addressing topics such as point of view, free indirect discourse, and the status of truth in fiction, the text connects specific textual features to general principles of symbolic interpretation. These conceptual explorations touch upon well-known problems in the philosophy of language and literature, reflecting on how narratives function and how audiences make sense of them.