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Possible worlds and mental spaces in Hemingway's 'A very short story'

Research output: Contribution in Book/Report/Proceedings - With ISBN/ISSNChapter

Published
Publication date20/02/2003
Host publicationCognitive Poetics in Practice
PublisherRoutledge Taylor & Francis Group
Pages83-98
Number of pages16
ISBN (print)0203417739, 9780203417737
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

Elena Semino’s application of possible worlds theory and mental space theory to a Hemingway short story in this chapter sits comfortably alongside Chapter 10 and Chapter 11 of this collection. All three chapters discuss aspects of the mental representations readers create when processing literary texts and, read together, they provide a helpful overview of some of the most interesting research currently being developed in this area of cognitive poetics. In this chapter, Semino examines the relationships between the various worlds constructed during the course of a short narrative. She uses both possible worlds theory and the related cognitive framework of mental space theory, assessing the advantages and disadvantages of both these approaches as a means of deepening our understanding of Hemingway’s text.