| Fiction has always been an important thesis in literary criticism.Discussions about fiction are often related to reality,imagination,truth,etc.And not only that,fiction is considered by many literary scholars and literary critics as an essential characteristic of literature.Eco has his own unique perspective on fiction,In his works of literary criticism Six Walks in the Fictional Woods,On Literature and Confessions of a Young Novelist,his understanding of fiction is reflected in his discussion of fictional and historical texts.Eco discusses the characteristics of fictional worlds and fictional characters,and the impact of fiction on history.In addition,Eco’s concept of fiction is also reflected in his literary works.For example,The Name of the Rose,Foucault’s Pendulum,The Island of the Day Before and Baudolino,these fictions all show the theme of the relationship between lies and history,fiction and truth.And Eco uses multiple narrative perspectives,metafiction and other narrative techniques to emphasize the fictional nature of his literary work.This paper takes Eco’s discussion of fiction as an entry point,takes his literary theory books and novels as the object of study,attempts to explore Eco’s comprehension of fiction,and the praxis of fiction in his literary work.The introduction briefly describes Eco’s life and literary theory books,the current research status at home and abroad,the research idea of this paper.The body of the paper consists of three parts.The first chapter"The Construction of a Fictional World" focuses on Eco’s understanding of the fictional nature of "fiction" itself.The first section firstly compares the representative fictional concepts in the history of Western literature,and outlines the historical context of Eco’s discussion on fiction and the context of the time.The second section analyzes Eco’s discussion of "fictional worlds" and "fictional characters":understanding that the fiction nature of a text is reflected precisely in the world and characters created by the text.It is also because of the fictional nature of the text world that readers can use their imagination to explore this world in depth and empathize with the fictional characters in the fictional world;The third section discusses how Eco views the relationship between the fictional world and the real world from the reader’s point of view.Eco proposes that the fictional world is a parasite of the real world,we understand the fictional world by using the real world as an undercurrent.And the reader needs to observe the principle of " suspension of disbelief’ when entering the fictional world,treats everything in a fictional text as real.In addition,Eco also thinks that readers should not interpret literary texts at leisure just because they have fictional properties,instead,they need to grasp the meaning of the text based on its intent.The second chapter "The Fictional Nature of the Text" enters Eco’s literary world and analyzes how his writing embodies the fictional nature of literature.The first section understands the important element of Eco’s construction of a fictional world-the Middle Ages.Eco uses a lot of medieval cultural elements and symbols to restore the historical face of the Middle Ages,and attempts to immerse the reader in the real medieval society and culture.And he combines history and fiction,makes history constantly reconstruct itself in a narrative way in literature,and directs attention to the constructive character of historical narratives.The second section analyzes the narrative techniques used by Eco in his novel,he puts the story in the hands of different narrators.Through multiple narrative perspectives,the reader’s reading experience is changed,this dissolves the uniqueness of truth.The third section explores the "metanarrative" features in Eco’s novels,and combines his fiction The Island of the Day Before to reveal the nature of the content of his novels to consciously refer to fiction.The third chapter "The Power of Fiction" focuses on Eco’s reflections on how fiction shapes truth and influences reality.The first section analyzes Eco’s view of history as story,he textualizes history and regards it as a series of stories woven together.The second section discusses the power of lies,Stories and lies that we see as fiction today were once seen as truth in history.In Eco’s view,it is in the interplay of truth and falsehood that the truth of history is dissolved,this will also lead people to question and reflect on their own perceptions of truth.The third section discusses the impact of fiction on real life.Eco considers today’s society to be one of chaos and uncertainty,human subjectivity is being lost,but the world of the text shaped through fiction gives us hope to find ourselves again,to find the truth.The concluding section of the paper is a summary of Eco’s discussion and understanding of the function and meaning of fiction.Fiction is not only an essential attribute of a literary text,but it also gives life to the text,authors and readers can use their imagination to broaden the depth of a fictional text and empathize with it emotionally.Not only that,fiction can also inspire hope in the pursuit of truth,it gives comfort to people’s hearts and reflect on the cultural symptoms of society.Eco’s literary criticism about fiction and his literary praxis allow us to see the storytelling and textualized character of history,while dismantling the boundaries between reality and fiction,Eco reminds us that the truth of reality is under constant construction,he asks us to always be aware,to have the ability to think independently,and not to fall into the trap of historical falsehoods and lies. |
