Before reading : narrative conventions and the politics of interpretation

Print version:

Part I. Narrative conventions. 1. Starting Points. What Is Reading? Who Is Reading? ; The Value(s) of Authorial Reading ; The Difficulties of Authorial Reading ; Rules of Reading

2. Trumpets, Please! : Rules of Notice. The Hierarchy of Detail ; Basic Gestures of Noticeability ; Privileged Positions ; Rules of Rupture

3. The Biggest Black Eyes I Ever Saw : Rules of Signification ; Signification Defined ; Rules of Source ; Good Guys and Bad Guys : Rules of Snap Moral Judgment ; Truth and the Narrative Audience : The Rule of Realism ; Post Hoc and Propter Hoc : Rules of Cause

4. The Black Cloud on the Horizon : Rules of Configuration. Configuration vs. Coherence ; Basic Rules of Configuration ; Rules of Undermining ; Rules of Balance : Focus ; Rules of Balance : Action

5. The Austere Simplicity of Fiction : Rules of Coherence. The Nature of Coherence ; License to Fill ; Rules of Surplus ; Rules of Naming, Bundling, and Thematizing

Part II. The Politics of Interpretation. 6. Through 'The Glass Key' Darkly : Presupposition and Misunderstanding. Presuppositions and the Ambiguity of Interpretation ; Getting to the Bottom of Things ; Popular Fiction as a Genre ; Scapegoating Carmen : Reading Misreadings

7. Some Have Greatness Thrust upon Them : The Politics of Canon Formation