The Epistemic Value of Live Fiction: A Dramatic Response to the Question of Knowledge

This essay occupies a niche wedged between Philosophy and Art, exciting both the creative and inquiring mind. Drawing on both foundational and recent work in the philosophical study of knowledge and aesthetic theory, this paper synthesizes two fields within the humanities: epistemology and live theatre. This presentation challenges the academic barriers that keep philosophy and the performing arts from fully participating in interdisciplinary communication, and challenges the conceptual definition of knowledge itself. The aim is to promote recognition of the value in using that which is live, liminal, and personal in understanding the nature of knowledge. This can be achieved through exploring the ways in which the experiences of engaging with the fiction of live drama are a key to finding the missing element in the definition of knowledge. In exploring the collective views of specific, highly developed fields such as philosophy’s epistemology and art’s live theatre, an underutilized tool emerges: truth through fiction. This tool spurs the emergence of new societal and learning expectations and changes the face of academia in the process

Ponder and believe: interpretive experiments in Victorian literary fantasies

This dissertation examines experimental Victorian fantasy novels in order to provide an alternate history for the Victorian era, one traditionally associated with the realist novel. Texts are discussed using fantasy theory, reader-response criticism, and rhetorical philosophy in order to demonstrate how literary belief influences the moral project of experimental Victorian novelists. First, a review of literature introduces the reader to the major ideas and problems of fantasy texts. Then, Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is used to exemplify the relationship between the fantastic author and her reader. The first few chapters, then, explain the theory of reading fantasy that will be examined in the rest of the project. The following three chapters discuss the experimental nature of Sara Coleridge's Phantasmion: Prince of Palmland (1837); George MacDonald's Phantastes (1858); and Jean Ingelow's Mopsa, the Fairy (1869). The focus is on how these authors manipulated readers' expectations for a fairy tale in order to use the trope of childlike wonder as a reading strategy that would encourage interpretive inquiry about the unity of the fantastic and the material. The primary thesis is that these authors use theories about literary belief (derived from Romantic influences) to structure their texts and to guide readers in how to read experimental fantasy work. The dissertation concludes with a chapter that explains how critics could understand further the intersection of fantasy and realism during the nineteenth century and could begin to view them as part of a unified Victorian tradition rather than as incommensurable modes

Popular Culture as a Lens on Legal Professionalism

Why use art to teach lawyering?\u27 Despite divergences in method and intention, the two disciplines overlap. If the prevalence of lawyers in movies, television, literature, and even humor means anything, popular culture remains fascinated with lawyers. Our practices, our ethics, and our professional personae serve as a mine for image and narrative, a target for cultural critique, and a catalyst for expression. Not surprisingly, images of lawyers in cartoons, film, television, and literature offer unique opportunities to teach and explore professionalism. The proliferation of lawyer images in popular culture provides an array of material ranging from career choice to particular actions and behavior. This material elicits powerful responses about the morality, purpose, role, and identity of lawyers, in addition to traditional questions of legal ethics. The responses prompt students to reflect on career choice, professional persona in the legal world, and their development as human beings within a web of professional commitments. This Article argues that the cultural images of lawyering provide opportunities for teaching professionalism that go well beyond the teaching of ethical rules using hypothetical facts. We contend that use of different media allows teachers to chart the broad middle ground between disciplinary minima and aspirational maxima-the map of realistic professional practice. This ground includes both rule- and conduct-based ideas ofprofessionalism: careful role definition; responsible practice management; appropriate balance between public and private commitments; and concerns over manners, dress, and work ethic. The middle ground also includes less traditional content, discussion of which brings students to appreciate the subjective disciplines of lawyering. The subjective dimension includes the feel of lawyering for the practitioner: the psychic demands of an active, fully engaged practice. It also includes the subjective experience of the clients who use lawyers, as well as the complex interweaving of subjective and external factors in the situations in which lawyers are called to act. Using cultural representations of lawyers thus expands the notion of professionalism outside the bounds of the codified professional rules of conduct. One professor of ethics and professionalism refers to the examination of the varying layers of legal work as involving macro and micro contexts. We accept this distinction, and extend it: the rules of ethics provide a micro-context, around which popular media provide a macro context within which to appraise a different (and fuller) notion of professionalism. What renders the use of media unique is its tendency to prompt immediate imaginative experience and assessment of the various dimensions of professionalism. Through a well-chosen excerpt, one can consider both what the rules of ethics require alongside discussions of the moral complexity, emotional content, or even spiritual challenge posed by the situation. From these conversations, students can emerge with their language and awareness enlarged to include a richer and more reflective vision of their own identities as lawyers. Our argument proceeds in three phases. First, we review widespread notions of professionalism, illustrating and explicating our notion of professionalism as occupying the middle ground between discipline and aspiration. Second, we provide examples of teaching plans in which we have used different media, including examples of cartoons, movies, and short fiction as vehicles for teaching. Finally, we appraise the common challenges and objections to using the arts for these purposes; while law students form our first and most immediate pool of critics, these objections may have also occurred to others who have used the arts in this way. We recognize that our approach builds on the enthusiastic use of fictional representation in many modem law school ethics classes. We do not criticize, but rather seek to expand the range of what a teacher can do by using the arts in this way. We also hope to suggest the richness and power of conversations with students in which the traditional focus of classes on professionalism intersects with the more open-ended, expressive concerns of art

"I' ll tell you a story that will make you believe" in narratives: the role of metafiction in the novel and in the film Life of Pi

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Inglês: Estudos Linguísticos e Literários, Florianópolis, 2015.Recentes estudos propõem que adaptações cinematográficas sejam entendidas como fonte de criação, os quais refletem contextos e interpretações diferentes do texto em que são baseadas. Nessa dissertação, propõe-se uma análise comparativa do romance Life of Pi (2001), de Yann Martel e do filme homônimo dirigido por Ang Lee (2012). A análise tem como objetivo identificar a presença e o modo em que a metaficção é construída no romance e no filme, e quais são alguns significados produzidos por ela em ambos os textos, tanto o literário quanto o fílmico. A concepção de metafição se baseia nas definições de Linda Hutcheon e Patricia Waugh. Por metaficção, entende-se a ficção consciente de si, que expõe o processo de escrita ao leitor e o convida a ter um papel ativo na construção do significado. Após uma análise comparativa dos dois textos, conclui-se que a metaficção está presente em ambos, tanto tematicamente como estruturalmente. As reflexões sobre narrativas apresentadas pelos personagens, o uso de vários níveis narrativos e de intertextualidade revelam diferentes usos da metafição em ambos. A diferença mais importante entre o romance e o filme Life of Pi está no uso dos níveis narrativos. Enquanto o romance possui um ?autor? sem nome que apresenta a história aos leitores, o filme possui um diretor implícito que deixa pistas de qual versão da história de Pi é ?real? no contexto da narrativa. Essa diferença dá ao romance um final aberto, em que o leitor deve escolher qual versão da história ele acredita, enquanto o filme possui uma resolução para essa questão. O filme, então, pode ser entendido como um testemunho, uma narrativa de trauma de um sobrevivente de um naufrágio e da experiência de migração, enquanto o livro não apresenta uma decisão em relação às versões da história, deixando o leitor aberto a qualquer possibilidade.Abstract : Recent studies propose that Film Adaptations should be understood as sources of creation, which also reflect a different context and interpretation from the text upon which they were based. In this thesis, I propose a comparative analysis of the novel Life of Pi (2001), by Yann Martel, and the homonymous film directed by Ang Lee (2012). The analysis has the objective of identifying the presence and the way in which metafiction is constructed in the novel and in the film, and what are some of the meanings produced by it in both texts, the filmic and the literary. The concept of metafiction was based on the definitions by Linda Hutcheon and Patricia Waugh. It is understood as the self-conscious fictional text, which exposes the writing process to the readers and invites them to have an active role in the construction of meaning. In the comparative analyses of the two texts, I have proved that metafiction is present in the two texts, both thematically and structurally. The reflections of the characters on narrative itself as well as the use of different narrative levels and intertextual references reveal different uses of metanarrative in both film and novel. The most important difference between the novel and the film Life of Pi is in their uses of different narrative levels. While the novel has an unnamed =author? who presents the story to the readers, the film has an implicit director who leaves =clues? of which version of Pi?s story is ?real? in the context of the narrative. This difference gives to the novel an open end, facein which the readers must choose which version of the story they believe in, while the film presents a resolution to this question. The film, thus, can be understood as a testimony narrative, a narrative of the trauma of a survivor from a shipwreck and from the experience of migration, while the novel does not decide for one of the versions of the story, enabling a more inconclusive reading

After the Prestige: A Postmodern Analysis of Penn and Teller

By mocking the magic community and revealing the secret behind some of their tricks, Penn and Teller perform a kind of parodic and post-modern “anti-magic.” Penn and Teller display an artful use of rhetoric; in exposing the secrets and shortcomings of conjuring, they are revolutionizing the way people think about both the art of magic and the magic community. Individuals such as Penn and Teller may use parody to subvert the hegemonic interpretations. However, we also know that it is difficult to bring down a system while operating within that system. Thus, this article explores the way Penn and Teller are challenging the metanarrative of the magic community, using several of the duo’s more popular illusions as examples for analysis. Ultimately, this paper should help us gain a better understanding of the way parody can be used to challenge hegemonic conceptions, and the limitations of this type of rhetorical approach

Walking the Line between Reality and Fiction in Online Spaces: Understanding the Effects of Narrative Transportation

Recent contentions about fake news and misinformation online has shed light on the critical need for media literacy at a global scale. Indeed, digital stories are one of the main forms of communication in the 21st century through blogs, videos-sharing websites, forums, or social networks. However, the line between facts and fiction can often become blurry in these online spaces, and being able to distinguish between reality and fantasy can have important consequences in the lives of young Internet users. Using contemporary examples from news stories, fanfiction, advertising, and radicalization, this article outlines the features, affordances, and real-life implications of digital stories. As a result, we provide recommendations for educators to create awareness and empower students about digital storytelling practices

Interaction and Verisimilitude. How Narration Can Foster the Design Process

The role of narrative in the construction of an interaction design project is relevant since the very beginning of the discipline, when scholars in the 1990s pointed out how the whole dialogue between human and computer was developed like a theater work. Actually, the use of narrative was, and still is, focused on the unfolding of the user experience with a product/service, following the story arc and using analysis and prediction tools like journey maps. If this approach corresponds to the state of the art for many scholars and practitioners, there is a large debate on in the process that involves storytelling techniques, especially during the concept generation and the branching of the interactions between people and artifacts’ system. In particular, design fiction and speculative design give a strong relevance to the creation not only of a story line but, above all, of the world building, where people and artifacts interacts inside a sketched out future scenario, letting the audience free to speculate, for example, on impacts on the society, ethical issues, acceptance levels. In this situation the narrative approach can be included into the interaction design process during all the phases, in order to foster designers to generate futureable artifacts strictly connected to Personas depicted as they were characters, placed in verisimilitude-based worlds. The paper will describe the results of this methodological experimentation focusing on the differences occurred to two different projects: basic research, research for a company