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Chapitre D'ouvrage Année : 2020

Pseudofactual Narratives and Signposts of Factuality

Résumé

Hoaxes provide the ideal environment for questioning the existence of factuality, as well as its signposts. Indeed, there are hardly any referential works (with a biographical or documentary purpose) that would fallaciously declare themselves to be fictional, except to escape censure, win a trial, or take a philosophical position. But it seems to me that these strategic declarations have little to no effect on the manner in which the work itself is read. These pseudo-fictional frameworks are weak. The vast majority of hoaxes are therefore a testament to the privilege of the factual; readers often avidly cling to them, proving both a great blindness and great aptness to enrich and prolong their pleasure in being deceived. I will explore the extent to which hoaxes set up and procure this pleasure, notably drawing upon The Letters of a Portuguese Nun (1669) and their unusual reception, as well as the inevitable Marbot (1985). In certain respects, hoaxes function like a magnifying glass for signposts of factuality. I will first lay forth the difference between signposts of fictionality and factuality, from a theoretical standpoint. Then, I will explore their nature and emphasize their compositional fragility in an interpretive context. The blindness that characterizes the reception of certain hoaxes sheds an intriguing light on the phenomenon of reading. Lastly, I will show that fictional and factual texts are profoundly different – not just because of their internal criteria regarding fictionality or their pragmatic framework, but also (and perhaps most importantly) because of the modes of reading they create and require. I will attempt to define these, drawing on works of neuroscience.
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hal-03947969 , version 1 (19-01-2023)

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Françoise Lavocat. Pseudofactual Narratives and Signposts of Factuality. Monika Fludernik; Marie-Laure Ryan. Narrative Factuality, a Handbook, 6, De Gruyter, pp.577-592, 2020, 97831104866278. ⟨10.1515/9783110486278⟩. ⟨hal-03947969⟩
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