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Article published In: Pragmatics & Cognition
Vol. 32:2 (2025) ► pp.311–328

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Experiential imagination and norms of literary engagement

ORCiD logo with link | University of Geneva
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with the University of Geneva.

Published online: 13 November 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/pc.24030.lan
Abstract
When engaging imaginatively with a work of literary fiction, readers do more than reconstruct what is fictionally true — they also engage in richer forms of imagining. While the reconstruction of fictional truth must comply, at least to some extent, with the author’s intention, experiential imagining is often considered too subjective to be normatively constrained. This paper challenges this assumption by arguing that, although experiential imagining is largely subjective, it can be intentionally directed. In culturally, historically, or morally charged contexts, readers should aim to imaginatively experience what the author seeks to communicate.
Article outline
  • 1.Imaginative engagement with literary text
  • 2.Communicating experiences
  • 3.Default visualization and experiential imagining
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (37)
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