Reading Words into Worlds asks how it is that reading a novel can feel in some ways like being-in-a-world. The book explores how novels give themselves to readers in ways that mimetically resemble our phenomenological reception of given beings in reality. McReynolds refers to this process as phenomenological mimesis of givenness, and he draws on the phenomenological philosophy of Husserl, Heidegger, and Jean-Luc Marion to explore how masterful novels can make reading ink marks on a page feel like seeing things, feeling things, and meeting (even loving) others. McReynolds blends rigorous phenomenological study with a personable style, first laying out his theory in detail and then applying that theory through close studies of his reading experiences of four British realist masterpieces: Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, Austen's Northanger Abbey, Eliot's Middlemarch, and Hardy's Jude the Obscure. Ultimately, this book offers a grounded phenomenology of novel-reading, illuminating what gives novels such power to not only thrill readers-but to change them.
| ISBN: | 9781032635439 |
| Publication date: | 26th December 2025 |
| Author: | J Clayton McReynolds |
| Publisher: | Routledge an imprint of Taylor & Francis |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 194 pages |
| Series: | Literary Criticism and Cultural Theory |
| Genres: |
Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers Phenomenology and Existentialism Literary theory |
Reading Words into Worlds asks how it is that reading a novel can feel in some ways like being-in-a-world. The book explores how novels give themselves to readers in ways that mimetically resemble our phenomenological reception of given beings in reality. McReynolds refers to this process as phenomenological mimesis of givenness, and he draws on the phenomenological philosophy of Husserl, Heidegger, and Jean-Luc Marion to explore how masterful novels can make reading ink marks on a page feel like seeing things, feeling things, and meeting (even loving) others. McReynolds blends rigorous phenomenological study with a personable style, first laying out his theory in detail and then applying that theory through close studies of his reading experiences of four British realist masterpieces: Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, Austen's Northanger Abbey, Eliot's Middlemarch, and Hardy's Jude the Obscure. Ultimately, this book offers a grounded phenomenology of novel-reading, illuminating what gives novels such power to not only thrill readers-but to change them.
Reading Words Into Worlds features in the following genres: Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers, Phenomenology and Existentialism, Literary theory
Reading Words Into Worlds is available in Paperback, Hardback
Reading Words Into Worlds was written by J Clayton McReynolds and published by Routledge an imprint of Taylor & Francis
Reading Words Into Worlds has 194 pages
Yes it is part of Literary Criticism and Cultural Theory series
£49.49