The Fictive And The Imaginary: Charting Literar... -

: Refers to the empirical world and the existing social, historical, and cultural systems that circulate within it.

: Literature "stages" the interaction between the real and the imaginary. This staging creates a "virtual" space where the reader can bridge gaps or blanks in the text to generate meaning. The Fictive and the Imaginary: Charting Literar...

(1993), written by influential literary critic Wolfgang Iser , is a seminal work that seeks to explain why humans have a fundamental need for literature. Iser moves beyond traditional debates of "fiction vs. reality," proposing instead that literature is a "particular form of make-believe" that reveals essential aspects of our anthropological makeup . The Triadic Relationship : Refers to the empirical world and the

: Iser suggests humans use fiction as a "subsidy" for their existence, using imagination as collateral to substantiating their activities and lives. (1993), written by influential literary critic Wolfgang Iser

Iser replaces the binary of fiction and reality with a consisting of the real, the fictive, and the imaginary.