Bourne, Craig and Caddick Bourne, Emily (2012) Fictional branching time? In: Correia, F. and Iacona, A. (eds.) Around the Tree: Semantic and Metaphysical Issues Concerning Branching and the Open Future. Synthese Library 361. Houten, The Netherlands: Springer Netherlands, pp. 81-94. ISBN 9789400751668.
Abstract
Some fictions seem to involve branching time, where one time series ‘splits’ into two or two time series ‘fuse’ into one. We provide a new framework for thinking about these fictional representations: not as representations of branching time series but rather as branching representations of linear time series. We explain how branching at the level of the representation creates a false impression that the story describes a branching of the time series in the fictional world itself. This involves explaining away the illusion of various causal connections which may at first appear essential to understanding the story as a unified whole. This provides a more accurate account of the relationship between the representation and what is represented, which in turn reveals the extent to which it is legitimate to draw conclusions about actual time from fictional representations.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Book Section |
|---|---|
| Keyword(s) / Subject(s): | Fiction, Time, Branching, Representation |
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Historical Studies |
| Depositing User: | Administrator |
| Date Deposited: | 24 Oct 2013 09:24 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 17:08 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/8600 |
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