Experiential imagination and norms of literary engagement

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.